Indian Removal

Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States that sought to relocate American Indian (or "Native American") tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. In the decades following the American Revolution, the rapidly increasing population of the United States resulted in numerous treaties in which lands were purchased from Native Americans. Eventually, the U.S. government began encouraging Indian tribes to sell their land by offering them land in the West, outside the boundaries of the then-existing U.S. states, where the tribes could resettle. This process was accelerated with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which provided funds for President Andrew Jackson to conduct land-exchange ("removal") treaties. An estimated 100,000 American Indians eventually relocated in the West as a result of this policy, most of them emigrating during the 1830s, settling in what was known as the "Indian territory or the present state of Oklahoma."100,000 American Indians: Russell Thornton, "The Demography of the Trail of Tears Period", in William L. Anderson, ed., Cherokee Removal: Before and After, p. 75.

Contrary to some modern misconceptions (and misrepresentations), the Removal Act did not order the forced removal of any Native Americans, nor did President Jackson ever publicly advocate forced removal of any who wished to remain. In theory, this removal was supposed to be voluntary, and many American Indians did indeed remain in the East. In practice, however, the Jackson administration put great pressure on tribal leaders to sign removal treaties. This pressure created bitter divisions within American Indian nations, as different tribal leaders advocated different responses to the question of removal. Sometimes, U.S. government officials ignored tribal leaders who resisted signing removal treaties and dealt with those who favored removal. The Treaty of New Echota, for example, was signed by a faction of prominent Cherokees leaders, but not by the elected tribal leadership. The terms of the treaty were enforced by President Martin Van Buren, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw tribe also suffered greatly from disease during removal.Jackson never publicly advocated forced removal: Anthony F. C. Wallace, The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians, p. 56. Ronald N. Satz in "Rhetoric Versus Reality: The Indian Policy of Andrew Jackson" lists some published works that "have erroneously argued or implied that emigration to the West was obligatory for all eastern Indians under the terms of the Removal Act itself", p. 31, p. 47n.13.

The suffering which resulted from Indian Removal was aggravated by poor administration, inadequate measures taken to provide for the emigrants (contracts for transport and provisions were often awarded to the lowest bidder), and failure to protect Indian legal rights before and after emigration. Most American Indians reluctantly but peacefully complied with the terms of the removal treaties, often with bitter resignation. Some groups, however, went to war to resist the implementation of removal treaties. This resulted in two short wars (the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Creek War of 1836), as well as the long and costly Second Seminole War (1835–1842).

Background

Since the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, America's policy had been to allow Indians to remain east of the Mississippi as long as they became assimilated or "civilized." They were to settle in one place, farm the land, divide communal land into private property, and adopt democracy.

Indian Removal in the South

In 1830, the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes" — the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee — were still living east of the Mississippi. They were called "civilized" because many tribesmen had adopted various aspects of European-American culture, including Christianity. The Cherokees had a system of writing their own language, developed by Sequoyah, and published a newspaper in Cherokee and English.

In spite of this acculturation, the position of the tribes was not secure. Some felt the presence of the tribes was a threat to peace and security, since many Native Americans had fought against the United States in previous wars, often armed by foreign nations such as Great Britain and Spain. Other white settlers and land speculators simply desired the land that was occupied by the tribes.

Accordingly, governments of the various U.S. states desired that all tribal lands within their boundaries be placed under state jurisdiction. In 1830, Georgia passed a law which prohibited whites from living on Indian territory after March 31, 1831 without a license from the state. This law was written to justify removing white missionaries who were helping the Indians resist removal. Missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts urged the Cherokee Nation to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Marshall court ruled that while Indian tribes were not sovereign nations (Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 1831), state laws had no force on tribal lands (Worcester v. Georgia, 1832). President Andrew Jackson is often quoted as having responded to the court by defiantly proclaiming, "John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!" Jackson probably did not say this, although he was criticized (then and since) for making no effort to protect the tribes from state governments.Robert Remini, Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars, page 257.

Andrew Jackson and other candidates of the new Democratic Party had made Indian Removal a major goal in the campaign of 1828. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act and President Jackson signed it into law. The Removal Act provided for the government to negotiate removal treaties with the various tribes. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with the Choctaw was the first such removal treaty implemented; while around 7,000 Choctaws ultimately stayed in Mississippi, about 14,000 moved along the Red River. Other treaties, like the dubious Treaty of New Echota with the Cherokee, followed, resulting in the Trail of Tears.

As a result, the five tribes were resettled in the new Indian Territory in modern-day Oklahoma and parts of Kansas. Some Indians eluded removal, while those who lived on individually owned land (rather than tribal domains) were not subject to removal. Those who stayed behind eventually formed tribal groups including the Eastern Band Cherokee, based in North Carolina.

In 1835, the Seminoles refused to leave Florida, leading to the Second Seminole War. The most important leader in the war was Osceola, who led the Seminoles in their fight against removal. Hiding in the Everglades of Florida, Osceola and his band used surprise attacks to defeat the U.S. Army in many battles. In 1837, Osceola was tricked into capture when he came to negotiate peace during a truce. He died in prison. The Seminoles continued to fight. Some traveled deeper into the Everglades, while others moved west. The Second Seminole War ended in 1842, when the United States won.

Southern Removals

Nation	Population east of the Mississippi before removal treaty	Removal treaty (year signed)	Years of major emigration	Total number emigrated or forcibly removed	Number stayed in Southeast	Deaths during removal	Deaths from warfare
Choctaw	19,554	Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830)	1831-1836	12,500	7,000	2,000-4,000+ (Cholera)	n/a
Creek	22,700 + 900 black slaves	Cusseta (1832)	1834-1837	19,600	?	3,500 (disease after removal)	? (Second Creek War)
Chickasaw	4,914 + 1,156 black slaves	Pontotoc Creek (1832)	1837-1847	over 4,000	hundreds	a few from disease	n/a
Cherokee	21,500 + 2,000 black slaves	New Echota (1835)	1836-1838	20,000 + 2,000 slaves	1,000	2,000-8,000	n/a
Seminole	5,000 + fugitive slaves	Payne's Landing (1832)	1832-1842	2,833	250-500		700 (Second Seminole War)

Many figures have been rounded.
Foreman, p. 47 n.10 (1830 census).
Several thousand more emigrated West from 1844-49; Foreman, pp. 103-4.
Foreman, p. 111 (1832 census).
Remini, p. 272.
Russell Thornton, "Demography of the Trail of Tears", p.85.
Prucha, p. 233.
Low figure from Prucha, p. 233; high from Wallace, p. 101.

Indian Removal in the North

Indian tribes north in the Old Northwest were far smaller and more fragmented than the Five Civilized Tribes, and so the treaty and emigration process was more piecemeal. Bands of Shawnees, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Sauks, and Foxes signed treaties and relocated to the Indian Territory. In 1832, a Sauk chief named Black Hawk led a band of Sauk and Fox back to their lands in Illinois. In the Black Hawk War, the U.S. Army and Illinois militia defeated Black Hawk and his army.

Notes

References

Anderson, William L., ed. Cherokee Removal: Before and After. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8203-1482-X.
Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Doubleday, 1988. ISBN 038523953X.
Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932, 11th printing 1989. ISBN 0806111720.
Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Volume I. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. ISBN 0803236689.
Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars. New York: Viking, 2001. ISBN 0670910252.
Satz, Ronald N. American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era. Originally published Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1975. Republished Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. ISBN 0806143321 (2002 edition).
Thornton, Russell. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. ISBN 0806120746.
Wallace, Anthony F.C. The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. ISBN 0809015528 (paperback); ISBN 0809066319 (hardback).

External links

Native American history | Legal history of the United States | Forced migration | History of United States expansionism | Cherokee tribe

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