Summarize


As white American settlers
moved westward, conflict
with Indigenous peoples, who already called the land
home, grew. The U.S. government began to openly
support a policy of removal of Indigenous peoples.
President Andrew Jackson and his successor, Martin
Van Buren, and their supporters used several
arguments in favor of their removal policies.
Many Americans believed it was the destiny of the
United States to expand westward. To do so, settlers
would need to occupy more land. White American
settlers saw value in Indigenous lands for growing
cotton and searching for gold, which had been
discovered in Georgia in 1828. Settling and farming the land would bring greater
resources and wealth to white Americans.
Andrew Jackson
Those who supported removal believed that relocating the Indigenous population
west of the Mississippi was a fair policy. They believed they could coexist with
Indigenous peoples only if the Indigenous peoples became "civilized" by assimilating
into the American way of life. But because most Indigenous peoples wanted to
retain their cultural heritage and traditions, supporters of removal believed it would
be better for all Indigenous peoples to be kept separate from white Americans. Supporters also believed that providing Indigenous people with new land might even protect them from further conflict. Supporters of the removal policy also believed that Indigenous people could govern themselves in peace in their newly assigned Indigenous territories.