On May 28th in 1830 almost 190 years ago President Andrew Jackson signed the Senate Bill known as the Indian Removal Act. This act forced five Southeastern tribal nations which included Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole East of the Mississippi from their home lands along with additional tribes such as the Fox, Kickapoo, Lenape, Miami, Omaha, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee and Wyandot. Smaller tribes were evicted from their homelands, also. The eviction from their home lands referred to as the “Trail of Tears,” a black eye for the history of the U.S., served as one of the most horrible acts of genocide in the history of Native Americans. The “Trail of Tears” is also referred to as an “Indian Holocaust.” The government was looking for ways to take care of the “Indian problem” and procure the Indian people’s assets. Some of the officials viewed the assets held by the Cherokee and other tribes as a benefit to be sold and used as soon as they were sent on their way. Census figures revealed a significant amount of livestock, sawmills, blacksmith shops and so much more that were in the possession of the Cherokee people. The Cherokee tribal nation was a prosperous nation. Officials and white settlers could not wait to get their hands on their assets. A few believed it was in their best interest to vacate because their lives may be in danger.
The
Cherokee resided on a vast amount of territory in Georgia, Alabama and
Tennessee. Other tribal nations lived as far south as Florida. A new Indian
territory in what is now Oklahoma awaited them after traveling on foot for
thousands of miles. The Trail of Tears represented a long, difficult march for
the Cherokee people. Many lost their lives due to cold weather, starvation and disease.
Another end result of this heinous act was the disruption of their culture.
Dr.
Howard Zinn, historian, in his ground breaking literary work “A People’s
History of the United States 1492 – Present, referred President Jackson to “the
most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American History” (Coard, 2017,
para. 3). He delineated the president’s actions involving the Indian Removal
Act as “the most complete genocide in U.S. history” (Coard, 2017, para. 3).
Congregationalists, an interdenominational missionary
organization, were descendants of the
Puritans. They supported Indian rights and opposed slavery. This organization
gained political influence. Their board consisted of business and political
leaders which included congressmen. The financing of its missions, which encompassed
much of the world, came from wealthy merchants, industrialists, church members
and pastors. The board offered an opportunity to create an evolving United
States, slow down the progress of New England ties, and create a more humane
governmental structure. The group of Congregationalists viewed the Cherokee as
having the ability to advance economically.
President Madison faced different demands and Congress
and the President were requested to solve the Indian problem by their
constituents. The southern plantation owners voiced their desire to enhance their
land ownership and provide land to their sons for plantations. Land-speculators
such as Andrew Jackson, and governors and senators sought votes from the
wealthy entrepreneurs. They applied a vast amount of pressure to be heard and
have their requests honored. They believed the Indians could be civilized but
did not want to wait for that to happen.
In 1816, an attempt
to bring the Cherokee up to speed, expedited by the Congregationalists’
American Board and partially funded by President Madison and the Secretary of
War, William H. Crawford, a group of trained missionaries were sent to work
with the Cherokee. The mission houses were paid for by the federal government.
The missionaries received many complaints from the
Cherokee parents about their children being terrified because of threats of
eternal burning. Fire of this nature did not exist. Chief John Ross stepped in
and served as an interpreter and translated the fears the Cherokee faced. John
proposed the Cherokee sell their land to pay for the mission schools. He wanted
the missionaries to succeed with their endeavor to change the Cherokee. He was
a personable, friendly, and wealthy farm owner who had a slew of slaves under
his command. A sizeable group of Cherokee people decided to migrate to the
West. They went as far as Arkansas in 1817.
Andrew Jackson started his campaign to move the Cherokee
people westward in 1817. As a result of being appointed as a federal
commissioner, he sent his agents from town to town to push his point of Indian
removal. Bribery, utilized as their method of choice, provided a method of
enticement to gain support from the Cherokee. He promised they would be granted
the same amount of land west of the Mississippi that they currently resided on.
Promises of a receipt of blankets, guns, brass kettles and beaver traps were
made to the Cherokees who decided to migrate west. Jackson, called out on the
fraudulent bribes, continued to seek support. He managed to receive a million
acres rather than the two million acres he wanted to develop by his land agents
who happened to be friends and business associates of his. He continued his
efforts to move the Cherokee (Ehle, 1988).
In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was pushed forward by
Wilson Lumpkin, a young congressman from Georgia. He was motivated to save the
Cherokee people and members of other tribes. He considered the situation as
life or death for the native people. The bill involved the exchange of lands
from where they resided in the east to lands in the west. Representative
Lumpkin felt the bill represented his diligent work to save the Indian people.
More than a million people signed petitions which went against the proposed
bill but he referred to the petitioners as “Northern fanatics.” Lumpkin’s
efforts supported President Jackson’s goals.
He feared for the Indian people even though he thought
they could be civilized. Lumpkin believed
the Cherokees undermined their futures by remaining in Georgia, his
speech relayed his concerns. “They will every day be brought into closer
contact and conflict with the
population, diminish the spirit of benevolence that white men felt
toward the Indians, causing white citizens to withhold aid from these
unfortunate people” (Inskeep, 2015, p. 230).
Five southern Indian nations resided on a significant
amount of land east of the Mississippi: the Choctas and Chickasaws lived by the
great river, the Creeks and Cherokees stationed further east and the Seminoles
in Florida. All lived in peace with their white neighbors. However, newspapers
reported otherwise. A man from the Creek nation tried to flag down a
stagecoach. A previous agreement was set forth by the Creek nation and their
white neighbors that a toll would be paid. Instead of paying the toll they
insulted the Creek man named Tuskina and reported him as being in a drunken
state. Tuskina managed to get in front of the stagecoach again and he pulled
out his small pocket knife. The driver and passengers, alarmed concerning
Tuskina’s actions, waited for an hour and a half for him to calm down.
Following the incident, rumors of an Indian attack spread like wildfire. A
couple of groups of cavalry descended on the Creek nation and searched for
Tuskina. Authorities moved to isolate the Creek nation and ordered any white
man who was not married to an Indian woman to move away from the Creek
settlement. Many people were surprised by the overreaction. A black mark scared
the Creek reputation as a result of this discourse. The white settlers expected
an Indian attack because they have been provoking them for years (Inskeep,
2015).
A multitude of discussions were held in Washington during
the spring of 1830 and the end result of these discussion was that it was not
safe for the Indians to reside in the south. A discussion covered what the
Indians wanted, did they want to move west or stay put? Some of the officials
felt they should not be forced to move. Henry R. Storrs of New York spelled out
the intent of the bill which was to clear Indians from southern real estate.
The “Indian Removal Act” was being put to a vote. In the
Senate, Jackson supporters rallied their strength. A few lawmakers took up the
Indians’ cause. The House met a varied response to the bill. The seats were
apportioned according to the population. The North experienced greater
influence. Edward Everett, a young congressman, claimed the Indian Removal Act
was going to be more expensive than its supporters asserted. A few southerners
opposed the act. When the roll was called on May 26, David Crockett appealed to
his loyalty to the Indian people by voting no. Jackson supporters stayed strong
with their convictions. The Indian Removal Act was passed with 102 votes for
and 97 against. The act cleared the House of Representatives.
In 1817, Jackson paid tens of
thousands of dollars for more than a million acres of Cherokee land and he took
additional land and did not pay them any money. In 1830, the President raged
about the Cherokees only holding out for money so he vowed to annihilate them.
He changed his mind and decided to try to throw money at the problem again. He
offered them 2.5 million dollars for the remaining Cherokee land and an
additional ½ million if the Cherokee assumed the cost of travel to the west.
The Cherokee gained a stronger hold in the area and as a result were being paid
50 cents an acre instead of the standard few cents. John Ross purported that
the white settlers be paid to relocate instead of the Indian people. Jackson
believed the majority of his constituents supported him and Ross believed the
majority of his people, the Cherokee nation, supported him. However, some of
the members of the Cherokee nation believed Ross was deluded and he was leading
them toward disaster. In 1833, the offer of 2.5 million dollars was back on the
table. By 1835, the leaders of the Treaty Party gathered in New Echota to
discuss negotiations.
A $5 million
settlement for their land was refused. The Treaty Party and the federal
government sought to persuade everyone that their act of negotiation
represented what the Cherokee people wanted. Public attendance at the public
conference to discuss negotiations was dismally small. John Ross met with the
administration in Washington and as soon as they learned about the Treaty Party
meeting in New Echota they stopped talks with Ross. A two-thirds majority was
required to pass the treaty, if the Cherokees were united. They were not. The
treaty prevailed by a single vote. The majority, the Washington administration,
ruled.
Some of the
Cherokee did not wait until the deadline of May 1838 to vacate their
lands. Four hundred sixty-six people, half
of them children boarded a dozen flatboats that parked on the Tennessee River.
They departed the Cherokee Nation on March 3, 1837. Emigrants traveled by land
also. On October 13, 1837 emigrants traveled by wagon when they departed the
Cherokee Nation. Sickness prevailed for some of the travelers of all ages and
they lost their lives during this journey (Inskeep, 2015).
Cherokee women
were seen planting corn for a fall harvest. That enraged the white settlers. It
appeared that the Cherokee people did not plan on vacating the land. The news
of the planting got back to Washington. The white settlers put their foot down
and said a wandering Indian did not own the land they hunted on. They must
improve the land by adding a house, fencing and they had to farm the land.
Things were getting heated and something had to be done about the unwanted
squatters. Most of the Cherokee were not
squatters. They were settled on large plots of land, crowing corn and raising
livestock. A few wanderers were used as an example of how the Cherokee nation
as a whole was not living in a manner conducive to what was expected of them by
the white settlers.
July of 1838,
General Scott being awarded the responsibility of the removal of the remainder
of the Cherokee people, worked diligently to remove 11,000 Cherokee people who were
still living in the East. Many troops and volunteers, enlisted to aid in the
venture, came from many backgrounds. Scott was concerned about the Georgians
because they appeared to make it their goal to kill Indians. He did not want
that for the Cherokees. He wanted a peaceful transition for them.
The Cherokee
Nation was divided into 13 groups, each of them more or less than a thousand. The
first detachment was to leave September 1st and the last one was to
depart by December 5th. The soldiers cleared one farm at a time.
They approached a house, surround the house so no one could escape, then the
Cherokee were ordered to leave the premises with no more than they could carry
(Inskeep, 2015).
Rebecca Neugin was
three years old when she was ordered to leave her family home with her eight
siblings and her two parents. “When the soldier came to our house my father
wanted to fight,” she said.
“but
my mother told him that the soldiers would kill him if he did and we
surrendered without a fight. They drove us out of our house to join other
prisoners in a stockade. After they took us away, my mother begged them to let
her go back an get some bedding. So, they let her go back and she brought what
bedding and cooking utensils she could carry and had to leave behind all of our
household possessions.” (Inskeep,
2015, pg. 323)
The Cherokee were
held in detention camps which according to reports sounded more favorable by
people who did not have to stay in them. General Scott referred to some of the
camps he was in charge of as well shaded and large, approximately 12 miles by
four miles with a river border. He said the plots served as a sulking ground
for unhappy Cherokee people. Scott did confess that the Cherokee people, who
resided in these camps, did not have possession of their cooking utensils,
clothes and other goods that would have made their lives easier. “Evan Jones, a
missionary who lived with the Cherokees, described them as prisoners who had
instantly been hurled from comfortable circumstances into abject poverty.
Captain Webster, a Tennessee volunteer, was overcome with feeling of foreboding
as his company guarded the prisoners. He wrote a letter to his wife to say
there were seven or eight thousand Cherokees in various camps around his
company, and they are the most quiet people you ever saw. The only consistent
sound was that of preachers, white and Cherokee, who went among prisoners and
soldiers alike trying to save souls. ‘Among these sublime mountains and in the
dark forests with the thunder often sounding in the distance, the talk of God
only made him wonder what would fall upon my guilty head as one of the
instruments of oppression” (Inskeep, 2015, pg. 325-326). Their quietness can be
equated to a time of surrender and loss of hope.
In May 1838, the Cherokee forced
march began accompanied by U.S. Army troops, along with various state militia
and volunteers. History, written by the victors, made it difficult to come up
with an exact number of how many Cherokees were evicted from their homelands.
The count could be as high as 100,000 that suffered the tortuous conditions and
as many as 30 percent of them lost their lives as a result of shootings,
beatings, starvation, dysentery, whooping cough, cholera in the summer, and
pneumonia in the winter along with exposure to harsh weather conditions. Some
traveled by boat but most traveled on foot. Covered wagons carried supplies and
some of the elders were permitted to ride on the wagons. However, when the
terrain became rough, they would have to walk alongside. To escape slavery,
some of the tribal members of the various tribes were black people who were
adopted into the tribes. President was known to possess a hatred of all people
of color. He considered them to be subhuman. The impact of the “Trail of Tears”
was devastating from loss of lives to a loss of culture. The relocation was
completed by the end of March in 1839. The Cherokee struggled to acclimate
themselves into an unfamiliar land. (Coard, 2017).
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