Question

Which answer best explains why the Cherokee were one of the last tribes to relocate under the Indian Removal Act?

Answer 1

The Cherokee fought removal through the U.S. legal system.

The Cherokee were more accepting of white settlers than other tribes.

The Indian Removal Act only applied to tribes west of the Mississippi River.

The U.S. government had treaties with the Cherokee that prevented removal.

Answer 2

I'd probably go with the first choice, the Cherokee fought removal through the US legal system.

The Cherokee were accepting of white settlers - to a point - but the election of Andrew Jackson as President (who was hostile to Native Americans) and the passage of the Indian Removal Act only served against them. But those reasons were not why they stayed put in their lands longer than the other tribes. When gold was discovered on Cherokee lands, more settlers rushed in infuriating the Cherokee but there was little that they could do.

Even though a treaty was eventually negotiated to compensate them for their land, the Cherokee remained sharply divided over it and tried fighting it using legal means until they were finally forced out.