Answer: To provide white settlers access to Native American territories
Why did President Andrew Jackson plan to move Native Americans to new lands?

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28 1830 by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands. The act has been referred to as a unitary act of systematic genocide becaus…

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28 1830 by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands . The act has been referred to as a unitary act of systematic genocide because it discriminated against an ethnic group in so far as to make certain the death of vast numbers of its population. The Act was signed by Andrew Jackson and it was strongly enforced under his administration and that of Martin Van Buren which extended until 1841. The Act was strongly supported by southern and northwestern populations but was opposed by native tribes and the Whig Party. The Cherokee worked together to stop this relocation but were unsuccessful; they were eventually forcibly removed by the United States government in a march to the west that later became known as the Trail of Tears.

Sharing European civilization When Europeans and Native Americans came into contact during colonial times or in the early United States the Europeans felt their civilization to be superior: they had writing navigation and Christianity. The obvious solution whose validity was not even debated until much later was to share their …

Sharing European civilization When Europeans and Native Americans came into contact during colonial times or in the early United States the Europeans felt their civilization to be superior: they had writing navigation and Christianity. The obvious solution whose validity was not even debated until much later was to share their civilization with the Native Americans and for them to adopt European civilization. This acculturation was originally proposed by George Washington and was well underway among the Cherokee and the Choctaw by the beginning of the 19th century. Indians were encouraged to adopt European customs. First they must convert to Christianity and abandon "pagan" practices. They should also learn to speak and read English although there was a small-scale interest in creating a writing and printing system for a few Native languages especially Cherokee .. The Native Americans had to adopt monogamous heterosexual marriage and abandon non-marital sex. Finally they had to accept the concept of individual ownership of land and other property (including in some instances African slaves). Thomas Jefferson s policy echoed that of Washington's: respect the Indians' rights to their homelands and allow the Five Civilized Tribes to remain east of the Mississippi provided that they adopted behavior and cultural practices that were compatible with t...

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