INDIAN REMOVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

As the population grew, the colonists pushed farther west into the territories occupied by the American Indians.

Inevitably, this movement led to clashes over land.

Summary Indian Wars (Prior 1763) Warfare between Europeans and Native Americans was common in 17 th century –Powhatan Confederacy attack on Jamestown 1622 –Pequot War 1636 – 37 –King Philip’s War 1675 – 1676 Native Americans were also involved in imperial rivalries of the 18 th century French and Indian War 1754 – 1763 American Revolution 1776 – 1783 During 18 th century, European colonists were pushing west and causing conflicts (English, French and Spanish) Most tribes/nations saw the colonists as bigger threat than the government, which were often unable to control their colonists

How did the Proclamation of 1763 attempt to solve this problem? Was it successful?

Native American/Settler Conflicts after 1783 Little Turtle 1790 Tecumseh – Battle of Tippecanoe 1811 Great Britain encouraged Native raids on white settlements Battle at Horseshoe Bend 1814 (Andrew Jackson) First Seminole War New direction in policy – REMOVAL –Began with Seminole Indians to lands west of Mississippi River –Leads to additional wars with the Seminole Nation (1835 – 42 and 1855 – 58) Black Hawk’s War (1831 – 1832) Illinois and Wis. – removal west of Mississippi River

By the time Andrew Jackson became President in 1829, the native population east of the Mississippi River had dwindled to 125,000.

In contrast, the non-Indians population had risen to 13 million.

Jackson saw Indian Removal as an opportunity to provide for the needs of the white farmers and businessmen. He also claimed that removal was also in the best interest of the Indians. Why?

Jackson to the Indians: “Where you now are, you and my white children are too near to each other to live in harmony and peace. Your game is gone, and many of your people will not work and till the earth... The land beyond the Mississippi belongs to the President and no one else, and he will give it to you forever.”

Many members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” (including the Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles) wanted to stay in their lands east of the Mississippi River.

How did the Five Civilized Tribes try to avoid removal?

1. Adopted farming life style 2. Began to receive formal education 3. Had own written language 4. Established their own newspaper (Cherokee Phoenix) 5. Adopted white man’s idea of black slavery & established plantations

How did Georgia begin the removal process of the Cherokee and the other members of the Five Civilized tribes within its border?

In an agreement with the federal government, the State of Georgia gave up claims to large tracts of western land in exchange for the federal government negotiating treaties for Indian removal.

Throughout the late 1820s, legal conflict over ownership of Cherokee lands led the issue to the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court.

How do you think the Supreme Court decided? Why?

The Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled the Cherokee could keep their lands because of earlier federal treaties.

Furthermore, the court ruled the treaty was an agreement between two nations and couldn’t be overruled by Georgia.

What do you think President Jackson and the Georgia did next?

Georgia ignored the court’s ruling. President Jackson refused to enforce the ruling. He remarked, “Well, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it”.

As part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, federal agents misled tribal leaders into signing removal treaties with the government.

In 1838, the Georgia militia was ordered to force the Cherokee out of Georgia.

17,000 Cherokees were brutally rounded up and marched to Indian territory in Oklahoma.

“ … When I past the last detachment of those suffering exiles and thought that my native countrymen had thus expelled them from their native soil and their much loved homes, and that too in this [harsh] season of the year in all their suffering, I turned from the sight with feelings which language cannot express and “ wept like childhood then. ” Adopted from “ A Native of Maine, traveling in the Western Country ” in New York Observer, Jan. 26, 1839 as found in Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians by Grant Foreman (Norman:University of Oklahoma Press, 1972).

As many as 4,000 died along the “Trail of Tears”.

“I fought through the Civil War and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by the thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” Georgia Soldier involved in removal process

The Indian Wars – 1860s – 1890s Conflicts continued between Native American groups and non-Natives, often with the US Government taking on the role of enforcer. The new policy was assimilation – which meant that Native Americans were given land (reservations) on which to farm in the “American” fashion (individual, not communal) and expected to dress and behave as “Americans” (religion, art, food, etc.) Example: Treaty of Laramie (1851) Impact of the railroads – Buffalo were killed by shooters sponsored by RR to clear the plains so that tracks could be laid. Severely impacted the livelihood of most Plains Indians. Mining companies also wanted access to “Indian” lands. Increasing demand for land as immigration rates increase after Civil War.

Readings Images from Deadwood Read Chapter 13, sec 1 pgs 408 – 414 –Look for: Impact of the Gold Rush Massacre at Sand Creek Sitting Bull George Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody Battle of Little Big Horn (1876) Dawes Act 1887 Battle of Wounded Knee 1890