The Trail of Tears: Removal in the South (Landmark Events in Native American History) PDF
Preview The Trail of Tears: Removal in the South (Landmark Events in Native American History)
LANDMARK EVENTS IN NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY The Trail of Tears REMOVAL IN THE SOUTH LANDMARK EVENTS IN NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY THE APACHE WARS Th e Final Resistance BLACK HAWK AND THE WAR OF 1832 Removal in the North CODE TALKERS AND WARRIORS Native Americans and World War II KING PHILIP’S WAR Th e Confl ict Over New England LITTLE BIGHORN Winning the Battle, Losing the War THE LONG WALK Th e Forced Navajo Exile RED POWER Th e Native American Civil Rights Movement THE TRAIL OF TEARS Removal in the South LANDMARK EVENTS IN NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY The Trail of Tears REMOVAL IN THE SOUTH JOHN P. BOWES Assistant Professor of History Eastern Kentucky University SERIES EDITOR: PAUL C. ROSIER Assistant Professor of History Villanova University Cover: Known as the Trail of Tears, the forced march of the Cherokees in 1838–39 is depicted in this oil painting by American artist Robert Lindneux. THE TRAIL OF TEARS: Removal in the South Copyright © 2007 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bowes, John P., 1973- Th e Trail of Tears : removal in the south / John P. Bowes. p. cm. — (Landmark Events in Native American History) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9345-0 (hardcover) ISBN-10: 0-7910-9345-X (hardcover) 1. Trail of Tears, 1838. 2. Cherokee Indians—Relocation. 3. Cherokee Indians—Government policy. 4. Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma. Treaties, etc. United States, 1835 Dec. 29. I. Title. E99.C5B746 2007 975.004’97557—dc22 2006102274 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can fi nd Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Series design by Erika K. Arroyo Cover design by Ben Peterson Illustrations by Sholto Ainslie Printed in the United States of America Bang FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. All links and Web addresses were checked and verifi ed to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. CCoonntteennttss 1 Th e Context of Indian Removal North and South 7 2 Th e Cherokees and Georgia 20 3 Cherokees and the Supreme Court 37 4 Th e Treaty of New Echota and the Aftermath 52 5 On the Trail of Tears 68 6 Th e Price of Cherokee Reunion in Indian Territory 83 7 Removal and Memory 97 Chronology and Timeline 110 Notes 115 Bibliography 117 Further Reading 119 Index 122 1 ThTh ee CCoonntteexxtt ooff IInnddiiaann RReemmoovvaall NNoorrtthh aanndd SSoouutthh On a cold December day in , President Andrew Jackson spoke to Congress and celebrated the passage of the Indian Removal Act. Six months earlier, Congress had voted in favor of that landmark bill. It gave authority to the president and his representatives to negotiate for Indian lands as well as the removal of all Indians living east of the Mississippi River. Jackson supported the bill and made sure that it overcame any opposition in Congress. But Indian removal was not his idea. Th e seeds of this legislation had been planted years ear- lier. Ideas about land, civilization, and American Indians in the early 1800s helped lead to the Indian Removal Act. Th e desire for land was the primary reason for Indian removal. In the early 1600s, English settlers established colo- nies at Jamestown, Plymouth, and other locations. Th ey even- tually fought with local Indian populations over the presence and extension of those settlements. Periods of peace did occur during the next two centuries. Europeans and Indians lived near each other and traded food, animal skins, and other material goods. But still, the forceful extension of European hhhhhhhhhhhhhh 7 dd 8 THE TRAIL OF TEARS colonies and Indian resistance to that expansion continued. By the time the American colonists rebelled against the Brit- ish government in the 1770s, most eastern Indians had been pushed farther inland. In the early 1800s, the United States negotiated numerous treaties with Indian tribes. Under these agreements, the Indians gave up even more of their land. All told, these treaties arranged for the transfer of millions of acres from Indian to American ownership. Th e Louisiana Purchase of 1803 marked an important turning point. Th is event drastically changed Americans’ visions of their country and the eastern Indian communities. For $15 million, the Jeff erson administration bought from the French a vast region of land west of the Mississippi River, thus more than doubling the size of the United States. Presi- dent Th omas Jeff erson believed that this western territory provided a solution to the problem confronting the U.S. gov- ernment and its citizens. Tens of thousands of Indians con- tinued to occupy lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Jeff erson proposed that the Louisi- ana Territory could provide a new home to these people, who in his mind represented an obstacle to American expansion. In public statements, the president even stated that removal would be a noble policy. Th e federal government would be helping the Indians, who had already suff ered so much from the presence of white Americans on their lands. Jeff erson was not the only one who spoke about removal as a positive development for American Indians. In the early 1800s, most white Americans were convinced that the Indi- ans could not survive the changes brought about by coloni- zation. Tens of thousands of Indians had died from smallpox and other diseases the colonists had brought with them from Europe. Indian men and women continued to resist attempts by Christian missionaries to change their way of life. Th e introduction of alcohol, declining animal populations, and colonial trade goods had increased Indian dependence on dd The Context of Indian Removal North and South 9 During Thomas Jefferson’s fi rst term as president, the United States purchased the 828,000-square-mile (2,145,000-square- kilometer) Louisiana Territory from France for less than three cents per acre. Jefferson believed that this vast territory was an ideal home for the Indian tribes of the East and thus supported their removal from their traditional lands. white Americans and hurt their ability to survive in tradi- tional ways. As a result, most Americans believed that both the Indi- ans and their way of life were destined to disappear. With the removal legislation, government offi cials gave the Indians a choice of fates. Th ey could adopt a lifestyle more similar to
The list of books you might like
