Walking "the same path" : Indian voices and the issues of removal

The Congressional debate over the Indian Removal Act in the spring of 1830 represented a synthesis of the arguments that had focused national attention throughout the 1820s on the Indians' rights and capacity for becoming part of "the American family." The defining of the issues is evident from a survey of three prominent journals of the 1820s, North American Review, Niles' Weekly Register, and The National Intelligencer. Journalists, academicians, government officials, and clergy considered the fate of the Indians in light of three recurring questions: Who had the rights to the land? Could Indians and whites co-exist? What role should the Indian play in the historical and literary narrating of America