Jacksonian Era: The Indian Removal Acts
Jim Brandsma
Lake City Middle School
Reading Tasks: (Within template)
Vocabulary Tasks: (Within template)
Discussion Tasks: (Within Template)
Writing Tasks:
Essential Question(s): (Within Template)
Text Selection (Background):
Target Span: 8th grade Social Studies
Reading Standards hit: R1, R2, R3, R4, R5
Writing Standards hit:
Directions/Introduction
As written, this lesson will guide students through multiple days of looking at a historical document. It is
meant to be a teachable model, but is freely available to be changed based on your students own
unique needs.
What should be understood however, is that with the Common Core State Standards covering literacy in
Social Studies, we need to give our students rich, complex texts in order to deepen their understanding
of our important content, as well as give them opportunities to practice literacy across the content
areas. If this is their first time, it may be rough, but students will get better at it the more practice they
have.
We chose to follow the advice of Mike Schmoker, who, in his book Focus: Elevating the Essentials to
Radically Improve Student Learning, recommends that any vocabulary which could hinder a student’s
understanding be taught in advance (Schmoker, 2011). The Core standards call for students to be able
to identify the meaning of words by the context in which they are used (National Governors Association,
2011), and by pre-teaching the vocabulary here, students still have to do this important step, even
though the vocabulary was taught in advance.
In trying to provide a research based model, for vocabulary we’re following Marzano. Marzano
identifies six steps to teaching vocabulary. We will be combining two steps (provide and restate) and
eliminating step 6 which is practicing with games (Marzano & Pickering, 2005). You may adapt the
lesson to include this step if you choose.
The recommended model for teaching each day is as follows:
Day 1: Provide Student Handout to students. Their document is complete and should be referred to
every day of the lesson. You would then do vocabulary instruction as a group (just the words for the day
from the teacher handout) and then follow the teacher directions within the document itself.
Day 2: Begin with vocabulary instructions, then follow the directions in the teacher Stage 2 handouts.
Day 3: Begin with vocabulary instruction, then follow the directions in the teacher Stage 3 handouts.
How you choose to assess this beyond what is provided here is up to you, but a discussion and activity
based around the focus question is included in Day 3.
Section/Stage 1 Teacher Page
Text Under Discussion
Vocabulary
President Andrew Jackson's Case for the
Removal Act First Annual Message to
Congress, 8 December 1829
The present policy of the Government is but a
continuation of the same progressive change by a
milder process. The tribes which occupied the
countries now constituting the Eastern States were
annihilated or have melted away to make room for
the whites. (Section 1)
The waves of population and civilization are rolling
to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the
countries occupied by the red men of the South and
West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the
United States, to send them to a land where their
existence may be prolonged and perhaps made
perpetual. (Section 2)
Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of
Continuation
Annihilated
Fair Exchange
Perpetual
Directions for Teachers
Ask Students: What can be learned from the
title of the document?
1. Who is the author? What is the date?
2. Who is the intended Audience?
3. What can be inferred re: the topic of the
document? (Use prior knowledge)
(Section 1) Ask Students: Can you summarize
this passage?
1. What is Jackson suggesting regarding
earlier government policy and this new
“present policy”?
2. How does Jackson describe removal versus
policy toward NA in the past? (“milder
process”)
3. Under past government practices, what
happened to tribes? (“annihilated and
melted away”)
(Section 2) Ask Students: Can you summarize
this passage?
1. Why does Jackson use the words “Fair
exchange”? Do you believe that this is
accurate? Give reasons for why or why not?
2 According to Jackson, how might moving NA
west actually benefit them? Give two specific
words used in the passage as examples.
(“Prolonged and perpetual”)
(Section 3) Ask Students: Who does Jackson
compare the NA to in this passage?
their fathers; but what do they more than our
ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To
better their condition in an unknown land our
forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects.
Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of
their birth to seek new homes in distant regions.
Does Humanity weep at these painful separations
from everything, animate and inanimate, with
which the young heart has become entwined? Far
from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country
affords scope where our young population may
range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing
the power and faculties of man in their highest
perfection. (Section 3)
These remove hundreds and almost thousands of
miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they
occupy, and support themselves at their new homes
from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in
this Government when, by events which it can not
control, the Indian is made discontented in his
ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a
new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of
his removal, and support him a year in his new
1. How is NA removal from their lands
different from the voluntary movement of
whites?
Animate
Inanimate
Unconstrained
Discontented
Abode
(Section 4) Ask Students: Can you list 4
reasons that the NA should not be
discontented with removal to new lands?
What 4 reasons does Jackson give?
1. Indians will be able to purchase their own
lands.
2. Indians will be given new and extensive
territory that will be their own
3. The U.S. Government will pay the expense
of removal
4. The U.S. Government will support NA for a
year.
Ask Students: Would Jackson’s reasoning be a
compelling enough argument to make you
leave your home?
abode? How many thousands of our own people
would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing
to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to
the Indians were extended to them, they would be
hailed with gratitude and joy.
Hailed
(Extension) Have Students: Define
1. Manifest Destiny
2. Patronage
Ask Students:
1. How is Jackson’s arguments an example of
Manifest Destiny? How is it an example of
Patronage? (Make sure students use a
Stage 1 – Additional Information/Instructions/Performance Tasks
Student Page
Text Under Discussion
Vocabulary
President Andrew Jackson's Case for the
Removal Act First Annual Message to
Congress, 8 December 1829
The present policy of the Government is but a
continuation of the same progressive change by a
milder process. The tribes which occupied the
countries now constituting the Eastern States were
annihilated or have melted away to make room for
the whites. (Section 1)
The waves of population and civilization are rolling
to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the
countries occupied by the red men of the South and
West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the
United States, to send them to a land where their
existence may be prolonged and perhaps made
perpetual. (Section 2)
Continuation
Annihilated
Fair Exchange
Perpetual
My Thoughts/Notes
Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of
their fathers; but what do they more than our
ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To
better their condition in an unknown land our
forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects.
Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of
their birth to seek new homes in distant regions.
Does Humanity weep at these painful separations
from everything, animate and inanimate, with
which the young heart has become entwined? Far
from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country
affords scope where our young population may
range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing
the power and faculties of man in their highest
perfection. (Section 3)
These remove hundreds and almost thousands of
miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they
occupy, and support themselves at their new homes
from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in
this Government when, by events which it can not
control, the Indian is made discontented in his
ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a
new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of
Animate
Inanimate
Unconstrained
Discontented
his removal, and support him a year in his new
abode? How many thousands of our own people
would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing
to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to
the Indians were extended to them, they would be
hailed with gratitude and joy.
Abode
Hailed