Removal of the Cherokee Essay

In 1830, gold was found in Western Georgia. Unfortunately, The Cherokee had lots of land there. Settlers ignored that and began to invade western Georgia. President Andrew Jackson then decided to sign the Indian Removal Act, because he believed that assimilation wouldn’t work. This act gave him power to order the removal of any tribe at any time. In 1835, The Treaty of New Echota was signed, which said that the Cherokee would leave their land and walk to Oklahoma. They refused to leave so after two years, they were forced out. Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Government had many reasons for the removal of the Cherokee people, but the Cherokee also had many reasons for why it shouldn’t have happened. Eventually, their removal had devastating effects on the Cherokee culture.

Ever since first contact, the lives and lands of native people, European’s disease killed tens of thousands of Indians. Natives relied on Europeans goods and the mountain intruders of white settlers left most tribes with a painful choice to leave their land and head west. Cherokees were unique in trying to adapt to white culture hoping they could keep their homeland. It was in a time of hope and triumph that the Cherokee’s faith grew darker. The American Revolution. Americans were rejoicing their independence but in Indian country it was little to celebrate. When the American Revolution came to Cherokee towns, the Cherokee joined forces with the British, their trading partners (Boulware). American revenge was swift and brutal. Malicious from

The Treaty of Hopewell in 1785 established borders between the United States and the Cherokee Nation offered the Cherokees the right to send a “deputy” to Congress, and made American settlers in Cherokee territory subject to Cherokee law. With help from John Ross they helped protect the national territory. In 1825 the Cherokees capital was established, near present day Calhoun Georgia. The Cherokee National Council advised the United States that it would refuse future cession request and enacted a law prohibiting the sale of national land upon penalty of death. In 1827 the Cherokees adopted a written constitution, an act further removed by Georgia. But between the years of 1827 and 1831 the Georgia legislature extended the state’s jurisdiction over the Cherokee territory, passed laws purporting to abolish the Cherokees’ laws and government, and set in motion a process to seize the Cherokees’ lands, divide it into parcels, and other offer some to the lottery to the white Georgians.

In the South, states like Georgia had difficulties with the Cherokee Nation. These difficulties were not due to tribal violence but rather with the Cherokee occupation of the Northwest Georgia. The Cherokees flourished under the Civilization Program began by President George Washington after signing multiple treaties with the Federal government since 1785. By the time of the election of 1828, the Cherokee Nation had their own constitution, a written language, and capital at New Echota. Some Cherokees also mimicked the cultural styles of their white neighbors such as privately owning slaves used to work cotton farms.

Not knowing how to cultivate the land or domesticate animals, the Cherokee at a standstill. The Whites, who knew how to cultivate the land and domesticate animals, would have been able to utilize the land to its fullest potential instead of withering away precious resources. The Whites tried various methods to persuade the Cherokee to part with their land, but they refused and were frequently abused. “… we have come to the conclusion that this nation cannot be reinstated in its present location, and that the question left to us and to every Cherokee, is, whether it is more desirable to remain here, with all the embarrassments with which we must be surrounded, or to seek a country where we may enjoy our own laws, and live under our own vine and fig-tree.” If the Cherokee had agreed to relocate further west, they would not have had to go through adversity. The Whites would have left them alone, free to create their own laws and free to do what they wanted. The Cherokee pushed their source of food westward leaving a shortage of deer and buffalo and they did not have the knowledge or resources to cultivate the land. Due to these facts, they were not self-sufficient and would not have been able to survive using their outdated methods of living. Compared to the Whites, the Cherokee population was miniscule, spread across a vast amount of land. “The

This idea gained in popularity and in 1830, the Congress finally passed an Indian Removal Bill that called for moving Indians westward. Prior to passing the Indian Removal Bill, the United States government committed itself to upholding the Treaty of Hopewell, negotiated with the Cherokee Indians in 1875. According to the terms of this treaty, the government agreed to protect the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation’s extensive land holdings in the southeastern part of the United States. In direct conflict with this treaty, the government signed a compact with the state of Georgia in 1802, in which the state of Georgia gave up all its claims to western lands in return for a promise by the federal government to extinguish Indian titles to lands within Georgia as soon as this could be done “peaceably and on reasonable

In 1831, the Cherokee nation went to court against the state of Georgia. They were disputing the state’s attempt to hold jurisdiction over their territory. Unfortunately, because they are not under the laws of the constitution, the Indian’s right to court was denied. It was not until 1835 that the Cherokee finally agreed to sign the treaty, giving up their Georgia land for that of Oklahoma.

One of the major things that was done to "civilize" them was to send out missionaries. The U.S government recruited people to live among the Cherokee and teach them how to be a part of their society. The missions

Relocation from the first Cherokee Nation started in the mid 1800's. A few Cherokees, careful about white infringement, moved west all alone and settled in different ranges of the nation. A gathering known as the Old Settlers already had intentionally moved in 1817 to grounds given them in Arkansas where they built up a legislature and a tranquil lifestyle. Later, be that as it may, they were compelled to move to Indian Territory. But white disdain of the

Beginning in 1791 a series of treaties between the United States and the Cherokees living in

The Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the “civilization program,” abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately

Since neither the United States nor Native Americans would give up their goals, the government of United States figured that to win Native Americans and get all they wanted, government needed to spend lots of money and time. The United States tried to figure out a peaceful way to communicate with Native Americans. The new workable system fell to President George Washington’s first Secretary of War Henry Knox (p. 10).Henry Knox brought a new relation between Americans and Native Americans. Knox and Washington believed that the “uncivilized” Indian life was based on them not knowing better. On the other hand, their inferiority was cultural not racial (p. 11). In 1791 they announced the Cherokees may be led to a greater civilized society instead of remaining hunters. So women started to weave cloth, these Cherokee planters became rich, and the first law established in 1808 was about preventing the theft horses, also Cherokees invented a system for writing the Cherokee language.

Life before the Trail of Tears but after the arrival of the new Americans was more or less simple for the Cherokees. They spend time hunting and fishing. Some of them even worked on plantations and even own their own slaves, in an effort to accommodate to some of the American ways of living.

Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Indians? Sure you have! Just as a reminder, they are the biggest tribe, and most known of out of all the Indian tribes there has ever been in the southeast. They are very important to American History and helped shaped us to be the Americans we are today, which is clearly what I 'll be explaining in this paper. Throughout the paper, I 'll tell you everything you need to know about the Cherokee Indians and continue to relate to the thesis.

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