4.8 Jackson and Federal Power

“He [Jackson] believed that removal was the Indians’ only salvation against

certain extinction. . . .

Not that the President was motivated by concerns for the Indians . . . .

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Andrew Jackson was motivated principally by two considerations: first . . .

military safety . . . that Indians must not occupy areas that might jeopardize

the defense of this nation; and second, . . . the principle that all persons

residing within states are subject to the jurisdiction and laws of those

states. . . .

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Would it have been worse had the Indians remained in the East? Jackson

thought so. He said that they would ‘disappear and be forgotten.’ One thing

does seem certain: the Indians would have been forced to yield to state laws

and white society. Indian Nations per se would have been obliterated.”

“The Georgia legislature passed a law extending the state’s jurisdiction . . .

over the Cherokees living within the state.

Georgia’s action forced the President’s hand. He must see to it that a

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removal policy long covertly pursued by the White House would now be

enacted into law by Congress. . . .

Jackson as usual spoke publicly in a tone of friendship and concern for

Indian welfare. . . . He, as President, could be their friend only if they

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removed beyond the Mississippi, where they should have a ‘land of their

own, which they shall possess as long as Grass grows or water runs . . . .’

A harsh policy was nevertheless quickly put in place.

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It is abundantly clear that Jackson and his administration were determined

to permit the extension of state sovereignty because it would result in the

harassment of Indians, powerless to resist, by speculators and intruders

hungry for Indian land.”