Brianna Shopsis

1555 Words

The process of the removal of the Native Americans west of the Mississippi took place on

May twenty-eighth, 1830. This process of removal began when President Andrew Jackson signed

the Indian Removal Act. Under the Indian Removal Act, the President was able to help with the

relocation of any Native American Indians, living in the east, to land that was west of the

Mississippi. This paper focuses most on the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians to Indian

Territory in 1838. While there was a controversy about the removal of the Native Americans in

the 1800s, those against the removal believed they should not have been removed west of the

Mississippi because they were becoming civilized, God had given them their land and created all

nations equally from the same blood, and there was no ordinance that sanctioned the Americans

right to the land

While Native American women usually do not speak about public measures1, they made

it a point to let the Cherokee Nation know that they need to fight. Native Americans had come a

long way in the process of becoming civilized. Their civilized life was something they had

worked for and they refused to throw the privileges of their civilized life away. The Cherokee

Women Petition states, Some of our children have become Christians. We have missionary

schools among us. We have hard the gospel in our nation. We have become civilized and

enlightened, and are in hopes that in a few years our nation will be prepared for instruction in

other branches of science and arts, which are both useful and necessary in civilized society.2 The

Native American women felt they were becoming civilized because they had a stronger role and

belief in Christianity. Since the Americans were strong believers in Christianity, the women may

1 Cherokee Women Petition, 30 June 1818

2 Cherokee Women Petition, 30 June 1818
have felt that arguing their role in Christianity was their best bet to stop the removal. They

became civilized in other ways too. Sally M. Reece, a Cherokee girl, made it known to Reverend

Daniel Campbell that the Cherokees were improving. They have a printing press, and print a

paper which is called the Cherokee Phoenix. They come to meeting on Sabbath days. They wear

clothes which they made themselves.3 If the Cherokees were becoming more civilized, it means

they were becoming more like the Americans, so there would be no reason to remove them if

they would have the same behavior. Something that seems important to the Americans at this

time is religion. Everyone who did not want the Cherokees to be removed, made it a point to tell

that the Cherokee have more involvement in religion. Reece says her parents are thinking about

the Savior and that they attend Sabbaths.4 While the Cherokee may not look American, they were

slowly living up to most of their customs. There were many nations that were once uncivilized

and worked their way up to become civilized and refined nations, so there is no reason for the

Americans to believe that the Cherokee are unable to do the same exact thing. While there is no

evidence that it is impossible to civilize and Christianize an Indian, there is evidence that it is

possible to civilize people that were once uncultured.5

Although the Cherokee are not American, God gave them the land they reside on. The Cherokee

and Americans were created equally by the same God and from the same blood.6 To remove the

Native Americans from their land would be wrong because that land was given to them by God,

and he is not the one taking it away from them, it is the Americans. In the Cherokee Women

3 Sally M. Reece, "Letter to Reverend Daniel Campbell, 25 July 1828

4 Sally M. Reece, "Letter to Reverend Daniel Campbell, 25 July 1828

5 Elias Boudinot, "Editorial, 12 November 1831," Cherokee Phoenix

6 Elias Boudinot, "Editorial, 12 November 1831," Cherokee Phoenix

Petition to the Council, they make it known that they are living on the land of their fathers. We

sincerely hope there is no consideration which can induce our citizens to forsake the land of our

fathers of which they have been in possession from time immemorial, and thus compel us,

against our will, to undergo the toils and difficulties of removing with our helpless families

hundreds of miles to unhealthy and unproductive country.7 The families will have to move off

of the land their ancestors were given, by God, and have cultivated. Considering that the

Cherokee and Americans were created from God, the Cherokee and Americans must have some

type of conditions that are similar. If some of their conditions are similar, then the Americans

have no reason to look at the Cherokee in complete disgust the way they do, as if they are aliens

and were created from something different. Elias Boudinot, a Cherokee, stated in the Cherokee

Phoenix, They do not, perhaps, think that as God has, of one blood, created all nations of the

earth, their circumstances, in a state of nature, must be somewhat the same8 In the words of

Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen, God, in his providence, planted these tribes on this Western

continent9 If the Americans had such a strong belief in Christianity and faith in God, they

should have had the mindset that God gave the Cherokee the land they lived on. In the words of

Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen, God, in his providence, planted these tribes on this Western

continent10 The Cherokee women believe that their land was given to them by God, with the

intentions of them raising their children and to support the many generations to come.11 With this

land given to them by the Lord with his good intentions, the Americans should have the same

7 Cherokee Women Petition, 30 June 1818

8 Elias Boudinot, "Editorial, 12 November 1831," Cherokee Phoenix

9 "Senator Frelinghuysen on Indian Removal," pg#1

10 "Senator Frelinghuysen on Indian Removal," pg#1

11 Cherokee Women Petition, 30 June 1818

intentions and let them carry on their tradition of raising their families and becoming civilized on

their own land.

Although the Americans wanted the Cherokee off of their own land, there was no ordinance that

sanctioned their right to the land. There are no rules or laws that have taken away the land that

the Cherokee reside on, so there is no reason for their land to be taken from them. The Cherokee

should not have to act in favor of the Americans if there is no legal document removing them.

Where is the decree or ordinance that has stripped these early and first lords of the soil? Sir, no

record of such measure can be found.12 Any laws that have been created, have been created by

the people who want the land. The Indians never had a say in any of the laws, so they were never

able to stand up for themselves and their land. If the Americans are able to stand up for

themselves and state their cases when something needs to be done, the Cherokee should get to do

the same. The Americans have taken land from the Native American tribes many times to the

point where they have a surplus of land, but they want to be greedy and go on taking land they

no longer need. We have crowded the tribes upon a few miserable acres on our Southern

frontier: it is all that is left to them of their once boundless forests: and still, like the horse-leech,

our insatiated cupidity cries, give! give!13 The Cherokee were the first on the land, so they claim

the soil as theirs. There is nothing that gives the Americans the rights to take land that is not

theirs, that they did not settle on. In the words of the Cherokee women, We therefore humbly

petition our beloved children, the head men and warriors, to hold out to the last in support of our

common rights, as the Cherokee nation have been the first settlers of this land; we therefore

claim the right of the soil.14 If an American owned land and the Cherokee needed to use their

12 "Senator Frelinghuysen on Indian Removal," pg#1

13 "Senator Frelinghuysen on Indian Removal," pg#9

14 Cherokee Women Petition, 30 June 1818

land for something specific, such as agriculture, the Americans, in no way, would allow the

Cherokee to use their land, no matter what it is needed for. If the Americans would not let the

Cherokee use or have their land, then the Cherokee should not be expected to do the same thing.

In conclusion, although the Americans may have thought they were removing the Cherokee for

good reasons, based on their own morals, they should not have removed the Cherokee west of

the Mississippi. The Native Americans were becoming as similar as they could to the Americans,

and if they were allowed the time and to keep their land, it possibly could have happened. The

Cherokee should not have been removed west of the Mississippi because they were becoming

civilized, God gave them their land and created all nations equally from the same blood, and

there was no ordinance that sanctioned the Americans right to the land. Conditions were

constantly changing for the Cherokee, and it was wrong of the Americans to strip the Cherokee

of their land that they were given and worked hard to civilize and grow. The Americans seemed

to be greedy when it came to the land because they had more than enough land for themselves,

and just did not want the Cherokee to be able to keep their land and have such a big part of it.

The Cherokee cared most about raising their families and future generations while trying to

become a bigger part in their community, but the Americans did not see that. The Americans

should have thought of these ideas and conditions before deciding to strip the Cherokee of

something that they deserved to have.