Politics were a crucial factor in the removal of Native Americans. The majority of white settlers and Americans were in favor of the removal policies. Assimilation was the original plan to deal with Native Americans living east of the Mississippi starting with Thomas Jefferson’s term as President of the United States. The idea was to have Native Americans adopt a lifestyle that had them settling on one piece of land. Since Native Americans were having more trouble finding animals to kill for food they would rely on the agriculture and farms for life. President Jefferson believed that if Native Americans farmed then trade with white Americans would be necessary to survive economically. Once Native Americans realized the idea of property ownership along with land ownership eventually they would trade their land for goods in order to survive. The land would then belong to white settlers and Native Americans would have adopted European ideas. “When they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them are their extensive forests, and will be willing to pare them off from time to time in exchange for necessaries for their farms and families.” is what Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Henry Harrison in a letter in 1803. (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
The Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, under President James Monroe was the first to try and create political policy that would move forward with Native American removal. The Senate received a request from Calhoun which called for the creation of Arkansas and an exchange of Native American land east of the Mississippi for similar sized parcels west of the Mississippi. The Senate approved the request and Calhoun drafted a bill which did not make it anywhere in the House of Representatives. Yet another President, John Quincy Adams, strive to continue Native American removal with nonviolent methods. Treaties were Adams only choice when Georgia would not cooperate with Adams policies. (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
State rights played a big role in the politics that led to the Trail of Tears which came to a head in United States Supreme court cases that involved Georgia and the Cherokee tribe. The Cherokee tribe had become recognized as a Nation after several treaties that started in 1791. Cherokees had continued to cede their land through treaties up until 1819 when they told the United States that ceding of land would no longer be happening. When Georgia became a state in 1802 it expected to obtain ownership of all previously held Native American titles to land but the Cherokee did not leave. Georgia settlers continued to move onto land held by Cherokee and Creek tribes. The state of Georgia created a law in 1828 that declared that it would now longer recognize the Cherokee Nation making it legally void and null starting the first of June 1830. Tennessee became the new site for Cherokee tribal meeting in Red Clay. (National Park Service)
The Cherokee Nation then filed a lawsuit against Georgia who argued that the Cherokee Nation had no right to sue as a foreign nation due to its lack of a strong centralized government or constitution. William Wirt, a former attorney general under Monroe and Adams, represented the Cherokee Nation and argued that Georgia did not have jurisdiction over them because they were in fact a foreign nation. The United States Supreme court ruled that the Cherokee was a domestic dependent nation. In Worcester v. Georgia it was ruled that the federal government held jurisdiction over the Cherokee Nation which opened the door for another President’s political policy. President Andrew Jackson did not care for the presence of Native Americans in the Deep South and was ready to enact a policy that led straight to the Trail of Tears. The Indian Removal Act was signed which led to the Treaty of New Echota and politics as seen by Americans helped shaped America as it is today. (History Education, 1996)
The Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, under President James Monroe was the first to try and create political policy that would move forward with Native American removal. The Senate received a request from Calhoun which called for the creation of Arkansas and an exchange of Native American land east of the Mississippi for similar sized parcels west of the Mississippi. The Senate approved the request and Calhoun drafted a bill which did not make it anywhere in the House of Representatives. Yet another President, John Quincy Adams, strive to continue Native American removal with nonviolent methods. Treaties were Adams only choice when Georgia would not cooperate with Adams policies. (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
State rights played a big role in the politics that led to the Trail of Tears which came to a head in United States Supreme court cases that involved Georgia and the Cherokee tribe. The Cherokee tribe had become recognized as a Nation after several treaties that started in 1791. Cherokees had continued to cede their land through treaties up until 1819 when they told the United States that ceding of land would no longer be happening. When Georgia became a state in 1802 it expected to obtain ownership of all previously held Native American titles to land but the Cherokee did not leave. Georgia settlers continued to move onto land held by Cherokee and Creek tribes. The state of Georgia created a law in 1828 that declared that it would now longer recognize the Cherokee Nation making it legally void and null starting the first of June 1830. Tennessee became the new site for Cherokee tribal meeting in Red Clay. (National Park Service)
The Cherokee Nation then filed a lawsuit against Georgia who argued that the Cherokee Nation had no right to sue as a foreign nation due to its lack of a strong centralized government or constitution. William Wirt, a former attorney general under Monroe and Adams, represented the Cherokee Nation and argued that Georgia did not have jurisdiction over them because they were in fact a foreign nation. The United States Supreme court ruled that the Cherokee was a domestic dependent nation. In Worcester v. Georgia it was ruled that the federal government held jurisdiction over the Cherokee Nation which opened the door for another President’s political policy. President Andrew Jackson did not care for the presence of Native Americans in the Deep South and was ready to enact a policy that led straight to the Trail of Tears. The Indian Removal Act was signed which led to the Treaty of New Echota and politics as seen by Americans helped shaped America as it is today. (History Education, 1996)
Photo
Max D. Standley. (n.d.) Forced Move. Retrieved from http://www.maxdstandley.com/trail_of_tears_series/forced_move-trail_of_tears.html
Content
History Education. (1996). Trail of tears — history.com articles,
video, pictures and facts. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
National Park Service. (n.d.). Trail of tears national historic trail -
national park service. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/trte/parkmgmt/significant-places-on-the-trail-of-tears.htm
NC Trail of Tears Association. (2006). The story | trail of tears
national historic trail. Retrieved from http://www.nationaltota.org/
Max D. Standley. (n.d.) Forced Move. Retrieved from http://www.maxdstandley.com/trail_of_tears_series/forced_move-trail_of_tears.html
Content
History Education. (1996). Trail of tears — history.com articles,
video, pictures and facts. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
National Park Service. (n.d.). Trail of tears national historic trail -
national park service. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/trte/parkmgmt/significant-places-on-the-trail-of-tears.htm
NC Trail of Tears Association. (2006). The story | trail of tears
national historic trail. Retrieved from http://www.nationaltota.org/