Syllabus: HSTY2034

Week 9: The Market Revolution and Jacksonian Democracy

Lecture 1: The Jacksonian Era
Lecture 2: Egalitarianism, Racism and Separate Spheres

Tutorial: The Trail of Tears

Essential Reading:

Indian Removal Act of 1830 (Course Reader).
Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1830 (Course Reader).
Extracts from Jackson's Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 1835 (Course Reader).
Memorial of the Citizens of Massachusetts and Draft Protest Against the Principles and Policy of Indian Bill (Course Reader).
Address of the 'Committee and Council of the Cherokee Nation in General Council Convened' to the People of the United States (Course Reader).
Take a quick look at the following sites for a brief history of the Cherokee nation and the history of Indian removal: http://www.ngeorgia.com/history/cherokee.html

Questions:

In what ways do Jackson and his critics differ in their understanding of the nation's character, purpose and mission? What do you think is Jackson's main reason for supporting Indian removal? What social, economic, and political factors account for the timing of the Indian Removal Act? Was this Act merely a continuation of governmental policies toward Native Americans or did it represent a substantial shift in policy? What were the major results of this act?

Further Reading: Jacksonian Era and Indian Removal

Michael Rogin, Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian (New York: Knopf, 1975).

Peter C. Mancall and James H. Merrell, eds. American Encounters: Natives And Newcomers From European Contact To Indian Removal, 1500-1850 (New York: Routledge, 2000).

James M. Merrell, The Indians' New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of Removal (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989).

Ronald N. Satz, American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1975).

Harry L. Watson, Liberty and Power: The Politics of Jacksonian America (New York: Hill & Wang, 1990)

Robert V. Remini, The Life of Andrew Jackson (New York: Harper & Row, 1988).

Richard Hofstadter, The Idea of the Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840 (Berkley, University of California Press, 1969).

Optional Assignments:

For an interesting site exploring Cherokee culture and history, see: http://www.tolatsga.org/Cherokee1.html

You might also take a look at the Cherokee Phoenix - the first Indian American newspaper, which began publication in 1828.    At this site, you can find dozens of transcribed articles protesting Johnson's policies, written by members of the Cherokee nation. http://www.wcu.edu/library/CherokeePhoenix/Vol2/index.htm

Listen to an episode from the brilliant radio show "This American Life" documenting a journey taken in 1988 by two part-Cherokee sisters along the Trail of Tears: http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/98/107.html