Slavery and American Indians

Slavery and American Indians

How did the issue of slavery shape events during Jackson's presidency?

The Compromise of 1833 held off war, but the questions of slavery, states' rights, and the role of the federal government continued to challenge the nation throughout Jackson's presidency.

Growing Abolitionism in the North By 1804, all states north of the Ohio River had abolished slavery or begun the process of gradual emancipation (freeing of enslaved persons). The North was also the center of abolitionism, the movement to abolish slavery entirely. Societies formed to support this cause, and newspapers were printed to gain its support. Many abolitionists were involved in the Underground Railroad, a system of that helped escaping slaves flee to the North and Canada.

While the North was not united in its opposition to slavery, and not all southerns were pro-slavery, the issue increasingly drove a wedge between northerners and southerners during the mid-1800s.

​Underground Railroad a route by which volunteers helped escaped southern slaves flee to the northern United States or Canada

How did the issue of slavery shape events during Jackson's presidency?

The South's Slave-Based Economy In most of the South, slavery was not only the backbone of the economy but central to the southern way of life. The cash crops grown in the South depended on enslaved labor. Because slavery was such a large part of people's everyday lives, it was not questioned as it was in the North. Under the law, enslaved persons were the "property" of their slaveholders.

As they did win the Nullification Crisis, southerners called on the theory of states' rights to defend their reliance on slavery. The Constitution gave weight to their argument, as it left matters dealing with slavery to the states. The abolitionist movement grew, and people began to pay more attention to the moral issue of slavery. Still, most white southern leaders continued to believe that the Constitution gave states the right to handle their own affairs regarding slavery.

Multiple Choice

The theory of states' rights was used to justify --

• the Underground Railroad

• declaration of war

• abolitionism

• the system of slavery

How did the issue of slavery shape events during Jackson's presidency?

Free States and Slave States As the nation expanded westward, new states were admitted to the Union. An increasingly divided North and South disagreed on the issue of slavery in these new states. The North wanted them to ban slavery; the South wanted them to allow slavery. Congress worked out compromises to make sure that a balance was maintained between Free and slave states.

Despite Jackson's disregard of states' rights in the Nullification Crisis, he supported the states on the issue of slavery. He personally owned many enslaved persons during his lifetime.

How did policies during the Jacksonian Age affect American Indians?

During Jackson's presidency, the government systematically removed American Indians to undesirable western lands. This was done to allow white Americans to settle on their lands.

The Indian Removal Act During his military career, Jackson was an instrument of American Indian removal. White settlers wanted more land and pressed the government to get it by removing American Indians. Troops under Jackson had fought the Seminoles in Florida and other American Indian groups. The treaties that Jackson concluded with the defeated groups secured their land for the United States.

As president, Jackson continued his policy of American Indian removal. He signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, authorizing the president to negotiate with American Indian groups to gain their land in exchange for new lands west of the Mississippi.

Indian Removal Act an 1830 act allowing the president to negotiate with American Indian groups for their lands west of the Mississippi River

Multiple Choice

The Supreme Court ruled that the relation of the Cherokees to the U.S. government was that of a "ward to his guardian."

How could you infer that his decision is from the first Supreme Court case brought by the Cherokees?

• It confirms that each Cherokee living in the United States was a ward of the federal government.

• It describes the Cherokees as dependents, rather than as a sovereign nation.

• It grants the Cherokees sovereignty.

• It describes the Cherokees' action of appealing the decision.

How did policies during the Jacksonian Age affect American Indians?

Worcester v. Georgia In 1823, the Supreme Court ruled that American Indian groups could not hold title to their own lands. In response, the Cherokees adopted a constitution claiming sovereign status, or the right of self-rule. Using legal means to get this status, they took their case to the Supreme Court with Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831). The Court ruled against them, but they tried again. This time, in the case of Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the Court ruled in favor of the Cherokees. The state of Georgia refused to abide by the Court's decision, however, President Jackson sided with Georgia and declared, "[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court]John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it."

Worcester v. Georgia an 1832 Supreme Court decision saying the Cherokee Nation had sovereign status

How did policies during the Jacksonian Age affect American Indians?

Trail of Tears Over the next few years, Georgia began to remove the Cherokees from the state. This culminated with the U.S. military forcing the last Cherokees from the state in 1838, in a brutal and deadly march now known as the Trail of Tears. Though Jackson was no longer president at this time, the policy was his.

Jackson Leaves Office The Trail of Tears became part of Jackson's complex legacy. His time in office, referred to as the Age of Jackson, ushered in the birth of what would become the modern Democratic Party and the expansion of the electorate. It also reflected ongoing discrimination against American Indians and a commitment to slavery. Jackson's policies were largely continued after 1838 with his successor, Democrat Martin Van Buren. In 1840, however, the Whigs under William Henry Harrison took the presidency.

Trail of Tears the deadly forced march of Cherokees from Georgia to Indian Territory

Multiple Choice

Cherokees! The President of the United States has sent me, with a powerful army, to cause you...to join...your people who are already established in prosperity, on the other side of the Mississippi...The full moon of May is already on the wane, and before another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman and child...must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West.

--Proclamation by General Winfield Scott, May 1838

What even followed from this proclamation?

• Worcester v. Georgia

• the end of the Seminole Wars

• the Trail of Tears

• the creation of Indian Territory