Indian Policies

SS8H5.d

Settlers vs. Native Americans

• Struggle lasted between 1789-1840

• Settlers viewed the Native Americans as a barrier to furthur settlement of the region’s land

• Creek and Cherokees viewed the settlers as intruders who were stealing their land

Five Civilized Tribes

• Cherokee – north Georgia• Creek – central and south Georgia• Timucuans- southeast corner of Georgia • Mocama – between Darien and Satilla• Seminole – northeast Florida

Creeks

• Alexander McGillivray- Son of European Settler and a Creek Indian, fought in the American Revolution, and represented the Creek Nation

• McGillivray resented American policy towards Indians and wanted to protect Creek Land.

• Oconee Wars -land west of the Oconee River, attacks between Creeks and settlers

• Fought with Elijah Clarke, led him to create the Trans-Oconee Republic

Treaty of New York

• 1790- Washington invited McGillivray to a conference in New York City that resulted in the Treaty of New York– Treaty ceded Creek land east of the

Ocmulgee River to the US government in exchange for government defense of Creek territorial rights

– Created a formal relationship between the US and the Creek Nation

• Treaty gave the Creek nation authority to punish non native trespassers

• Creeks agreed to return slaves who had fled and to turn in Creeks who had committed crimes against Americans

• Agreement also officially recognized the leadership of McGillivray

William McIntosh

• Led Creek Nation from 1810-1825– Son of a European settler and Native

American – Helped to create a police force, establish

written laws, and create a National Assembly for the Creek Nation. Wanted to keep the Creeks unified.

Compact of 1802• Settlers in Georgia were fighting to

persuade the US government to remove the Native Americans

• The Compact of 1802- agreed to end the Native American ownership of lands in Georgia

• Settlers expanded into Creek land, Creeks responded by stealing crops and livestock

• Andrew Jackson led troops against Creeks in 1814

• Led to settlers moving into previously owned Indian lands

• Creek responded by stealing livestock and crops from the settlers

• 1814- General Andrew Jackson led U.S troops against Creek Indians

• Treaty of Indian Springs – February 1825

• Chief McIntosh made an agreement with the government for the last of the Creek lands in Georgia

• Government paid McIntosh and some others $200,000

• Group of Creeks executed McIntosh for giving away the Creek land

• Creeks realized that the US Government would not give in to Creek Territory demands so they eventually ceded all remaining land to the Georgia Government

• Eventually led to the Creeks handing over 23 million acres of land to the settlers

• By 1837, 20,000 Creeks were forced to move West, to Indian Territory in Oklahoma

Cherokees

• Adopted white customs more than any other Native Americans– Dressed as whites– Owned farms and cattle ranches– Owned slaves– Had a written language– Had newspaper- “The Cherokee Phoenix”– Attended missionary schools– Had a constitution

Cherokees

• 1827 John Ross became principal chief of the Cherokee Nation

• 1829- Gold was discovered in North Georgia– Many prospectors began arriving in Dahlonega in

search of gold– Gold brought more whites into Georgia and increased

their desire to have the Native Americans removed from the region

Cherokees

• 1828 Andrew Jackson Was elected President of the United States– One of his major issues in his campaign was

the removal of the Native Americans to Indian Territory in the West

– 1830 Indian removal Bill was pushed through Congress by Georgia Legislatures

Cherokee Response

• With the help of Missionaries, John Ross was able to appeal to the US Supreme Court to protest the removals

• 1831- John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote that the Cherokee Nation was a “domestic Independent nation” of the US

• He ruled that the Federal government, not the states could make laws governing the Cherokees . This meant that the Georgia law did not apply

• 1832- Worcestor vs. Georgia- Supreme Court decided that Cherokee were a soverign Nation which should be allowed to rule themselves.

• Stated that they have federal protection from state laws

• Georgia and President Jackson ignored the ruling

Indian Removal Act

• Gave Georgia authority to begin the removal process

• Gave President the authority to negotiate treaties with Native American tribes

• passage of the act meant the inevitable removal of most Indians from the states.

• Some Native American leaders who had previously resisted removal now began to reconsider their positions, especially after Jackson's landslide reelection in 1832.

Forced Removal

• Some members of the Cherokee Nation gave up and signed treaty to move west

• However John Ross opposed the treaty• Jackson refused to negotiate with the

Cherokees• Federal troops rounded up more than 18000

Cherokees and forced them to leave the state of Georgia and move west to Oklahoma

Trail of Tears

• 1838-1839- Trail of Tears– 4000 people, 1/5 of Cherokee Nation died

from cold or starvation during the march– Among the dead were John Ross’ wife

– Quote from soldier– ” Murder is murder and somebody must

answer, somebody must explain the streams of blood that flowed in the Indian Country in 1838. Somebody must explain the 4000 silent graves that mark the trail of the Cherokees to their exile. I wish I could forget it all, but the picture of 645 wagons lumbering over the frozen groung with their cargoof suffering humanity still lingers in my memory.”

• 1825- Georgia agents bribed ( with $400,000.00) Mcintosh into signing away all Creek land in Georgia with the Traty of Indian Springs

• Despite the promise of Governor Troup (His biological cousin) to protect him, just before daybreak on April 30th, 1825, around 200 Creeks lead by Menawa, one of the few Red Stick leaders who had survived the Creek War, set fire to McIntosh's plantation and executed him. After having been stabbed in the heart and continuously shot, McIntosh was scalped and his body thrown in the river. Ironically, McIntosh had planned to leave that morning to look over land promised to him along the Arkansas River.