Editing Indian removal (section)

=={{anchor|Native Americans' response to removal}}Native American response to removal==
Native groups reshaped their governments, made constitutions and legal codes, and sent delegates to Washington to negotiate policies and treaties to uphold their autonomy and ensure federally-promised protection from the encroachment of states.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Perdue |first1=Theda |title=The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents |date=2016 |publisher=Bedford/St.Martin's |location=Boston |isbn=978-1-319-04902-7 |page=12|edition=3rd}}</ref> They thought that acclimating, as the US wanted them to, would stem removal policy and create a better relationship with the federal government and surrounding states.

Native American nations had differing views about removal. Although most wanted to remain on their native lands and do anything possible to ensure that, others believed that removal to a nonwhite area was their only option to maintain their autonomy and culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faiman-Silva |first1=Sandra |title=Choctaws at the Crossroads |date=1997 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-2001-4 |page=18}}</ref> The US used this division to forge removal treaties with (often) minority groups who became convinced that removal was the best option for their people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Perdue |first1=Theda |title=The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents |date=2016 |publisher=Bedford/St.Martin's |location=Boston |isbn=978-1-319-04902-7 |page=150 |edition=3rd}}</ref> These treaties were often not acknowledged by most of a nation's people. When Congress ratified the removal treaty, the federal government could use military force to remove Native nations if they had not moved (or had begun moving) by the date stipulated in the treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/indian-treaties |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Office of the Historian |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219014902/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/indian-treaties |url-status=live }}</ref>