Topic: Indian Removal
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| Overview
Vocabulary Terms and Identifications |
Important
Maps
Biographies of Key Historical Figures |
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Overview: The Indians posed a problem for the Federal government as early as the formation of the new republic in 1776. When Andrew Jackson took over in 1829, he was determined to end the existence of tribal lands east of the Mississippi. He had become famous for fighting Indians at Horseshoe Bend and in the Florida Territory. He was able to get Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which allowed the president to negotiate treaties that would turn Indian land over to the Federal government. Indians would then be moved to lands in what would become Oklahoma.
The government troops committed terrible acts against the Indian people, especially against the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole tribes of the American southeast. These tribes were called the 5 civilized tribes because they had tried to mix in with white culture. This was especially true of the Cherokees, who had their own newspapers, government, treaties with the US. But they were treated poorly as they were moved across America. Thousands died on what was called the "Trail of Tears" during the 1830s.
Vocabulary and Identifications
1) Indian Removal Act-an act allowing the president
to make treaties with the eastern tribes to exchange lands for the lands of
the Mississippi.
2) Black Hawk War-When Black Hawk and his tribe resisted against moving, eventually they were forced to move, some escaped.
3) Indian Resistance- when Indians refused to be moved, some escaped their fate.
4) Trail of Tears- after the Black Hawk War the Cherokee were forced to march to their new lands, their path was called the Trail of Tears because it was such a hard trip and many died.
5) Seminole War- A
war that broke out when the Seminoles resisted to be moved, but in the end
they were.
Indian Removal
Biographies
of Important People
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson wasn't what you would expect him to be as a child. He was said to start
plenty of fights, and loved sports more than school. He wasn't a rich
American either. He was half Scottish and half Irish and his family was
poor. He wasn't a coward though, when the Revolutionary war came about he
joined a local militia at just the mere age of 13. But he wasn't to lucky,
he happened to be captured , and had his hand slashed by a sword when he
refused to clean an officers boots. And to make matters worse, he was
released in the Carolinas when a smallpox epidemic broke out. He barely
survived, and his poor mother died. At this time he had no one, because his
father had died before he was born. After the war was a time of great opportunity,
and Jackson came to the conclusion that he wished to be a lawyer, although he wasn't
to good in school. So with an air of hope, he moved to Salisbury, North Carolina
and worded in a law office. He gained a reputation of a troublesome person. After
about a year he moved to Nashville and made his own law practice and thrived as
a planter with plenty of slaves and with plenty of land. Before he was ever
a president he was a senator, a judge on the Tennessee Supreme court, and a
military hero who defeated the Indians, scored a victory on the British in the
war of 1812, and drove the Spanish from Florida. Soon he earned the name
"Old Hickory" and by 1820 was one of the most famous men in America.
Finally, in 1828 Jackson was elected president. He was so famous he was
almost suffocated by his admirers after his inauguration. In his presidency
he made many important decisions in American history, such as the Nullification
decision, the Removal Act, and his war against the national bank. He certainly
was instrumental in the forming of the U.S.A.
Quiz
1.Name 2 presidents who tried relocation before Andrew Jackson.
2. When did the Removal Act take place?
a. June1845
b. December 1816
c. May 1830
3. Who got tribal leaders to sign the relocation treaties?
a. Andrew Jackson
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. The Indians
d. federal agents
4. Where were the Indians moved?
a. New York
b. West of Mississippi
c. East of Mississippi
d. None Of Above
5. How many sections were in the Removal Act
a.8
b.2
c.5
d. None Of Above
6. In 1805 The Jefferson Administration tried to get the Choctaw to leave with
the treaty of
a. Paris
b. Removal
c. Dexter
d. John
True/False
7.The land west of the Mississippi was very much like a great big desert.
8.The western Indians were removed from their tribal lands.
9.The Seminoles won the Seminole War.
10.The Cherokees long march to their new lands was happy and enlightening.
Answers:
1. Monroe and Jefferson
2.C
3.D
4.B
5.A
6.C
7.true
8.false
9.false
10.false
Resources:
Why We Remember by Herman J. Viola, published by Addison Wesley, copyright 1998
The Encyclopedia of North America by William Macintosh, published by Marshall
Cavendish Corporation , copyright 1997
This page is part of a web project developed by Mr. Cassutto's 7th grade US History class.
Student authors:
Paris H.
Shannon B.
George Cassutto's Cyberlearning World
[Lesson Plan of the Day] [Cassutto Memorial] [About the Author] [Search] [Civics Lesson Plans]
