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