Indian Removal Act

1.      Why did the United States fight or negotiate with dozens of Indian groups for the lands in the Louisiana Territory?

The US demand for land was strong. More and more settlers, miners, and other workers were moving west and looking for more land to settle. Some leaders wanted to negotiate because they saw the territory that they would acquire in the Louisiana territory as areas where they could either settle or move the Indians to giving more local Indian lands over to white agriculture and trade.

2.       In what ways did the Cherokees assimilate U.S. values and customs?

The Cherokees in Georgia created a government modeled on that of the United States. Cherokee famers participated in the cotton economy and some had African American slaves on their plantations. The Cherokees adopted a written constitution and declared themselves to be an independent nation and produced a newspaper and books. In spite of their attempts to assimilate into white society, they were not accepted. They prospered too well in the minds of their white neighbors who in fact believed there were limits to assimilation. Indian groups were expected to adopt US customs but also were expected to give up their cultural and political independence and their land. Georgia created a special police force to enforce Georgian laws on Cherokee lands and passed laws intended to make Cherokee life miserable in order to force them to leave their lands.