Please do a 400 word discussion answering the following questions. I dont want a title page and dont site references. Just a 400 word discussion.
1. First, how did the Indian Removal plans/policies emerge based on this week and last weeks materials?
2. Next, please rhetorically analyze Andrew Jacksons speeches (inaugural and second annual message.) How would you analyze 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 Jacksons Letter to the Cherokee. What about the tone, intended audience, and purpose in the letter? What were some key quotes/parts that stood out to you, and why?
4. Lastly, what aspects of the chapter Jacksons White Republic stood out to you? What, in your opinion, was a key passage or quote, and why? What are your overall thoughts/reactions to this weeks materials?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jackson1.a
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/
After this discussion please respond to this students discussion down below in 200 words: these are some guiding questions for the response:
1) What similar points did your peer bring up that you also brought up in your initial post?
2) What points did your peer bring up that differed from what you discussed?
3) How did your peers post or perspective change/enrich/enlighten your thinking about a particular weeks materials?
4) What areas could you elaborate on for your peer? Can you expand on what they are saying by bringing up your own experiences or share related materials/connections to materials from previous modules?
Please respond to this student in 200 words, use the questions above to guide you:
Based on the material from the past two weeks, the Indian Removal policies emerged primarily due to Native resistance to Jacksons attempt to assimilate them into American culture. Jackson realized the Indians would not listen to him so he called for them to exchange their tribal lands in the east for non-inhabited lands in the west.
While reading through Andrew Jacksons first inaugural address, his second annual address, and then his letter to the Cherokee tribe, I felt as if each piece was written/said from a completely different person with completely different values and goals. Regarding Jacksons first inaugural address, I felt that he seemed very sincere and really cared about strengthening the relationship between the United States and the indigenous tribes. The way he presented himself seemed as if he was unconditionally willing to find a solution that would treat the Indians justly, which can be seen when he said that it will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people.
Moving on to his second annual address, its clear that his motives have changed and that the only way for the indigenous tribes to live peacefully in the United States is to either assimilate to the American way of life or to give up their lands and settle on the western portion of the United States. While his propositions are very hostile in nature, Jackson really tries to convince the citizens of the U.S. that his propositions are the best-case scenario for both the U.S. and the Indians. His true colors and attitude toward the Indians start to emerge during this address when he states that the Indian Removal Act will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. Its evident that he does not consider the Indians equal to the white citizens of the U.S. and is really looking out for his countrys best interest with complete disregard to the indigenous tribes that have lived there for centuries.
Andrew Jacksons Letter to the Cherokee reflected a similar attitude to his Second Annual Address where he intended to come off as fair and considerate but really, he was extremely hostile towards the Cherokee Indians. He starts off by listing off the reasons why the Cherokee must move out of their lands and continues by stating the benefits they are going to receive in return for leaving their homes; overall, just really trying to convince them that this is the best and rightful thing to happen regarding the entire Indian Removal Act. The hostility really shows towards the end of the letter where he informs them of the consequences that will take place if they choose not to by abide by his terms. Connecting this letter to his first inaugural address, I feel that it is clear Andrew Jackson never intended to go about relations with the Indians in the humane and considerate way he said he would.
The key points that stood out to me in this weeks readings include the way that Jackson is so relentless but determined in making sure that anyone living on U.S. territory must follow an assimilate with American culture. One quote that stands out to me and summarizes his presidency as a whole is the dispossession of the Indians
did not happen once and for all in the beginning. America was continually beginning again on the frontier, and as it expanded across the continent, it killed, removed, and drove into extinction one tribe after another. This quote really shows the constant hatred and brutality against the Indians from the day the colonists first set foot in America and the ongoing process as civilization across the U.S. expanded.