Cherokee Removal
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A little background
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2 approaches to the Native American Issue
--Assimilation OR Removal
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In the 1790s the federal government recognized various tribes as separate
nations; founding fathers hoped to assimilate and civilize them
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But since the Louisiana Purchase (1803) the solution to the “Indian problem”
was to move them to the “Great American Desert” to make way for white
settlement
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Then Andrew Jackson becomes president
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He and his Democrats are committed to westward expansion and favor a
policy of “voluntary emigration”
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Some 94 removal treaties are signed during Jackson’s administration.
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“All preceding experiments for the improvement of the Indians have failed.
It seems now to be an established fact they can not live in contact with a
civilized community and prosper."
The Cherokee
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In accordance with white encouragement (especially missionaries) to assimilate,
the Cherokee in the American Southeast (primarily Georgia)
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Settle into agriculture (many become cotton planters) and own private
property (even African slaves)
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Establish schools (with the help of missionaries) and create a Cherokee
alphabet
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Establish a written legal code
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Write a constitution which provides for 3 branches of government
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Publish a newspaper
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They are considered one of the Five Civilized Tribes.
However. . .
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In 1828 Georgia declares the Cherokee tribal council illegal
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In 1829 gold is found on their land
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In 1830 Georgia orders white residents to get a license from
the Governor and take an oath of allegiance to the state if
they move into the Cherokee territory
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And then in 1830 Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act
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Over 100,000 Native Americans east of the Mississippi
would be relocated to Indian Territory
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And this included more than just the Cherokee
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
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Missionaries violate the 1830 licensing law and move into Cherokee land
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They are found guilty of violating the law and sentenced to four years hard labor on a chain gang
(they served 16 months)
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Plus, Georgia felt they were encouraging the Cherokee resistance movement
Appealing to the Supreme Court that the law was unconstitutional, the Marshall Court ruled
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The Cherokee are an independent nation within Georgia who possess distinct sovereign
powers and the state had no authority to trespass on them
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Indian nations were “distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural
rights” - Chief Justice John Marshall
Jackson’s response
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“John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”
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The Cherokee, and all other eastern tribes, would be removed from the East.
Cherokee claims
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This is their ancestral land
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The federal government has recognized the Cherokee as a sovereign nation
entitled to this land in many previous treaties
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The Cherokee Nation had adopted and/or developed "white ways" - assimilated
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alphabet, written language, a newspaper, a constitution, laws
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The U.S. government is violating its own founding principles of justice, rights, and
truth
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee using language supporting
their legal claims to the land they occupied
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They real leaders of the tribe DID NOT sign the Treaty of New Echota
Federal Government's Claims
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Native Americans had savage habits and needed more guidance to become civilized
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Native Americans were occupants on U.S. soil
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Removal was a win-win-win:
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Native Americans- they would get their own land out West and would no longer have to
worry about white encroachment or state authority; it's a good deal - $ and land
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States - they would no longer be at odds with the federal government over how to deal with
Native Americans; they could hand that land over to white settlement
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Federal government - solves the "Indian problem" in the East once and for all; they won't
have to argue with states any more over authority issues
Removal is in the Treaty of New Echota
Trail of Tears
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In 1835 a group of self-appointed Cherokee representatives sign the Treaty of New
Echota
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The tribe traded all land for $5 million, relocation costs, and compensation for lost
property
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Chief John Ross and 16,000 Cherokee petition Congress
By 1838 only 2,000 Cherokee have voluntarily moved
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7000 U.S. soldiers are sent to assist the Cherokee in their relocation
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A forced march (1,200 miles) of 15,000 in the winter of 1838-39
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Over 4,000 die on the journey
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By 1907, their Indian Territory became a state - Oklahoma