Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Religion - Essay Example Many Indians also died while being forced to relocate, a sanitized way to refer to the ethnic cleansing of tribes which were formerly located in the area east of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 mandated the relocation of many tribes, predominantly the Cherokee Nation which allowed for a ‘whites only’ America in what constituted the majority of what was the U.S. at that time. The Indian Removal Act was a priority of the President Andrew Jackson administration but was passed only following a contentious four month congressional debate. The Act gave Jackson the authority to negotiate treaties with eastern Indians who wished to retain their sovereignty and relocate west of the Mississippi. However, the Act also allowed those Indians wanting to stay in their home land in the east full U.S. citizenship rights. At that time, most Americans could not conceive the country ever extending west of the Mississippi. According to the Act, relocation was meant to be on a voluntary basis, no individual or tribe was to be forced from their home. The Indian Nations in the southeast did not want to be citizens or leave consequently Jackson used military force against these tribes. Much of the general public assumed that removing Indians was beneficial to them. â€Å"Removal would save Indian people from the depredations of whites and would resettle them in an area where t hey could govern themselves in peace† (â€Å"Indian Removal†, 2007). However, some believed the removal policy was just another excuse for Jackson to exercise his long-standing sadistic and inhumane treatment of the native people and vocally objected against this policy. Among those opposed to the Removal Act were Daniel Webster of dictionary fame, many ministers and Davy Crockett whose passionate opposition to this government policy and his support of the Cherokee Nation cost him his Congressional seat. According to Crockett in response to his