The Treaty of New Echota
No discussion regarding native Americans and land dispossession is complete without Andrew Jackson. The “Trail of Tears” is not an unknown subject in American discourse, but it neither came about overnight nor without an underhanded deal. Throughout the early 19th century, Cherokee territory (defined by the Treaties of Holston in 1791 and Tellico in 1798) lay primarily in northwestern Georgia but extended into Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama. Tensions between the Georgia legislature and the Cherokee Indian nation, however, escalated as the state’s population increased.
Georgian legislators appealed to President John Quincy Adams in 1826, requesting the president to negotiate a removal treaty. Initially, Adams refused but later agreed to open negotiations with the Cherokee following the Georgian’s threat to nullify the existing treaty. Throughout the rest of Adam’s presidency, the status quo remained unchanged, infuriating the Georgia legislature. The presidential election of 1828, however, transformed the political landscape when Jackson defeated Adams.
The Georgians knew Jackson shared their agenda and acted on their nullification threat shortly after the election. The legislature discarded the previous treaties, abolished the Cherokee government, and established state law throughout the territory. The Cherokee protested, but the discovery of gold, and the ensuing Georgia Gold Rush in 1829, devastated their cause. Miners flooded into the mountains throughout the North Georgia Mountains, and the legislature responded forbidding Cherokee from digging for gold, and authorizing a lottery to distribute the land among settlers.
State judges intervened, siding with the Cherokee. Harassment and jurisdictional denials followed. The Supreme Court struck down Georgia’s laws as unconstitutional. The state-enforced them anyway. Factions emerged in the Cherokee community. The “National Party,” represented the legitimate Cherokee government, advocated resistance; the majority opinion.
The “Treaty Party,” advocated the pursuit of a removal treaty with the best possible terms. Jackson’s representative, John F. Schermerhorn, negotiated a deal with members of the Treaty Party; $5,000,000 to be distributed per capita throughout the tribe, $500,000 for educational funds, land in western Indian Territory, and compensation for property left behind. A clause allowing Cherokee to remain on individual allotments of 160 acres and become citizens sealed the deal, and members of the Treaty Party, who had no power or authorization to negotiate on behalf of the nation, signed the document.
The news swept through the Cherokee nation like wildfire. The Cherokee National Council publicly rejected the treaty, and appealed to the US Senate, pointing out the treaties illegitimacy. President Jackson, who had used a similar tactic in the Treaty of 1817 when he reached an agreement with a minority faction, responded by striking out the clause allowing Cherokee to retain land and become citizens. The measure passed by the United States Senate by a single vote.
Sources For Further Reading:
Mental Floss – Was Manhattan Really Bought for $24?
Knowledge Nuts – Native Americans Didn’t Sell Manhattan for $24 Of Beads
Encyclopedia Britannica – Mohawk
Encyclopedia Britannica – Walking Purchase
History Channel – Trail of Tears
University of Tennessee – To the Indian Removal Act, 1814-1830
Khan Academy – The Presidency of John Quincy Adams
Smithsonian American Art & Museum – Manifest Destiny and Indian Removal
Teen Vouge – The Indian Removal Act Was Used by the U.S. Government to Commit Ethnic Cleansing
Office of Historian – Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830
Encyclopedia Britannica – Indian Removal Act
History Collection – The Native American Princess Who Refused to Leave Her Land and Became a Legend