Ap World History Dbq Research Paper

At the beginning of the 1500s, Indians suffered the deadly epidemics which took from Europeans, however, they believe that is god’s willing to punish them. After that, European countries were trying to brake Indian people. The Native population of North America fell by more than 70 percent between fifteenth-century and nineteenth-century. Europeans judged Native people by Europeans values, social orders and gender assumption caused the policy of removing Indian people from east to west. Indians Removal Act passed by U.S congress in 1830. Many Indians didn’t know the truth behind the Congress sanctioned. The Indians have to choose between adapt Americans way of life or leave their home. Natives American who had large military force and took control of the lands were attached most of attention. Only smaller Indian nations were less affected but were restricted to small areas.
In the Thomas Jeffersons’ view of America was to be agriculturally based.
He applied this view as President in his dealings with the Indians. He wrote to William Harrison, governor of the Indiana territory, and stated: “they will perceive how useless to them are their extensive forests and will be willing to pare them off from time to time in exchange for necessaries for their farms and families” (Calloway 266-267). Although his view was that Indians were inferior, he at least thought them capable of making progress. President Jackson hold a much harsher view, “What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few savages to our extensive republic” (Calloway 268). Where Jefferson had some measure of civility Jackson had none. Jackson wanted the Indians removed from their lands east of the Mississippi, especially the Cherokee, and he used the force of the American government to that
end. “The Cherokees seemed to have everything the United States required of them to take place in the new nation as a self-supporting, functioning republic of farmers” (Calloway 270). Cherokees are powerful because they had a written language. They even have their own newspaper published in both Cherokee and English. The Cherokees decided to adapt to American civilization, accepting their clothing styles and agriculture. “The South was producing half the cotton consumed in the world and growing rich from shipping most of it to England. In many Southerner’s eyes, Cherokee lands were too valuable to be left in the hands of the Indians” (Calloway 272). Cherokees modeled on the U.S Constitution restructure their government. They seems to fit in any standard of civilized society. They even had slaves of their own. However, American government determined that too much land for Indians to become civilized and they would not allow for Indian equality. Gold was discovered on Cherokee land in Georgia causes a problem between Georgia state and the Supreme Court. Cherokees decided to fight with the state of Georgia in federal court. In the case “Worcester V. Georgia”, the court found that the Cherokee was “a distinct community, occupying its own territory” and “The laws of Georgia can have no force” (Calloway 272). As Chief Justice John Marshall declared that they were domestic independent nations. That means Georgia had no right to take Cherokees’ land. This was one of most important statements about Indian rights and sovereignty and most relevant to political aspirations of Indian peoples today. Same thing happened in California, a millwright named James Marshall discovered gold along California’s American River On January 24, 1848. It changed the West of America prompting the largest migration in the history of the North America. The Indian numbers had been reduced from 300,000 to 30,000 with in next twenty years. Within months, however, the largest gold rush in the world had begun with miners arriving in California from places around the globe.