'Federal Indian Policy Essay\r'

'When the newly founded joined States of the States gained its independence from Britain, they were faced with some(prenominal) new ch aloneenges. One of their biggest challenges was establishing and building upon their own domain that Britain had transferred at the Peace Treaty of 1783. 1 Of course, this land was salvage inhabited by Indian peoples. The unite States knew that territorial expansion was inevitable and to the Indians, this meant war. Creek chief Hallowing queen said, â€Å"Our lands are our life and breath. If we part with them, we part with our pipeline.\r\n”2 This turned out to be a immutable changing battle for territorial dominance and an while of changing federal Indian policy. The new America followed British ideas and created an Indian Department. This department schematic many an(prenominal) rules for the sale and transfer of Indian lands with the hope of regulating the advancement of the western sandwich frontier. 3 In 1790, sex bite enacte d the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. 4 O.K. by hot seat Washington and the Indian Department, this act stipulated that recounting would regulate all trade, interaction and til now intercourse with all Native Americans.\r\n5 Congress regulated this Act by issuing licenses to authorise individuals. Failure to obey this law take to reason and a trail in court. 6 However, many American famers ignored this bill and would steal Indians to riding habit as slaves. Naturally, the Indians fought back which led to airy encounters. As Americans continued to ease westward, many battles and treaties began to emerge. The involution of travel Timbers was one of the more popular encounters. The Western Lakes partnership which consisted of some(prenominal) numerous tribes had achieved major victories in the past. It was President Washington’s goal to put their victories to an end.\r\n7 The Americans out-numbered the Indians and destructed many villages in the region. This batt le led to the form of many treaties like the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. This ended the Northwest Indian War which the Battle of Fallen Timbers was a part of. In convert of goods valued at $20,000, the Indians turned over deep parts of the modern-day area of Ohio. 8 This was a tremendous victory for the unite States and it certainly gave them the impetus in establishing Indian policy and in the function for territorial expansion. However, the fight and establishment for federal Indian policy did not end in the Ohio Valley.\r\nThe United States began to realize that the Indians and Americans would not be able to co-exist in the same eastern territory. President Thomas Jefferson began implementing the policy of â€Å"removing” Indians from their eastern homelands. The government decided they could go near this a few different ways. They could try to destroy the Indian peoples, assimilate them to American society, protect them on their ancestral lands or remove them to m ore distant, western lands. 9 It was Jefferson’s plan to use the mould of dispossession with minimal government.\r\nThis plan involved allowing American settlements to slowly border the Indians, either allowing them to become fine-tune Americans or letting them flee beyond the disseminated multiple sclerosis with the hopes of establishing multiple treaties. 10 Well, that is exactly what happened. This strategy to gravel Indian lands resulted in nearly thirty treaties with several tribes and the cession of 200,000 square miles of Indian territory. 11 This Jeffersonian policy proved to be very rough-and-ready for the young United States. The more â€Å"conservative” remotion policies of the American government took a halt when Andrew capital of Mississippi was elected President in 1828.\r\nJackson was a famous Indian fighter who was often referred to as very vocal on his Indian views. He regarded the Indians as inferior and even referred to them as â€Å"savages th at moldiness be removed. ”12 Jacksons radical approach perturbation many natives and led to the Cherokee resistance. The Cherokees were confined to the state of gallium where they decided to reconstruct their tribal government. They created a constitution, established a language, had bountiful resources and even created a newspaper. However, this further increased the pressure for their American neighbors to take fit of this Cherokee territory.\r\nThe state of tabun called upon Congress to begin negotiations with the Cherokees so they could leave their land. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian remotion Act allowing the president to negotiate treaties of removal with all Indian tribes east of the Mississippi. One year later, the Cherokee people brought a suit against the state of tabun. The Supreme judicatory ruled in the case of Worcester v. Georgia that the Cherokee land was â€Å"a distinct community, occupying its own territory where the laws of Georgia can deem no force. ”13 Georgia ignored this ruling and continued violating the Cherokee region.\r\nFaced with remainder or removal, the Cherokees signed the Treaty of virgin Echota, where they concord to relocate west of the Mississippi River. 14 This relocation devastated the Cherokee Nation’s emotions and is cheatn as the tail of Tears in 1835. As you can see, the United States of America was faced with a very voiceless dilemma in having to force federal Indian policies to maintain the control of the eastern frontier. Although much blood was shed over the policies between Washington’s and Jackson’s administrations, much more blood could have been shed and treaties could have never formed.\r\nThis could have possibly changed the face of the United States as we know it today. Notes 1. Calloway, Colin G, First Peoples; A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, Bedford/St Martins’, New York, 3rd Ed, 2008, 219. 2. Calloway, 218. 3. Calloway, 219. 4. Prucha, P. Francis. Federal Indian Policy. may 2 2005. http://www. alaskool. org/native_ed/ historicdocs/use_of_english/ prucha. htm (accessed May 29, 2009), 2. 5. Prucha, 2. 6. Prucha, 2. 7. Prucha, 3. 8. Calloway, 230. 9. Calloway, 229. 10. Calloway, 230. 11. Calloway, 228. 12. Calloway, 231.\r\n13. Seal, David. The Trail of Tears. Oct 19 1994. http://ngeorgia. com/ invoice/nghisttt. html (accessed May 29, 2009), 1. 14. Seal, 1. Bibliography Calloway, Colin G, First Peoples; A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, Bedford/St Martins’, New York, 3rd Ed, 2008. Prucha, P. Francis. â€Å"Federal Indian Policy” May 2 2005. http://www. alaskool. org/native_ed/ historicdocs/use_of_english/ prucha. htm (accessed May 29, 2009). Seal, David. â€Å"The Trail of Tears. ” Oct 19 1994. http://ngeorgia. com/history/nghisttt. html (accessed May 29, 2009).\r\n'