The trail of tears may have been paved with good intentions, but some have estimated that the death toll was 4,000 or 25% of the Cherokee Indians. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed he Indian Removal Act, the Cherokee Indians refused to leave and were forcibly removed between 1836 and 1839. In 1829, Andrew Jackson expressed his desire to remove the Indians out of compassion. He expressed his concern that our conduct towards the Indians was "deeply interesting to our national character". In his first annual address to congress he stated:
4 years later, in 1833, Andrew Jackson used much harsher words reflecting his determination to remove the last of the Indians:
This is very harsh stuff, and reflects very cruel treatment of Indians. In fact President Obama signed a bill of apology to the Cherokees in 2009. It's difficult to understand how one might call the Indian removal act of 1830, good intentions, but remember our federal government was not nearly as strong back then. States acted on their own behalf, and new settlers considered themselves to be superior to the native inhabitants. While firmly believing in racial superiority, Andrew Jackson still felt that he was "rescuing" the "savages" from destruction and extinction. He felt it was the humane way to treat what he believed to be an 'inferior race'.
http:// www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ ?pid=29471
http:// www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ ?pid=29475
"Our conduct toward these people is deeply interesting to our national character. Their present condition, contrasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By persuasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and others have left but remnants to preserve for a while their once terrible names. Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is fast over-taking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the States does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity"
4 years later, in 1833, Andrew Jackson used much harsher words reflecting his determination to remove the last of the Indians:
"My original convictions upon this subject have been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and experience is every day adding to their strength. That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear."
This is very harsh stuff, and reflects very cruel treatment of Indians. In fact President Obama signed a bill of apology to the Cherokees in 2009. It's difficult to understand how one might call the Indian removal act of 1830, good intentions, but remember our federal government was not nearly as strong back then. States acted on their own behalf, and new settlers considered themselves to be superior to the native inhabitants. While firmly believing in racial superiority, Andrew Jackson still felt that he was "rescuing" the "savages" from destruction and extinction. He felt it was the humane way to treat what he believed to be an 'inferior race'.
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