San Diego State University Discussion

1. First, how did the Indian Removal plans/policies emerge based on this week and last week’s materials? 

2. Next, please rhetorically analyze Andrew Jackson’s speeches  (inaugural and second annual message.) How would you describe the overall language/tone Jackson uses in his speeches? How does his  language/tone change with each speech? Who is his intended audience in  each speech, and what are his goals regarding dealings with American  Indian tribes? What kind of patterns or trajectory do you notice?

3. After, please rhetorically analyze Andrew Jackson’s” Letter to the  Cherokee”. Who was the intended audience, and what was the purpose? How  would you describe his tone and word choice? What historical allusions  does he use? What were some key quotes/parts that stood out to you, and  why?

4. What aspects of the chapter “Jackson’s White Republic” stood out  to you? What, in your opinion, was a key passage or quote, and why?

5. Lastly, please share your overall thoughts/reactions/connections to this week’s materials. 

here are the whole materials

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-cheroke…

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jackson1….

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/e…

This is my peer work ( I need. 200 words minimum as a reply).

1. The Indian Removal plans/policies emerged in 1823 where the Supreme Court decided that Indians could occupy land in the United States, but they would not hold the title for that land. As a result, the Indian nations of the Cherokee, Creeks, and Chickasaw implemented policies that would limit land sales to the government in hopes of protecting their land. There was also the First Seminole War that was brought out in an attempt by the Creeks and the Seminoles to protect their territories. Jackson was a big part in these changes as he implemented the “Indian Removal Act” in congress. The Creeks refused to emigrate, until the 1836 Secretary War ordered their removal. The Chickasaws did not resist and migrated, while the Cherokee were tricked with a false treaty for their removal. The Cherokee were then forced by the U.S. government for their removal and began the march known as the “Trail of Tears” where several of their people suffered on their way to the western lands. In 1837 Jackson had succeeded in removing most of the Native American people from their land and secured treaties, which I believe was a turning point in the Indian Removal plans and policies.
2. In Andrew Jackson’s first inaugural speech, his tone is very assertive in making positive changes that included rights for the people. He seemed to be considerate and empathetic to the building a relationship between the United States and the Indigenous tribes that was consistent with the government, but in a way that helped the country. However in the second annual message, his tone appears to shift negatively in which the Indian people are portrayed as “savages” and not equal to the white population of the U.S. at the time. Jackson is more invested and interested in the development of the country for blessings of liberty, civilization and religion at the cost of the freedom of the Indigenous people. I believe that the consistent patterns I noticed were that he did not intend to be fair and only cared about the interests or benefits of his own people. Jackson consistently disregarded the rights of the Indigenous people.
3. In the “Letter to the Cherokee” the tone is similar to that of the “Second Annual Message”. He addresses the letter to “my friends” and continues to deliberate what he is interested in considering the circumstances. As you continue to read the letter it is clear that Jackson is interested in removing the Cherokee people from their home land. He is hostile in his statements and further emphasizes how the Indian Removal Act would be the right thing. I feel as though his words in the letter were condescending and demeaning towards the Indigenous tribe in the way he insinuated that his advice is the only one that should be taken. The historical allusions he uses are in reference to Jackson eventually signing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. He repeatedly argues in his letter that the Cherokee people should leave the land west of the Mississippi River and acts upon his intentions to do just that. When Jackson says, “Most of your people are uneducated, and are liable to be brought into collision at all times with their white neighbors. Your young men are acquiring habits of intoxication” it really shocked me. It is upsetting to read the way he thought about the Indeginous people in such an inferior way when he most likely knew nothing about them. When he mentions his intentions as not stemming from deceitfulness, but to promote their welfare, I would say it is a pretty big lie he stated amongst the others he told in this letter.
4. What stood out to me in the chapter “Jackson’s White Republic” was when his background was being described and it is mentioned that he was a veteran Indian killer. This doesn’t surprise me considering his intentions to get rid of the Indigenous people as a whole. It is also stated that, “The Muskogee War thus inscribed a US policy of ethnic cleansing onto an entire Indigenous population. The policy originated by Andrew Jackson in that war would be reconfirmed politically when he became president in 1828” (100). This quote stood out to be because it depicts what Jackson’s intentions were going into his presidency.
5. This week’s materials made me reflect and open my eyes more to the injustices that our country has been a part of ever since the beginning. It really made me upset reading the way that Jackson addressed the Indigenous people with such disrespect and disregard for their human rights. However, overall I am glad that this week I got to further understand the history behind the injustices that were brought upon the Indigenous people and be more knowledgeable in this topic.