The Indian Removal Act

1. A marketable “elevator speech” about the research

President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law in May 1830. This law authorized President Jackson to negotiate with the numerous southern Native tribes to vacate the federal territory located in the western side of the Mississippi River (Stewart, 2017). The federal government wanted this area to be inhabited by the white settlers. Many scholars have criticized this Act for the unfairness acts it meted on the Native American tribes that lived in these regions for thousands of years, yet they were required to move and pave the way for the white settlers who were immigrating into the country from their native lands in Europe. This Act has been equated to a dictatorial act of systematic genocide because its effects were very detrimental to the Native Americans (Bowes, 2016). They were discriminated against by the government of that time to a point where the majority of them were facing certain death as their primary economic resource, which was agricultural land, was taken away from them to accommodate white settlers (Dilis, 2017). These concerns did not move the Andrew Jackson administration because it went on to enforce the act through Martin Van Buren, who was very ruthless in dealing with the native tribes. 

2. How I Will Conduct the Research

A research methodology is one of the most critical components of research. Therefore, researchers should ensure that they have a sound research methodology in place to make sure they have access to the data, information, and all-important resources they need to complete their research successfully. For this research, I intend to visit libraries as they have many primary sources that talk about the Indian Removal Act and the effects it had on the Native Americans, as well as the white settlers. In these libraries, I will also find newspapers from that period that talk about the Act. I might even find papers with interviews or stories of the effects of the Act as narrated by Native Americans. This will be very useful for this publication, as it will enable me to capture how this Act impacted the native population and how they went on to live their lives after they had been relocated. Another critical avenue that will act as a good source of information for this research will be online publications. These publications are found online and one advantage of using these publications is that they are a collection of authenticated sources. This means the information in these publications is reliable and factual.  

3. Timeline for this research

It is essential to have deadlines when doing a study for the chosen topic, as this is what guides one to know what they are expected to deliver at what particular time. This research should take me a total of about 50 days for it to be done for it to be presented for reviewing and be published in one of the peer-reviewed journals.

1. Research

The research is the segment that will take most of the time. This segment should take about 30 days. I have allocated so much time for this segment because I want to conduct thorough research to ensure that I get all the required information and facts about the Act and how its implementation impacted different people.

2. Writing

Writing of the report should take about 15 days. I will use these days to ensure that my writing is formal, I have used the correct format required in academic writing, as well as providing and ensuring all the references are done right to avoid plagiarism

3. editing timeline

After I am done with writing, I will take about five days to proofread and edit my paper. I will also go through all the references one more time to ensure I have credited all the sources as required.

4. Development of a support network

In doing this research, I will ensure that I have a strong network of who will be guiding and helping me in my work. I will also be giving them my work to go through it and review it. This is one of the ways that I will use to improve my work. My network will include:

• My professor
• My fellow students
• Other scholars who are versant with American history, especially those who are experts in the field of Native American history

5. Funding for the research project

Funding of research project is one of the most critical aspects of research. Funding enables a researcher to move from one place to another, looking for relevant information, data, and statistics that can help in research. I intend to ensure my research project is well funded, and these are the avenues where I will use to support the project

• I will contribute about USD$ 500 towards the project
• I will then approach the Native American museum for some grant
• I will ask the history faculty in my university to fund me as well

6. Finding an appropriate publisher

Finding the best publisher is one of the most critical segments of research projects. I will look for several reputable publishers who publish historical books and research projects. Some publishers I will consider will include:

• American History Press
• Arcadia publishers
• Routledge Taylor & Francis Group