PSY324
Week 5 Journal
Southern New Hampshire University
PSY324
Investigate sources of perception and stereotypes.
The Cherokee removal during the mid-1800s and the Trail of Tears is an example of
damaging stereotypes. English settlers perceived Native Americans as a threat to their own
interests even though they posed little physical or military threat to the settlers. The Cherokee
people presented more of an economic threat because of the Cherokee agricultural advancements
(Introduction, n.d.). English settlers could have embraced the Cherokee, but unfortunately
tensions among the settlers and the tribe rose. More of the Cherokee tribe embraced white
culture and even were able to assimilate and excel in society. Unfortunately, the Cherokee were
always perceived as “savage” no matter how civilized they became in white culture. When gold
was discovered in 1828 in Dahlonega, Georgia within Cherokee territory, the fear of Native
American prosperity increased among the white settlers. This fear increased the desire of the
removal of the tribe from their ancestral lands (Golden, 2012).
President Andrew Jackson even use negative Indian stereotypes to gain support for the
Indian Removal Act. Jackson wanted to show the Cherokee tribe as illiterate, uncivilized
‘savage hunters’ to gain the support he needed to remove the Cherokee tribe from the rich land
(The weaponization of religion, n.d.). Jackson wanted to separate the Indians from immediate
contact with white settlements and “free them from the power of the States; enable them to
pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions” (The weaponization of
religion, n.d.). General Winfield Scott oversaw the military during the removal of the Cherokee
tribe and in his 1864 biography described the Cherokee people as generally attractive, well read,
Week 5 Journal
Southern New Hampshire University
PSY324
Investigate sources of perception and stereotypes.
The Cherokee removal during the mid-1800s and the Trail of Tears is an example of
damaging stereotypes. English settlers perceived Native Americans as a threat to their own
interests even though they posed little physical or military threat to the settlers. The Cherokee
people presented more of an economic threat because of the Cherokee agricultural advancements
(Introduction, n.d.). English settlers could have embraced the Cherokee, but unfortunately
tensions among the settlers and the tribe rose. More of the Cherokee tribe embraced white
culture and even were able to assimilate and excel in society. Unfortunately, the Cherokee were
always perceived as “savage” no matter how civilized they became in white culture. When gold
was discovered in 1828 in Dahlonega, Georgia within Cherokee territory, the fear of Native
American prosperity increased among the white settlers. This fear increased the desire of the
removal of the tribe from their ancestral lands (Golden, 2012).
President Andrew Jackson even use negative Indian stereotypes to gain support for the
Indian Removal Act. Jackson wanted to show the Cherokee tribe as illiterate, uncivilized
‘savage hunters’ to gain the support he needed to remove the Cherokee tribe from the rich land
(The weaponization of religion, n.d.). Jackson wanted to separate the Indians from immediate
contact with white settlements and “free them from the power of the States; enable them to
pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions” (The weaponization of
religion, n.d.). General Winfield Scott oversaw the military during the removal of the Cherokee
tribe and in his 1864 biography described the Cherokee people as generally attractive, well read,
