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Handout C: Discussion Questions (Indian Removal)

Discussion Questions

Directions: Discuss the following questions.

  1. Should Jackson have signed the Indian Removal Act into law?
  2. What action, if any, should Jackson have taken to enforce the Supreme Court decision that Georgia laws had no force against the Cherokee?
  3. Should Jackson have signed the Treaty of New Echota?
  4. Who was responsible for the Treaty of New Echota? How much responsibility belongs to Jackson? The Senate? The people?
  5. Jackson believed that each department of government had the power to interpret the Constitution. What arguments can be offered for and against this position?
  6. Is the fact that an action has been determined to be constitutional mean that that action is necessarily just or right?
  7. What should the people do when powerful branches of government do bad things?