The Indian Removal Act and Its Effects

The Indian Removal Act and its Effects

As the United States developed and carved its path to becoming a great nation, a great number of issues arose. Issues, which if not dealt with effectively and in best interest of the young nation, would retard and thus stunt America's journey to achieving what it has become today: A great nation.

One such issue that had to be dealt with was the Indian removal to the west. The colonies were expanding and growing in number, which meant more land was needed. Colonists encouraged the Indians to move west in order to achieve this. When Andrew Jackson was granted presidency, he passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which mainly stated that Indian removal was both a priority and a policy. Although many argue that the Indian Removal Act was unjust and unfair, it was an essential and necessary measure which needed to be taken in order for the United States to grow both geographically and intellectually as a nation.

When Jackson proposed the Indian Removal Act, Chief Justice John Marshall and the Supreme Court rule against it. Jackson refuses to support Supreme Court rule and states “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Jackson goes on to pass the law, and in the process, he also proposed voluntary emigration in the west for the Indians. He felt that the Indians could preserve their dying culture in the west, by separating them from contact with the settlements of whites, granting them liberty from the power of America, and enabling these Indian tribes to “pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions”.

One can argue that the taking of the land that by natural right belonged to these Indian tribes was unjust, and that the Jackson policy was against the Supreme Court rule, but like previously mentioned before, certain measures had to be taken in order for the United States to keep going onward and forward on its quest to becoming a great nation. Jackson, and many others who also supported the Indian removal act, recognized this and thus were