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Lesson

Responses to the Cherokee Removal Mini DBQ

Duration
95 min
Grade
9–12
Published
Nov 15, 2020
Portrait of a Native American man with traditional feathered headdress and painted face.
This Lesson can be used alongside The Trail of Tears Narrative to highlight the plight of American Indians during the Jackson presidency.

Objectives:

  • Students will be able to analyze the responses in favor of and protesting against the policy of American Indian tribe removal by examining primary source documents and answering questions.
  • Students will evaluate in a persuasive essay if the policy of American Indian removal was consistent with the ideals of the Founding of the United States.

Materials

Handout A: Student Document Packet

  • Document 1: Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
  • Document 2: President Andrew Jackson’s message to Congress, December 6, 1830
  • Document 3: Letter from the Representatives of the Religious Society of Friends to the Senate and House of Representatives, January 5, 1830
  • Document 4: Treaty of New Echota, December 29, 1835
  • Document 5: Letter from Chief John Ross to the Senate and House of Representatives, September 28, 1836

Lesson Components

ActivityResponses to the Cherokee Removal Mini DBQ Student Packet

Five documents that explore the question to what extent was the policy of American Indian removal consistent with the principles and values of the Founding of the United States?

Lesson plan

95 minClick a phase to open it

More Information

Students should work in pairs throughout this lesson. They will collaborate in decoding the various documents and coming to conclusions from them.

Standards

Advanced Placement

  • Topic 4.8 · Jackson and Federal Power
  • Theme · Politics and Power
  • Learning Objective · Unit 4H
  • Historical Development · 4.3.I.B
  • Reasoning Skill · Developments and Processes
  • Reasoning Skill · Sourcing and Situation
  • Reasoning Skill · Source Claims and Evidence
  • Reasoning Skill · Contextualization
  • Reasoning Skill · Making Connections
  • Reasoning Skill · Argumentation
  • Reasoning Process · Continuity and Change

Check whether this resource aligns with your state’s standards →

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