Question

Cherokee Nation’s Chief John Ross Annual Message, 1831
It will be recollected that the President of the United States [Andrew Jackson], at an early day after his induction into office, made us a declaratory and positive assurance that so far as we had rights we should be protected in them, and that “an interference to the extent of affording protection to the Cherokees, and the occupancy of their soil, is what is demanded of the justice of the U.S. and will not be withheld”, and that “the intruders would be removed.

1. How does the statement by Cherokee Chief John Ross compare and contrast with President Andrew Jackson’s Second Annual Message to Congress in 1830?


2. What power did Chief Ross and other Native Americans have in trying to fight Indian Removal?

use simple words and 1-2 sentences

Answer 1

1. Ross says Jackson promised to protect Cherokee lands and remove illegal settlers, but Jackson’s 1830 message actually asked Congress to approve moving Native peoples west, so Jackson’s policy favored removal more than keeping Cherokee land.

2. They had little real power: they could sue in U.S. courts, make treaties, and petition the government, but they lacked the military and political force to stop state and federal removal actions.