Indian Removal Act

In regards to the proposal of the Indian Removal Act of 1835, Secretary of War William Crawford stated that, “Intrusions upon the lands of the friendly Indian tribes, is not only a violation of the laws, but in direct opposition to the policy of the government towards its savage neighbors.” Only, this was not the first time the people were stealing land from the natives. It had been happening essentially since the first settlers came here, time and time again, until the entire east coast of the New World was occupied by whites on the Indian’s land. There had even been numerous treaties signed by white and Indian men alike, but were almost always encroached upon by the white settlers and their greed of the land. In the time period between 1789 and the mid-1830’s, there were political, constitutional, and practical concerns that formed on America’s national Indian policy. For the settlers, these concerns were only considered problems in the later part of this period, and were just small complications in the beginning.

The Indian removal act was nothing new. It was the same old policy towards the Cherokee Indians that had been around since the first settlers began taking their lands. In 1721, the Colonies and the Indian Confederation had signed a treaty, handing over half of the Cherokee land, and was supposed to stop there. It didn’t, and soon enough, the settlers were anxious to get more of the Indians’ land. In 1791, the Washington administration made a treaty with the Cherokees, allowing the settlers to take another chunk of land from the Indians. In another thirteen years, the government, under Jefferson this time, made yet another treaty with the Indians, handing over another half of what land the Cherokee had left. Again, this treaty was disregarded, and another had to be made by the Monroe administration, and took another huge chunk out of the remaining land that was owned by the Cherokee, which by this time was only about one sixth the original amount they had. Finally, Jackson and his government wanted to pass the Indian Removal Act, which would take the rest of the Cherokee land, and have them be forcibly moved to the western frontier, where they would be “out of harm” from the greedy white settlers. The government had sneakily talked its way into owning all of the Cherokee lands, and then wanted to kick them out entirely.

Few people actually regarded the rights of the Indians when their land was being stolen. Henry Knox was actually one of those people. The Secretary of War in 1789, he wrote to George Washington, “[We have the option of] forming treaties of peace with them, in which their rights are explicitly defined, and the treaties observed on the part of the united States with the most rigid justice, by punishing the whites, who should violate the same . . . The Indians being the prior occupants, possess the right of the soil. It cannot be taken from them unless by their