The southern Appalachians' river basins were once home to the Cherokee people. (Perdue 17). There was nothing like the United States of America during this time. However, the region that the Cherokee people once called home can now be thought of as extending from North Carolina into South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and ultimately Alabama. The Cherokee people settled in these areas, clearing the land to build their towns, grow their own food, and bury their deceased there. (Perdue 123). Additionally, the claimed most of Virginia and Kentucky.These were the areas, where they hunted animals such as deer and gather raw materials, which met their culture of living. However, the Cherokee people were not on the good side of history. They were removed from Georgia by the US government following several reasons.
The European settlers had begun moving into the territory of the Cherokee people in the early 18th century. It was from that point when the colonial governments started to demand that the Cherokee people vacate their territories. Towards the end of the revolutionary war, which happened between 1775 and 1783, the Cherokee people had surrendered a half of their original territories to the federal and state government. They were being urged by the United States government to abandon their traditional ways of life and instead emulate the Christians way of life. The US government wanted the Cherokee people to farm and worship like the Christian Americans. Many of the Cherokee people had tried to embrace the standard of living that was being promoted by the US government. They even established their court system and adopted the Republican government. One of their leaders even came up with a Cherokee syllabary, which was teaching the Cherokee people on how to write, read, record, and publish the laws in their language.
Even with the effort of trying to emulate the American Christians way of living, the white people who were living in Georgia refused to accept Cherokee nation as social equals. They even urged the political representatives to seize the lands, which were owned by the Cherokee people. Moreover, the purchase of Louisiana Territory in 1803 from France gave President Thomas Jefferson the opportunity of implementing the idea he had contemplated in many years. He wanted to relocate the eastern tribes, including Cherokee people beyond River Mississippi. President Jefferson had suggested that Native Americans to acculturate at their pace as they retain their autonomy and live free from the trespasses that were caused by the American Settlers. Even though most of the Cherokee people had rejected the suggestions made by President Jefferson, a few of them had moved to the west area of River Arkansas in 1810 and between 1817 and 1819.
After the war, which erupted between 1812 and 1815, one of the prominent southerners, General Andrew Jackson wanted the United States of America to end the absurdity of holding a negotiation talk with Indian tribes, including the Cherokee people as Sovereign Nations. This resulted in the pressure, which forced Georgia politicians like Wilson Lumpkin, George Gilmer, George Troup, and the federal government to fulfill the 1802 compact. Furthermore, the federal government had agreed to extinguish the Indian tribes and the Cherokee people from their lands.
The act of resistance that was shown by the Cherokee people also irritated the US government in evicting them from Georgia. The government of the Cherokees had maintained that his people constituted a sovereign nation that was independent of the federal and American state governments. In maintaining their act of resistance, the Cherokee people had pointed out the Hopewell Treaty of 1785. This treaty had established borders and boundaries between the Cherokee Nation and the United States. In that case, the treaty gave the Cherokee people the right of sending a deputy to the Congress. As a result, the Americans who settled on the territory of Cherokee were subjected to the Cherokee Law. Moreover, the principal chief of the Cherokee government, Mr. John Ross, took the step of protecting the national territory of the Cherokee people. John Ross joined Major Ridge and Charles Hicks in negotiating for the treaty of 1819. John Ross also helped Cherokee Nation with legal moves, which later resulted in the promotion of constitutional convention. At some point during the negotiation of the treaty, the National Council of Cherokee had advised the government of the United States that Cherokee people will refuse any request that will result in the future session. The National Council of Cherokee had even enacted a law that was prohibiting any person from selling the national land. Upon committing the offense, the resulting penalty was death. The people of Cherokee even adopted a written constitution in 1827. This was the step, which further antagonized the removal of the exponents in Georgia.
Additionally, the legislature of Georgia had extended the jurisdiction of the state over the Cherokee territory between 1827 and 1831. The legislature even passed the laws, which were purporting to abolish Cherokee’s law and government. Georgia legislature had passed a motion, which promoted the process of seizing the lands belonging to the people of Cherokee. The lands were later divided into parcels, which were then offered in the form of lottery to the whites. Also, when Andrew Jackson was elected the President of the US, he made it a national objective of removing the Indian tribes from Georgia. The Congress even passed the Indian Tribes Removal Act in 1830 (Perdue and Michael 176). The act gave the president the authority of negotiating removal treaties with the Indian tribes, including the people of Cherokee. While the President and the Congress were pursuing the removal policy, on the other hand, the Cherokee nation had requested the Supreme Court to intervene in protecting Georgia from trespasses. According to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall Cherokee was a domestic nation, which should be protected under the tutelage of the US. However, regarding the case of Georgia versus Cherokee Nation in 1831, the Supreme Court did not address the grievances that were raised by the people of Cherokee. One year later, the court ruled in favor of the Cherokee people regarding the case of Worcester versus Georgia. According to the court, Georgia had violated the sovereignty status of the Cherokee Nation, and there was also the wrongful intrusion of the special relationship treaty that existed between Cherokee Nation and the United States. Still, President Jackson did not obey the court ruling and continued with the process of pressuring the people of Cherokee to leave Georgia.
The existing division that was present among the people of Cherokee encouraged the US government in removing them from Georgia. They were divided into the groups, which wanted to continue resisting the removal pressure and the ones who opted to surrender to the West. Sadly, a group that wanted to surrender signed the New Echota treaty at the capital of Cherokee without the consent of the Cherokee government or Principal Chief Rose. In making matters worse, the treaty signed required the people of Cherokee to exchange their national lands for the Indian Territory parcel. The treaty also required them to relocate within two years. In 1834, the parcel that was set aside by the Congress was current Oklahoma. Upon signing of the treaty, the people of Cherokee were promised $5 million for compensating individuals for their fixtures and buildings and at the same time pay the cost that comes with acclimation and relocation. Furthermore, the government of the US promised to honor the title of their new place of relocation, protect their political autonomy, and protect them from any future trespass. Although the treaty was completed without sanctioning the national government of Cherokee, the treaty was ratified by a margin of one vote (Cheek 313). This implies that the act of resistance to eviction was still strong from the other opposing side of the Cherokee nation. Chief Rose managed to gather more than 16000 signatures from the Cherokee people in the petition against the treaty supporting relocation. Chief Rose insisted that majority of the Cherokee people were not in agreement with relocation plans implemented by the US government (Cheek 314). According Chief Rose, the steps that were taken by the US government was illegal. In 1838, the resistance act that was portrayed by Chief Rose and the Cherokee people continued to aggravate President Martin Van Buren, who eventually ordered the US Army into the Cherokee’s territory. The US soldiers completed their mission by rounding and matching out the Cherokee people out of the Indian Territory. Those who were held captive included Chief John Rose, his wife, and 5000 Cherokee people (Otto and Theda 135).
Additionally, the tension that existed between the Cherokee people and Georgia was brought about by the discovery of gold. This created what was known as the first gold rush in Georgia. Speculators of gold started trespassing on the lands owned by the Cherokee people in pursuit of gold. Consequently, the pressure was mounted to the government of Georgia and the US government at large in fulfilling the promises that come with 1802 Compact (Hall and Timothy 144). According to the Compact of 1802, Georgia Claimed that the ancestral lands that were owned by the Cherokee people had overlapped the boundaries of Georgia State, including Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee (Hill 338). In that case, the issue of land overlapping could only be solved using treaties as described by the Compact of 1802.
In conclusion, the reasons why the US government removed the people of Cherokee from Georgia were the pressure piled by the compact of 1802. There were tensions between the Cherokee people and the Georgia people. The people of Cherokee were resistance to any treaty that was supporting their relocation from their ancestral lands including Georgia. On the other hand, the government of the United States of America was irritated by the defiance act shown by the Cherokee people. The government had offered them peaceful negotiation, but they refused to take. However, some key political figures in the US government like General Andrew Jackson thought that negotiating with the Cherokee people was an act absurdity.
Works Cited
Cheek, G. C. (July 15, 2005). The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents (review). American Indian Quarterly, 29, 313-314.
Hall, Kermit L, and Timothy S. Huebner. Major Problems in American Constitutional History: Documents and Essays. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Hill, S H. "Perdue and Green, Eds., the Cherokee Removal: a Brief History with Documents." Journal of the Early Republic. 16.2 (1996): 338. Print.
Otto, Paul, Theda Perdue, and Michael D. Green. "The Cherokee Removal: a Brief History with Documents." The Western Historical Quarterly. 27.4 (1997): 521. Print.
Perdue, Theda. Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents. Place of publication not identified: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2016. Print.
Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents. Princeton, N.J: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 2006. Sound recording. Print.
