Driving out the Indians
The expulsion of the Indians (English Indian Removal ) describes a practice of the US at that time, which emerged as a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 , to relocate indigenous peoples east of the Mississippi to areas west of the river in order to gain their previous land for the settlement of the whites. An estimated 100,000 Indians moved west as a result - most of them in the 1830s - and settled in what is known as the Indian Territory, today's state of Oklahoma .
Contrary to some modern misinterpretations, the law by no means ordered forced relocation. Many Indians actually stayed in the east. The tribal chiefs or prominent representatives were brought in to sign the resettlement agreements with political pressure and financial incentives. Violent differences within the Indian tribes were the result. The Treaty of New Echota was signed, for example, by a faction of prominent Cherokee, but not by the elected tribal chiefs. The terms of the treaty were tightened by President Martin Van Buren , resulting in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee in the path of tears (mostly through illness). The Choctaw also suffered profound illnesses during the resettlement.
The suffering of the resettlement was further exacerbated by poor administration, inadequate supplies (transportation and provisions ratings were at minimum levels) and the lack of assured Indian rights before and after transportation. Most of the Indians submitted peacefully, often with bitter resignation, to the terms of the resettlement agreements. However, some groups went on the warpath to oppose the fulfillment of the relocation treaties, showing that the treaties were by no means voluntary. This led to two short wars (the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Creek War of 1836), and also to the long and costly Second Seminole War (1835–1842). Ultimately, however, the material and military superiority triumphed.
background
From the presidency of Thomas Jefferson onwards, America's policy has been to allow Indians to stay east of the Mississippi on the condition that they be "assimilated" or "civilized". They should settle in one place, work the land, redistribute common land to private property and basically adopt the Christian religion and its values d. H. culturally take leave of their previous culture, which the whites regarded as backward and blasphemous.
Indian resettlement in the southeast
In 1830 the so-called Five Civilized Nations , the Chickasaw , Choctaw, Muskogee , Seminoles and Cherokee still lived east of the Mississippi. They were called civilized because most of the tribe members had adopted many aspects of American-European culture, including Christianity . The Cherokee had their own writing system developed by Sequoyah and published a newspaper in Cherokee and English.
Despite this cultivation, the position of the tribes was not certain. Some saw the tribal presence as a threat to peace and security, as many Indians had fought against the United States in previous wars, often armed by foreign states such as Britain and Spain. Other white settlers and land speculators simply wanted to have the land to themselves and not leave it to the savages who were seen as inferior.
In addition, the governments of the various US states wanted the entire tribal land to be under their control, so that it would be easier to get to the land and its mineral resources. In 1830, Georgia passed a law prohibiting whites from residing in Indian Territory without a state permit after March 31, 1831. This law was written to keep out white missionaries who helped the Indians resist resettlement. Missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts urged the Cherokee Nation to take their case to the United States Supreme Court. Judge John Marshall ruled that Indian tribes were not sovereign nations ( Cherokee Nation versus Georgia 1831), but were protected by the federal government, over whose tribal lands the individual states had no legislative and administrative authority ( Worcester versus Georgia 1832). President Andrew Jackson is often quoted as saying: John Marshall made his decision. Now let them enforce it! Jackson likely didn't say that, although he has been criticized then and to this day for failing to try to protect the tribes from state governments.
Andrew Jackson and other candidates for the new Democratic Party made Indian resettlement a major concern in the 1828 election campaign, which shows that many whites saw material benefits in particular. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Resettlement Act and President Jackson ratified it. The Resettlement Act allowed the government to enter into resettlement agreements with the various tribes. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with the Choctaw was the first; while about 7,000 Choctaw ultimately stayed in Mississippi, about 14,000 moved along the Red River and settled there. Other contracts did less well; New Echota's dubious treaty with the Cherokee resulted in the path of tears.
As a result, the five tribes were resettled in Indian territory (now Oklahoma and parts of Kansas ). Some Indians were expelled, while those who lived on their individual land (not on tribal land) were not the target of relocation. Those who stayed eventually formed tribal groups, like the Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina .
In 1835 the Seminoles resisted leaving Florida , leading to the Second Seminole War. The main war chief was Osceola , who led the Seminoles in their fight against resettlement. Hiding in the Florida Everglades , Osceola and his group used moments of surprise to defeat the US Army in several skirmishes. In 1837 Osceola was captured while trying to negotiate a peace treaty. He died in prison, but the Seminoles continued to fight. Some retreated deeper into the Everglades while others fled west. The Second Seminole War ended with the victory of the United States in 1842.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Jackson never publicly advocated forced removal: Anthony FC Wallace, The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians , p. 56. Ronald N. Sentence 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.
- ^ Robert Remini, Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars , page 257.