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ANDREW JACKSON’S SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE:
It gives me pleasure to announce
to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily
pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the
Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy
consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for
their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that
their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same
obvious advantages.
The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United
States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The
pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least
of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of
collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments
on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized
population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage
hunters.
By opening the whole territory
between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the
settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the
southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to
repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole
State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian
occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population,
wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact
with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States;
enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own
rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening
their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of
the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off
their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian
community.
What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by
a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities,
towns, and prosperous farms embellished with all the improvements which
art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000
happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization
and religion?
The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same
progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the
countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have
melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and
civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire
the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair
exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to land
where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual.
Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but
what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now
doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left
all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly
leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does
Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and
inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it.
It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our
young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing
the power and facilities of man in their highest perfection. These
remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense,
purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new
homes from the moment of their arrival.
Can it be cruel in this Government
when, by events which it can not control, the Indian is made
discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a
new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and
support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own
people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on
such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to
them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy.
And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment
to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting
to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and
children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government
toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to
submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To
save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the
General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the
whole expense of his removal and settlement.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1908,
Volume II, by James D. Richardson, published by Bureau of National
Literature and Art ,1908
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html |
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INDIAN REMOVAL: 1814
– 1858
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
Early in the 19th century, while
the rapidly-growing United States expanded into the lower South, white
settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area was home to
the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole nations. These
Indian nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white
Americans, were standing in the way of progress. Eager for land to raise
cotton, the settlers pressured the federal government to acquire Indian
territory.
Andrew Jackson, from Tennessee, was a forceful proponent of Indian
removal. In 1814 he commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated a
faction of the Creek nation. In their defeat, the Creeks lost 22 million
acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama. The U.S. acquired
more land in 1818 when, spurred in part by the motivation to punish the
Seminoles for their practice of harboring fugitive slaves, Jackson's
troops invaded Spanish Florida.
From 1814 to 1824, Jackson was instrumental in negotiating nine out of
eleven treaties which divested the southern tribes of their eastern
lands in exchange for lands in the west. The tribes agreed to the
treaties for strategic reasons. They wanted to appease the government in
the hopes of retaining some of their land, and they wanted to protect
themselves from white harassment. As a result of the treaties, the
United States gained control over three-quarters of Alabama and Florida,
as well as parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North
Carolina. This was a period of voluntary Indian migration, however, and
only a small number of Creeks, Cherokee and Choctaws actually moved to
the new lands.
In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that
Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold
title to those lands. This was because their "right of occupancy" was
subordinate to the United States' "right of discovery." In response to
the great threat this posed, the Creeks, Cherokee, and Chickasaw
instituted policies of restricting land sales to the government. They
wanted to protect what remained of their land before it was too late.
Although the five Indian nations had made earlier attempts at
resistance, many of their strategies were non-violent. One method was to
adopt Anglo-American practices such as large-scale farming, Western
education, and slave-holding. This earned the nations the designation of
the "Five Civilized Tribes." They adopted this policy of assimilation in
an attempt to coexist with settlers and ward off hostility. But it only
made whites jealous and resentful.
Other attempts involved ceding portions of their land to the United
States with a view to retaining control over at least part of their
territory, or of the new territory they received in exchange. Some
Indian nations simply refused to leave their land -- the Creeks and the
Seminoles even waged war to protect their territory. The First Seminole
War lasted from 1817 to 1818. The Seminoles were aided by fugitive
slaves who had found protection among them and had been living with them
for years. The presence of the fugitives enraged white planters and
fueled their desire to defeat the Seminoles.
The Cherokee used legal means in their attempt to safeguard their
rights. They sought protection from land-hungry white settlers, who
continually harassed them by stealing their livestock, burning their
towns, and squatting on their land. In 1827 the Cherokee adopted a
written constitution declaring themselves to be a sovereign nation. They
based this on United States policy; in former treaties, Indian nations
had been declared sovereign so they would be legally capable of ceding
their lands. Now the Cherokee hoped to use this status to their
advantage. The state of Georgia, however, did not recognize their
sovereign status, but saw them as tenants living on state land. The
Cherokee took their case to the Supreme Court, which ruled against them.
The Cherokee went to the Supreme Court again in 1831. This time they
based their appeal on an 1830 Georgia law which prohibited whites from
living on Indian territory after March 31, 1831, without a license from
the state. The state legislature had written this law to justify
removing white missionaries who were helping the Indians resist removal.
The court this time decided in favor of the Cherokee. It stated that the
Cherokee had the right to self-government, and declared Georgia's
extension of state law over them to be unconstitutional. The state of
Georgia refused to abide by the Court decision, however, and President
Jackson refused to enforce the law.
In 1830, just a year after taking office, Jackson pushed a new piece of
legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of
Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with
Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the
Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange
for lands to the west. Those wishing to remain in the east would become
citizens of their home state. This act affected not only the
southeastern nations, but many others further north. The removal was
supposed to be voluntary and peaceful, and it was that way for the
tribes that agreed to the conditions. But the southeastern nations
resisted, and Jackson forced them to leave.
Jackson's attitude toward Native Americans was paternalistic and
patronizing -- he described them as children in need of guidance. and
believed the removal policy was beneficial to the Indians. Most white
Americans thought that the United States would never extend beyond the
Mississippi. Removal would save Indian people from the depredations of
whites, and would resettle them in an area where they could govern
themselves in peace. But some Americans saw this as an excuse for a
brutal and inhumane course of action, and protested loudly against
removal.
Their protests did not save the southeastern nations from removal,
however. The Choctaws were the first to sign a removal treaty, which
they did in September of 1830. Some chose to stay in Mississippi under
the terms of the Removal Act.. But though the War Department made some
attempts to protect those who stayed, it was no match for the
land-hungry whites who squatted on Choctaw territory or cheated them out
of their holdings. Soon most of the remaining Choctaws, weary of
mistreatment, sold their land and moved west.
For the next 28 years, the United States government struggled to force
relocation of the southeastern nations. A small group of Seminoles was
coerced into signing a removal treaty in 1833, but the majority of the
tribe declared the treaty illegitimate and refused to leave. The
resulting struggle was the Second Seminole War, which lasted from 1835
to 1842. As in the first war, fugitive slaves fought beside the
Seminoles who had taken them in. Thousands of lives were lost in the
war, which cost the Jackson administration approximately 40 to 60
million dollars -- ten times the amount it had allotted for Indian
removal. In the end, most of the Seminoles moved to the new territory.
The few who remained had to defend themselves in the Third Seminole War
(1855-58), when the U.S. military attempted to drive them out. Finally,
the United States paid the remaining Seminoles to move west.
The Creeks also refused to emigrate. They signed a treaty in March,
1832, which opened a large portion of their Alabama land to white
settlement, but guaranteed them protected ownership of the remaining
portion, which was divided among the leading families. The government
did not protect them from speculators, however, who quickly cheated them
out of their lands. By 1835 the destitute Creeks began stealing
livestock and crops from white settlers. Some eventually committed arson
and murder in retaliation for their brutal treatment. In 1836 the
Secretary of War ordered the removal of the Creeks as a military
necessity. By 1837, approximately 15,000 Creeks had migrated west. They
had never signed a removal treaty.
The Chickasaws had seen removal as inevitable, and had not resisted.
They signed a treaty in 1832 which stated that the federal government
would provide them with suitable western land and would protect them
until they moved. But once again, the onslaught of white settlers proved
too much for the War Department, and it backed down on its promise. The
Chickasaws were forced to pay the Choctaws for the right to live on part
of their western allotment. They migrated there in the winter of
1837-38.
The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate
treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the
Treaty of New Echota. The leaders of this group were not the recognized
leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees -- led by
Chief John Ross -- signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court
ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were
given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they
would be forcibly removed. By 1838 only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000
remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who
forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not
allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted
their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which
4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease on their way to
the western lands.
By 1837, the Jackson administration had removed 46,000 Native American
people from their land east of the Mississippi, and had secured treaties
which led to the removal of a slightly larger number. Most members of
the five southeastern nations had been relocated west, opening 25
million acres of land to white settlement and to slavery.
Even before he was elected President, Andrew Jackson had been
instrumental in forcing Native Americans out of the South. Once in
office, he continued this policy at an accelerated pace. The Cherokee
nation was one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" in the southeast, and like
all other tribes existing east of the Mississippi River, their removal
was essential to Jackson's plan.
Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message, was delivered on December 6,
1830 to U.S. Congress. He informs them of his progress with the removal
plan, stating that is moving ahead smoothly and explaining how it
benefits everyone involved.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the
Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi
River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee
people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its
devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion
on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. |
