Indian removal

Indian removal
Routes of southern removals
LocationUnited States
Date1830–1847
TargetNative Americans in the eastern United States
Attack type
Population transfer, ethnic cleansing, genocide
Deaths8,000+ (lowest estimate)
PerpetratorsUnited States
MotiveExpansionism (Manifest Destiny)

Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River – specifically, to a designated Indian Territory (roughly, present-day Oklahoma).[1][2][3] The Indian Removal Act, the key law which authorized the removal of Native tribes, was signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. Although Jackson took a hard line on Indian removal, the law was enforced primarily during the Martin Van Buren administration. After the enactment of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, approximately 60,000 members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations (including thousands of their black slaves) were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands, with thousands dying during the Trail of Tears.[4][5][6][7]

Indian removal, a popular policy among incoming settlers, was a consequence of actions by European settlers in North America during the colonial period and then by the United States government (and its citizens) until the mid-20th century.[8][9] The policy traced its origins to the administration of James Monroe, although it addressed conflicts between European and Native Americans which had occurred since the 17th century and were escalating into the early 19th century (as European settlers pushed westward in the cultural belief of manifest destiny). Historical views of Indian removal have been reevaluated since that time. Widespread contemporary acceptance of the policy, due in part to the popular embrace of the concept of manifest destiny, has given way to a more somber perspective. Historians have often described the removal of Native Americans as paternalism,[10][11] ethnic cleansing,[12] or genocide.[13][14][page needed]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NOTE2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anderson2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference AmericanIndianSmithsonian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Thornton, Russell (1991). "The Demography of the Trail of Tears Period: A New Estimate of Cherokee Population Losses". In William L. Anderson (ed.). Cherokee Removal: Before and After. pp. 75–93.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Prucha, Francis Paul (1995). The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 241 note 58. ISBN 0803287348.
  6. ^ Ehle, John (2011). Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 390–392. ISBN 9780307793836.
  7. ^ "A Brief History of the Trail of Tears". www.cherokee.org. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kanth2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference FinkelmanKennon2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wilentz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference B&C was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zinn2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Indian Removal Act: The Genocide of Native Americans – UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog". sites.uab.edu. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  14. ^ Stannard, David (1992). American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195085570.