The arguments in support of Indian Removal centered around the belief that it would open up valuable land for white settlement and economic development. Andrew Jackson himself argued in his message to Congress, that relocating Native American tribes to the West would protect them from encroachment by white settlers and allow them to maintain their traditional way of life. Cave Johnson claimed in his letter to President Jackson that relocating the Indians would prevent conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers, leading to more peaceful coexistence. Emerson, in his letter to Martin Van Buren about the Indian Removal Act, argued that it was a violation of Native American sovereignty and rights. They contended that forcibly removing
