Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s

The election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in the 1828 presidential election ensured that the democratic rights of Americans would be assured during his tenure as president. However, one group living within the United States were treated harshly and given no recourse for their removal from fertile American lands. The native tribes of the Southern states and the west became a detriment to the development plan of the American government, who had explored much of the West and were determined to move forward with expansion. However, Southern states especially were harmed by Indian treaties of the previous century that gave native tribes land claims to Western territories in the eyes of the American government.

Andrew Jackson was not known as a friend of the Native American, having been a famous Indian fighter in his home state of Tennessee and a war hero during the War of 1812. Jackson’s cabinet determined four possible courses of action: allowing whites to infringe upon Indian lands (which would create massive violence), letting the federal government to step in and enforce existing treaties, force the Indians to assimilate by removing government protections, or remove Indians from their treaty guaranteed lands to Western lands that were unsettled at that point.

Jackson and Democratic politicians promoted the 1830 Indian Removal Act, which would renegotiate treaties and fund removal of Indians to the West, which was called a “voluntary” policy. However, the Western lands of places like Oklahoma and Kansas were not to the quality of Southern farming lands and was possibly an unfair trade with the Indians. As well, while the Indians were not citizens of the United States, they were subject to American bigotry, violence, and the American court system. The Supreme Court, however, ruled several times in the early 1830s to favor native rights. Jackson, firing back at the judiciary, said that the Court could have its way when it could enforce its rulings (a shot at the strength of the judiciary and a promotion of his strong executive powers). Jackson’s way became law and the exodus of Indians from southern lands began.

The Indian removal of the mid-1830s was an unmitigated disaster, with thousands of natives dying and the few who were able to settle in the west unable to make a living. Jackson, however, stuck to his guns by justifying the exodus as working for the best interests of Indians. It is difficult historically to follow this argument, considering that the same argument has been made to subject African Americans, women, and Asian Americans, among others, to strict legal standards. The Trails of Tears in 1838 and the death of many natives during the settlement process in the West have proven to be an ominous prediction for the future of the Native American in American history.