In the years following the War of 1812, Native Americans east of the Mississippi began to face incredible pressure from white settlers encroaching on their land. This hunger for land, coupled with an anti-Indian cabinet in the White House, would lead to the persecution and eventual removal of Indian groups east of the Mississippi. Perhaps the largest Indian group affected by the removal were the Cherokees of Georgia and Alabama. The actions of the U.S. government and the Cherokees during this period would have wide-ranging consequences that would affect U.S.-Indian relations for several decades to come. This critical period in United States history would be known as the Removal Era. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To examine why the Cherokee Removal occurred, we must look separately at the different groups that pushed for this removal. The most influential group in forcing the removal of the Cherokees was both the legislature and the citizens of the state of Georgia. The primary reason for the push for removal from Georgia was the fact that a significant portion of the accepted Cherokee lands lay within Georgia's borders. This would avoid two problems in the Georgian Parliament. First, by having a portion of Georgia's land area claimed as Indian land, it greatly hampered Georgia's rapidly growing population in its efforts to continue and expand Western settlement within its state. Many, including Chief Justice John Marshall, believed that the Cherokees had a right to these lands, thus making them inaccessible to Georgian settlers. In his ruling on Cherokee sovereignty, Marshall would declare that "the Indian nations possessed a full right to the lands they occupied, until that right was extinguished by the United States, with their consent: that their territory was separate from that of any State within which agreed limits where they might reside.” (82) This not only slowed the progress of the growing state, but also put great pressure on the Georgia legislature from the state's land-hungry citizens. The other problem Cherokee lands presented to the Georgia legislature was the fact that the Cherokee Nation considered itself sovereign and therefore was under no obligation to state laws. There are several examples in the Cherokee Constitution where this is shown, notably in Sec. 15 where it says “The General Council will have the power to make all laws and regulations that it deems necessary and appropriate for the good of the Nation”. (64) This section of the Constitution shows how the Cherokees viewed themselves as a completely sovereign nation and therefore not limited by the laws established by the State of Georgia. Statements like these would have greatly angered the Georgia legislature and prompted them to hasten the removal of the Cherokees. These are the two main reasons why the state of Georgia favored removal. A surprising group in favor of removal was a significant fraction of the Cherokee people themselves. This is interesting because it shows how a portion of the Cherokee population believed that expulsion would be best for them as a people. These movers believed they could no longer survive on their current lands due to pressures imposed by Georgia. In Georgia's attempt to force the removal of the Cherokees, it passed numerous laws that discriminated against the Cherokee. Byexample, the legislature passed a law stating that "it shall not be lawful for any person or persons of the Cherokee tribe, under pretense of authority, to assemble or assemble in council for the purpose of making laws or regulations for said tribe.” (78) The document then provides a means of punishment for those who break this code: “imprisonment in the penitentiary at forced labor for a period of four years”. (78) Laws like this were intended to harass the Cherokee to the point where they would be forced to accept removal. Discriminatory laws like these are one reason many Cherokees favored impeachment. The final party to influence impeachment was the federal government and specifically the cabinet of President Andrew Jackson. One of the main reasons the national government favored removal was the depiction of the Cherokees as savages. This is what influential Cherokee John Ridge describes in his letter to the federal official when he states that "the Indians are not so addicted to vengeance as they have been represented." (42) This quote shows an attempt by Ridge to refute the stereotype of natives as bloodthirsty savages. Ridge would go on to say, “As far as intemperance is concerned, we as a nation are grossly degraded. » (42) These quotes show how the Cherokees were often considered subordinate peoples during this time. These negative stereotypes would provide justification to the national government for their removal west of the Mississippi. With all the pressure to move west of the Mississippi, many Cherokees would attempt to remain loyal to their homeland. Their reasons for opposing the idea of ​​removal varied widely. One reason many Cherokees opposed removal was because they had witnessed the terrible hardships endured by other Native groups as they traveled west of the Mississippi. These tribes were often subject to disease, bad weather, lack of provisions, and a plethora of other hardships. This would result in a staggering loss of life as they headed west. These difficulties would also be eminent during the Cherokee removal. An example of this is shown by Rebecca Neugin, a Cherokee child, who later remembers the terrible journey west. “When the soldiers came to our house, my father wanted to fight, but someone told him that the soldiers would kill him if he did and we surrendered.” (179) As this shows, most of the soldiers on this trip were far more concerned with accomplishing their mission than with the well-being of the Cherokees. Rebecca goes on to describe some of the hardships she witnessed on her journey west: “There was much disease among the emigrants and a large number of small children died of whooping cough. » (179) Disease was one of the many dangers faced by those on the Trail of Tears, and by the time the withdrawal was complete, nearly a quarter of the Cherokee population had perished. The terrible difficulties faced by those heading west were one reason why many Cherokees should have opposed removal. Another reason many Cherokees opposed removal is that they were encouraged by the Supreme Court's decision in Worchester v. Georgia. In this case, a missionary stationed in Cherokee country refused to follow Georgia law because he was under the authority of the Cherokee nation. In siding with Worchester, the Supreme Court recognized.