By the beginning of the 19th century the United States was a rapidly expanding country. The early white settlers met their growth with an ever increasing hunger for land, and resources. As colonists began moving into the lower South they met an obstacle, the Southern regions were home to several Indian tribes, such as the Cherokee in Georgia. In the opinion of the settlers, the Indians were standing in the way of advancement. Despite many failed attempts, the settlers and Indians could not peacefully assimilate.
Although there is a debate over whether Indian removal was necessary for westward expansion, I believe that due to the mind set of white settlers and other prominent American figures, such as Andrew Jackson, expansion would not, and could not have taken place without the removal of Native Americans. As expansion began, many tribes tried to adopt Anglo-American practices. These attempts only ignited feelings of hostility and bitterness in white settlers. The government devised many treaties with several tribes that they later broke, or refused to uphold. This Indian-hating mentality left little chance for the Native tribes to find peace among the settlers, making removal inevitable. .
Among several attempts to find peace with the white settlers, one method was to try to adopt the practices of the colonist. The southwest tribes that felt the earliest effects of expansion were the Cherokees. The Cherokees, rather than resort to violent methods of preventing removal, tried to peacefully assimilate to the "white" way of life. They adopted methods of large scale farming, western education, and Christianity all in attempt to remain in peaceful unity with white settlers. In "Joseph Fish Preaches to the Narrangansett Indians," he describes several accounts of native Americans living in assimilated tribes. "Found the school kept as usual, and more scholars, of late, attending: about 15 children, pretty steadily coming to school.
