White settlers in America, particularly those expanding westward, often viewed Native Americans with suspicion and hostility. They coveted Native American lands, believing these territories were rightfully theirs for settlement and exploitation. This perspective fueled what became known as the “Indian problem,” a term used to describe the perceived obstacle Native Americans posed to American expansion.
In the early years of the United States, some leaders, including President George Washington, advocated for a policy of “civilization” to address this issue. This approach aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white American society by encouraging them to adopt Christianity, learn English, and embrace European economic practices like individual land ownership and private property – even, in some Southern instances, the practice of slavery.
The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee nations in the southeastern United States adopted many of these customs, earning them the designation “Five Civilized Tribes.”
However, the lands occupied by these tribes in present-day Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee were highly valuable. As white settlement surged into these regions, the desire for Native American land intensified. Driven by the lucrative potential of cotton farming, many white settlers resorted to violence and intimidation to seize land from their Indigenous neighbors. They engaged in livestock theft, arson, looting of homes and towns, mass murder, and illegal squatting on Native American territories.
Worcester v. Georgia and the Disregard for Native American Sovereignty
State governments actively participated in the campaign to displace Native Americans from the South. Several states enacted laws designed to undermine Native American sovereignty, restrict their rights, and encroach upon their lands.
In the landmark case Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the U.S. Supreme Court challenged these state actions. The Court affirmed the inherent sovereignty of Native American nations, declaring them distinct communities “in which the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force.”
Despite this Supreme Court ruling, the mistreatment of Native Americans persisted. President Andrew Jackson, in 1832, famously remarked that if the Supreme Court’s decisions were not enforced (which he had no intention of doing), they would be “still born.” Southern states remained determined to acquire Native American lands and pursued this goal relentlessly.
The Indian Removal Act: Legitimizing Forced Displacement
An engraving depicting Osceola, a prominent Seminole leader who resisted removal. Alt text: Osceola, a Seminole chief, depicted in a historical engraving, showcasing his leadership in resisting the forced removal of Native Americans.
President Andrew Jackson was a staunch proponent of “Indian removal.” His military career was marked by brutal campaigns against the Creek and Seminole nations, resulting in the seizure of vast tracts of Native American land for white settlers.
As president, Jackson formalized this policy with the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act empowered the federal government to negotiate treaties with Native American tribes, exchanging their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi River for lands in the “Indian Territory” to the west, located in present-day Oklahoma, part of the Louisiana Purchase.
While the Indian Removal Act stipulated that removal treaties should be negotiated fairly, voluntarily, and peacefully, the Jackson administration frequently disregarded these provisions. Native American nations were often coerced into ceding their lands, violating both the spirit and the letter of the law.
The Trail of Tears: A Journey of Suffering and Death
The Choctaw Nation became the first to experience the full force of the Indian Removal Act in the winter of 1831. Under duress from the U.S. Army, they were forcibly expelled from their lands and began the arduous journey to Indian Territory on foot. Accounts describe scenes of unimaginable hardship, with some Choctaws “bound in chains and marched double file,” according to historical records. The government provided little to no food, supplies, or assistance.
Thousands perished during this forced migration. A Choctaw leader described it to an Alabama newspaper as “a trail of tears and death,” a phrase that would come to define this tragic chapter in American history.
The forced removal continued. In 1836, the Creek Nation was forcibly removed from their lands. Of the 15,000 Creeks who began the journey to Oklahoma, an estimated 3,500 died en route.
A map illustrating the multiple routes of the Trail of Tears across the southeastern United States to Indian Territory. Alt text: Trail of Tears map showing routes from southeastern states to Oklahoma, highlighting the vast distances covered and the states traversed during the forced relocation.
The Treaty of New Echota and Cherokee Resistance
Within the Cherokee Nation, opinions diverged on how to respond to the government’s relentless pursuit of their land. Some advocated for resistance, while others believed negotiation was the more pragmatic approach.
In 1835, a small, unauthorized group claiming to represent the Cherokee Nation negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. This treaty ceded all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi – approximately 7 million acres – in exchange for $5 million, relocation assistance, and compensation for lost property.
The U.S. government recognized the Treaty of New Echota as binding. However, the majority of Cherokees viewed it as a betrayal. The treaty negotiators lacked the authority to represent the Cherokee government or its people. In 1836, the Cherokee National Council formally rejected the treaty, deeming it fraudulent.
John Ross and the Cherokee Petition
John Ross, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, vehemently protested the Treaty of New Echota. In a letter to the U.S. Senate, Ross declared, “The instrument in question is not the act of our nation. We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people.” Nearly 16,000 Cherokees signed Ross’s petition against the treaty, but Congress disregarded their plea and ratified it nonetheless.
By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had voluntarily relocated to Indian Territory. President Martin Van Buren ordered General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to forcibly expedite the removal process. U.S. troops forcibly rounded up Cherokees, confining them in stockades at bayonet point while soldiers looted their homes and possessions.
The Cherokee were then marched over 1,200 miles to Indian Territory. Disease, including whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, and cholera, along with starvation, became rampant during the journey. Historians estimate that over 5,000 Cherokee people perished as a direct result of this forced migration, forever remembered as the Trail of Tears.
A depiction of the Cherokee removal, showing the harsh conditions and suffering endured by Native Americans during their forced march. Alt text: Historical illustration of Cherokee removal, portraying the difficult journey, including wagons, people on foot, and soldiers, emphasizing the hardship of the Trail of Tears.
The Enduring Legacy of the Trail of Tears
By 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans from the southeastern states had been forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands and relocated to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The U.S. government promised that this new land would be theirs in perpetuity, but this promise proved hollow as white expansion continued westward, steadily shrinking “Indian Country.” In 1907, Oklahoma became a state, and Indian Territory was effectively dissolved.
Despite the historical injustices, the issue of Native American territorial rights remains relevant today. A 2020 Supreme Court decision affirmed that a significant portion of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation.
This ruling has significant legal implications, limiting the state of Oklahoma’s jurisdiction over crimes committed by Native Americans on these tribal lands. While a subsequent 2022 Supreme Court decision narrowed the scope of the 2020 ruling, the underlying issue of Native American sovereignty and land rights persists.
The Trail of Tears, comprising a network of routes stretching over 5,000 miles across nine states—Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee—serves as a stark reminder of this dark chapter in American history. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, managed by the National Park Service, allows visitors to walk, bike, ride horseback, or drive along portions of this route, offering a tangible connection to the past.
Sources
Trail of Tears. NPS.gov.
Trail of Tears. Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
The Treaty of New Echota and the Trail of Tears. North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
The Treaty That Forced the Cherokee People from Their Homelands Goes on View. Smithsonian Magazine.
Justices rule swath of Oklahoma remains tribal reservation. Associated Press.
Justices limit 2020 ruling on tribal lands in Oklahoma. Associated Press.
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