Cherokee removal

The Cherokee have come to call the event Nu na da ul tsun yi (the place where they cried); another term is Tlo va sa (our removal). Neither phrase was used at the time, and both seem to be of Choctaw origin. Other American Indian groups in the American South, North, Midwest, Southwest, and the Plains regions were removed, some voluntarily, some reluctantly, and some by force. The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Cherokee were removed reluctantly. The Seminole in Florida resisted removal by the United States Army for decades (1817–1850) with guerrilla warfare, part of the intermittent Native American Wars that lasted from 1540 to 1924. Some Seminole remained in their Florida home country, while others were transported to Indian Territory in shackles.

The phrase "Trail of Tears" is used to refer to similar events endured by other Indian groups, especially among the "Five Civilized Tribes". The phrase originated as a description of the involuntary removal of the Choctaw in 1831.

Origins

In the fall of 1835, a census was taken by civilian officials of the War Department to enumerate Cherokee residing in Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee, with a count of 16,542 Cherokee, 201 inter-married whites, and 1592 slaves (total: 18,335 people). Tensions between the indigenous Cherokee and white settlers developed over ownership of the land rich in gold deposits and fertile soil that could be used for farming cotton. In October of that year, Principal Chief John Ross and an Eastern visitor, John Howard Payne, were kidnapped from Ross's Tennessee home by a renegade group of the Georgia militia. Released, Ross and a delegation of tribal leaders traveled to Washington, DC to protest against this high-handed action, and to lobby against the removal policy of President Andrew Jackson. In an effort to reach an agreeable compromise Principal Chief John Ross met with President Jackson to discuss the possibility that Cherokee might give up some of their land for money and land to the west of the Mississippi River. Jackson turned this deal down resulting in Ross suggesting $20 million as a base for negotiating the sale of the land and eventually agreeing to let the US Senate decide the sale price.

John Ross estimated the value of Cherokee Land at $7.23 million. A conservative estimate by Matthew T. Gregg in 2009 puts Cherokee's land value for the 1838 market at $7,055,469.70, more than $2 million over the $5 million the senate agreed to pay. In this power vacuum, U.S. Agent John F. Schermerhorn gathered a group of dissident Cherokee in the home of Elias Boudinot at the tribal capital, New Echota. There on December 29, 1835, this rump group signed the unauthorized Treaty of New Echota, which exchanged Cherokee land in the East for lands west of the Mississippi River in Indian Territory. This agreement was never accepted by the elected tribal leadership or a majority of the Cherokee people. In February 1836, two councils convened at Red Clay, Tennessee and at Valley Town, North Carolina (now Murphy, North Carolina) and produced two lists totaling some 13,000 names written in the Sequoyah writing script of Cherokee opposed to the Treaty. The lists were dispatched to Washington, DC and presented by Chief Ross to Congress. Nevertheless, a slightly modified version of the Treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate by a single vote on May 23, 1836, and signed into law by President Jackson. The Treaty provided a grace period until May 1838 for the tribe to voluntarily remove themselves to Indian Territory.

Growth in cotton farming and agriculture

Until widespread use of the cotton gin, short-staple cotton had been such an arduous crop to grow and process because of the time-consuming process of removing the sticky seeds from each of the individual bolls of cotton. This process took so long that it was nearly unprofitable to grow cotton. The increased ease of cotton production due to access to the Cotton Gin, invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, which used teeth to comb through the fluffy fibers and remove all of the seeds in a much more efficient manner, led to a major rise in the production of cotton in the south near North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Production increased from 750,000 bales in 1830 to 2.85 million bales in 1850, earning the south the nickname King Cotton for its success. Matthew T. Gregg writes that "According to the 1835 Cherokee census enumerators, 1,707,900 acres in the Cherokee Nation in Georgia were tillable." This land was valuable farming land, with the ideal climate and the necessary 200 frost-free days for growing cotton, and would have been crucial in supporting the cotton industry's monumental growth, as would have increased ease of transportation due to railroads. The Cherokee Indians typically grew small family farms and only planted what was needed to survive alongside hunting and gathering. Some, however, heeded Silas Dinsmoor's advice. They took advantage of the growing demand for cotton and began to farm it themselves, asking for cotton cards, cotton gins, and spinning wheels from the United States Government. As immigration increased rapidly throughout the 1820s and 1830s, and by 1850 approximately 2.6 million people immigrated to the United States, the government saw that the land could be used for more than just small family crops and could provide a source of income for the farmers immigrating to the south and needing farmable land. The Cherokees that did farm cotton in excess for selling became a threat to the settlers that were hoping to capitalize on the cotton industry by taking away not only valuable farm land but also adding more cotton to the market which could reduce the demand and the price, thus prompting the pursuit of a removal treaty.

Georgia and the Cherokee Nation

The rapidly expanding population of the United States early in the 19th century created tensions with Native American tribes located within the borders of the various states. While state governments did not want independent Indian enclaves within state boundaries, Indian tribes did not want to relocate or to give up their distinct identities.

With the Compact of 1802, the state of Georgia relinquished to the national government its western land claims (which became the states of Alabama and Mississippi). In exchange, the national government promised to eventually conduct treaties to relocate those Indian tribes living within Georgia, thus giving Georgia control of all land within its borders.

However, the Cherokee, whose ancestral tribal lands overlapped the boundaries of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, declined to move. They established a capital in 1825 at New Echota near present-day Calhoun, Georgia. Furthermore, led by principal Chief John Ross and Major Ridge, the speaker of the Cherokee National Council, the Cherokee adopted a written constitution on July 26, 1827, declaring the Cherokee Nation to be a sovereign and independent nation.

With this constitution, an election was held for Principal Chief. John Ross won the first election and became the leader and representative of the tribe. In 1828, the Cherokee government established a law that addressed the issue of removal. The law stated that the signing of an agreement with the United States that addressed Cherokee land without consent of the Cherokee government would be considered treasonous and could be punishable by death.

The Cherokee land that was lost proved to be extremely valuable. Upon these lands were the alignments for the future rights-of-way for rail and road communications between the eastern Piedmont slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, the Ohio River in Kentucky and the Tennessee River Valley at Chattanooga. This location is still a strategic economic asset and is the basis for the tremendous success of Atlanta, Georgia, as a regional transportation and logistics center. Georgia's appropriation of these lands from the Cherokee kept the wealth out of the hands of the Cherokee Nation.

The Cherokee lands in Georgia were settled upon by the Cherokee for the simple reason that they were and still are the shortest and most easily traversed route between the only fresh water sourced settlement location at the southeastern tip of the Appalachian range (the Chattahoochee River), and the natural passes, ridges, and valleys which lead to the Tennessee River at what is today, Chattanooga. From Chattanooga there was and is the potential for a year-round water transport to St. Louis and the west (via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers), or to as far east as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

These tensions between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation were brought to a crisis by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush, the second gold rush in U.S. history. Hopeful gold speculators began trespassing on Cherokee lands, and pressure began to mount on the Georgia government to fulfill the promises of the Compact of 1802.

In the early 1830s the state of Georgia aggressively moved to eliminate Cherokee political authority declaring its sovereignty over the Nation's territory as a deliberate legal strategy to seize valuable gold rich land. This political move was immediately followed by a statute that declared it unlawful for anyone acting “under pretext of authority from the Cherokee tribe” to call “for the purpose of making laws, orders, or regulations” which intern criminalized Cherokee governance. By declaring Cherokee political authority illegitimate, the state began to clear legal obstacles for white settlers and people who could profit from mineral exploitation. Lastly, the same legislation empowered Georgia to control residency in the gold region by ejecting whites unless they swore an oath to uphold the state constitution.

This campaign of removal was proposed by Governor George Gilmer, a fervent and powerful advocate for Georgia's sovereignty over the Cherokee territory. His strong opinion on state sovereignty, led him to view Cherokee resistance as an obstacle to Georgia’s expansion during the gold rush. As Governor Gilmer acknowledged the situation, he made it impossible to rely on civil functions alone, since “the sheer scope of the intrusion made that desire unrealistic.” With legislative support, his administration turned toward coercive enforcement embracing laws that “relied upon force first and civil authority second.” These developments provided both the justification and the legal foundation for the creation of a state controlled paramilitary force.

To enforce Georgia's will in Cherokee territory, Gilmer established a sixty man paramilitary unit known as the Georgia Guard. According to Adam J. Pratt, the Guard headquartered itself at an abandoned barracks formerly occupied by the Fourth U.S. Infantry. They “rechristened the barracks Camp Gilmer” and began to enforce state law throughout Cherokee territory. The Guard’s mission was to impose Georgia law throughout Cherokee lands, signaling an important shift away from federal oversight toward state controlled enforcement. Its early responsibilities were “protecting the gold mines,” which required confronting white intruders and “intimidating Cherokees” who lived near the mining district. Its authority quickly expanded with bystanders noting that its operations “made it the central actor not only in the latest Supreme Court cases but also in the next gubernatorial election.” These developments signaled a major change away from federal oversight towards a state run paramilitary enforcement within Cherokee territory.

Beyond regulating the mines, the Georgia Guard enforced state authority through intimidation and the disruption of Cherokee daily life. Guard units routinely appeared in Cherokee towns as part of a “concerted effort… to exert Georgia’s power over the region and its inhabitants.” They often targeted religious and community spaces. For example, at the Baptist station at Tensewatee members of the Guard “claimed to be possessed by the spirits,” attempted to “trample the small congregation,” and “mocked the baptismal sacrament.” Other patrols entered villages armed “with muskets, pistols, swords, and all the implements of warfare.” These displays of force were intended not only to assert legal authority but also to destabilize Cherokee social and cultural life with implied violence.

The Georgia Guard also played a very big role in directly destabilizing Cherokee political structures. By arresting members of the Cherokee National Committee, the Guard made “coordinated efforts… difficult because of the Guard’s aggressive efforts to arrest the council.” Not only that, but Cherokee political leaders also issued direct warnings intended to stop the Cherokee from resisting as that could worsen The Guards involvement. Many Cherokees were hoping the federal government would stop Georgia from violating their sovereignty, but that that would not be the case. One of the Guards warned that if federal troops intervened, the Cherokee Nation “would be swept off the Earth before any assistance could arrive,” adding that many Georgians needed only “a small pretext to exterminate them.” These actions weakened Cherokee political organization and would lead toward removal.

While political disagreements eventually led Georgia to formally disband the Georgia Guard the use of force did not end there. Georgia's move was not a retreat from military enforcement but in fact an escalation to a larger more organized army. Heightened anxiety among white settlers in the late 1830s prompted calls for greater military protection with residents insisting that “the time has arrived when it is indispensable to the safety of the people and property.” Many threatened to flee with their families unless more troops were deployed. They described the Cherokees resistance as “bold, saucy, and stubborn.” In response, state and federal authorities planned a larger gathering of armed men, sending “two thousand armed Georgians… into the very heart of the Cherokee Nation.” Officials claimed these forces were meant “to give security to our citizens; to overawe the revengeful spirit of the lawless portion of the Indians… to protect your families, neighborhoods, and the people of each county.” This finalized the use of state intimidation and directly paved the way for the forced removal of the Cherokee from their own land.

When Georgia moved to extend state laws over Cherokee tribal lands in 1830, the matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the Marshall court ruled that the Cherokee were not a sovereign and independent nation, and therefore refused to hear the case. However, in Worcester v. State of Georgia (1832), the Court ruled that Georgia could not impose laws in Cherokee territory, since only the national government – not state governments – had authority in Indian affairs.

President Andrew Jackson has often been quoted as defying the Supreme Court with the words, "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" Jackson probably never said this, but he was fully committed to the policy. He had no desire to use the power of the national government to protect the Cherokee from Georgia, since he was already entangled with states' rights issues in what became known as the nullification crisis. With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the U.S. Congress had given Jackson authority to negotiate removal treaties, exchanging Indian land in the East for land west of the Mississippi River. Jackson used the dispute with Georgia to put pressure on the Cherokee to sign a removal treaty.

Due to laws passed by the State of Georgia encroaching on Cherokee lands, the Cherokee Nation moved their capitol to the Red Clay Council Grounds a few hundred yards north of the state line in present-day Bradley County, Tennessee.

Treaty of New Echota

With the landslide reelection of Andrew Jackson in 1832, some of the most strident Cherokee opponents of removal began to rethink their positions. Led by Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie, they became known as the "Ridge Party", or the "Treaty Party". This party believed that it was in the best interest of the Cherokee to get favorable terms from the U.S. government, before white squatters, state governments, and violence made matters worse. John Ridge began unauthorized talks with the Jackson administration in the late 1820s. Meanwhile, in anticipation of the Cherokee removal, the state of Georgia began holding lotteries in order to divide up the Cherokee tribal lands among white Georgians.

However, Principal Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee people remained adamantly opposed to removal. Chief Ross canceled the tribal elections in 1832, the Council threatened to impeach the Ridges, and a prominent member of the Treaty Party, John "Jack" Walker, Jr., was murdered. The Ridges responded by eventually forming their own council, representing only a fraction of the Cherokee people. This split the Cherokee Nation into two factions: those following Ross, known as the National Party, and those of the Treaty Party, who elected William A. Hicks, who had briefly succeeded his brother Charles R. Hicks as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation to act as titular leader of the pro-Treaty faction, with former National Council clerk Alexander McCoy as his assistant.

John states in his letter to congress, "By the stipulations of this instrument, we are despoiled of our private possessions, the indefeasible property of individuals. We are stripped of every attribute of freedom and eligibility for legal self-defence. Our property may be plundered before our eyes; violence may be committed on our persons; even our lives may be taken away, and there is none to regard our complaints. We are denationalized; we are disfranchised. We are deprived of membership in the human family! We have neither land nor home, nor resting place that can be called our own. And this is effected by the provisions of a compact which assumes the venerated, the sacred appellation of treaty. We are overwhelmed! Our hearts are sickened, our utterance is paralyzed, when we reflect on the condition in which we are placed, by the audacious practices of unprincipled men, who have managed their stratagems with so much dexterity as to impose on the Government of the United States, in the face of our earnest, solemn, and reiterated protestations."

In 1835, Jackson appointed Reverend John F. Schermerhorn as one of the commissioners for the Treaty. The U.S. government proposed to pay the Cherokee Nation US$4.5 million (among other considerations) to remove themselves. These terms were rejected in October 1835 by the Cherokee Nation Council meeting at Red Clay. Chief Ross, attempting to bridge the gap between his administration and the Treaty Party, traveled to Washington with a party that included John Ridge and Stand Watie to open new negotiations, but they were turned away and told to deal with Schermerhorn.

Meanwhile, Schermerhorn organized a meeting with the pro-removal council members at New Echota. oklahoma Only five hundred Cherokee out of thousands responded to the summons, and, on December 30, 1835, twenty-one proponents of Cherokee removal, Major Ridge, Elias Boudinot, James Foster, Testaesky, Charles Moore, George Chambers, Tahyeske, Archilla Smith, Andrew Ross (younger brother of Chief John Ross), William Lassley, Caetehee, Tegaheske, Robert Rogers, John Gunter, John A. Bell, Charles Foreman, William Rogers, George W. Adair, James Starr, and Jesse Halfbreed, signed or left "X" marks on the Treaty of New Echota after those present voted unanimously for its approval. John Ridge and Stand Watie signed the Treaty when it was brought to Washington. Chief Ross, as expected, refused.

This Treaty, which was not approved by National Council, gave up all the Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River in return for five million dollars to be disbursed on a per capita basis, an additional half-million dollars for educational funds, title in perpetuity to an amount of land in Indian Territory equal to that given up, and full compensation for all property left in the East. There was also a clause in the treaty as signed allowing Cherokee who so desired to remain and become citizens of the states in which they resided on 160 acres (0.65 km²) of land, but that was later stricken out by President Jackson.

Despite the protests by the Cherokee National Council and principal Chief Ross that the document was a fraud, Congress ratified the Treaty on May 23, 1836 by one vote.