Embrace these brothers and sisters who care so much. They are our life and future” James Branham- A Monacan Indian. (Page 31) When I read this quote from Mr. Branham, it makes me feel many people don't understand the enormous pride Native American Indians take in the United States of America. Thus, present day Indians have no right to be compensated for the wrongs perpetrated against their ancestors, any more than African-Americans should be compensated for the slavery of their ancestors. While I was looking at Pride 102 video regard to American Indian treaties, I started realized how important the majority of Indian treaties were negotiated; the Federal government usually had a major issue with which it was dealing.
Many Americans opposed the removal of the Native Americans and argued that they too had been civilized and should be allowed to remain on the homelands, specifically Davey Crocket. This was a valid point of debate for the Native Americans, although at this point the strength in numbers for the government were overwhelming compared to that of the Native Americans living on their homeland. On the other hand, some of the natives thought strategically about agreeing with the treaty because this would alleviate “white harassment”(Indian Removal, PBS). This shows the debate amongst the natives themselves, over the removal act, leaving some tribes divided and again assisting with the destruction of their
This lack of democracy and in many cases, violence, towards the mentioned groups leads me to the overall conclusion that whilst Jackson may have attempted and possibly succeeded in democratising politics, at the same time he failed to democratise American society. Andrew Jackson can be seen to have democratised American politics from the moment he was first elected due to his image as the “Common man”. Having risen from poverty in the South with very limited formal education, Jackson was the first President to appeal and to represent the interests of the non-landed classes like the traditional Southern states where he grew up. Because this was so new a concept, voters were given the opportunity to make a decision: to either support Jackson’s non-autocratic views or to disagree with them. This was the first time in American history that voters were given such choice due to difference of opinion of the two candidates, leading to the development of the two-party system.
However while the economic benefits to big business and trade have solidified NAFTA's goals, McPherson and many other groups argue that NAFTA threatens the basic freedoms of poor and indigenous peoples. One major group McPherson discusses is the Zapatista Army for National Liberation which shrewdly oppose NAFTA and argue that the agreement threatens land ownership, democracy, and basic services to the poor. The Zapatista's view NAFTA as the latest attempt in a five-hundred-year-old conquest of the original inhabitants of the America's by European
This is completely opposite of the way it really is. They went along with certain historical events that dealt with them because they wanted to preserve their ways and continue living a more simplistic and natural way of life. Natives were looked down upon by white Americans so therefore were treated badly due to greed by the whites. The way the Natives responded to some federal policies was not always done in a respectful manner. The economic, social and political issues that occurred were not taken lightly by the Indians and sometimes the way they acted was diverse and disruptive.
This led to conflicts and therefore partially led to the destruction of the Native American way of life. The white Americans quickly claimed land and would move the Plains Indians around as they saw fit, usually affected by where gold had recently been discovered. This culminated in putting the Native Americans on reservations. In many of the agreements and treaties signed over land the settlers would claim never to go back on their promises “as long as grass grew” and “the mountains stood”. Breaking the promises would have shown the Native Americans that the settlers thought little of their intelligence, and also would instil a lack of trust in the settlers, as now every apparently solemn vow to not attack certain areas or to treat the Plains Indians better etc.
Franklin Roosevelt also had a dispute with the United States Supreme Court due to the fact that several of his acts were considered to be unconstitutional and the Supreme Court wasn’t exactly a fan of the New Deal. To start, Franklin Roosevelt created several organizations with regards to conservation and housing. For the conservation aspect, Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps. This officially put two hundred and fifty thousand unemployed men to work in the development of national parks across the country. As for housing, he created the Federal Housing Act.
Andrew Jackson, Congress, the Supreme Court, the state of Georgia and the Cherokee themselves all had huge roles in the Removal, but who had the biggest part? Most people in the modern world would argue that it was all Jackson’s fault. If he hadn’t continued John Quincy Adam’s policy to enact the Indian Removal Act of 1830 then none of this would have happened. Forcibly
However, although there was a peaceful negotiation between the two, there were certain people that disliked the Cherokees and did not have the same optimistic opinion about them. The Anglo-Americans had different attitudes toward the Cherokee Indians, whether they wanted to help them settle or whether they wanted to remove them from the land. There were mixed feelings between George Washington’s willingness to support them, Andrew Jackson’s detestation towards them, and the missionaries’ compassion, which ended up greatly affecting the Cherokee culture. George Washington had a positive outlook on the Cherokees and he happened to share this view with Henry Knox, who was his Secretary of War. “Knox believed that the tribes were sovereign, independent nations and that the United States should recognize and respect their rights to autonomous self-government within their borders,” (Perdue and Green 10).
Turner Essay Since the American frontier had been closed up, many complications began arising. Frederick Jackson Turner, one of the most influential Americans of the time period wrote a work, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” which stated his opinion of the topic. Turner thought the frontier was the main reason for the success in America. Once closed, America lost many important resources it’s once had. Then, after McKinley declared war upon the Spanish in 1889, America could use imperialism to gain land and power in the world.