Section 4 – pg 229 Indian Removal Chapter 6 Section 4 – pg 229 Indian Removal

Native Americans of the Southeast Pg 229 Native Americans of the Southeast When Andrew Jackson became President, more than 100,000 NAs still lived southeast of the Mississippi River Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Creek nations lived in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and southern Tennessee Seminoles lived in Florida Combination of Creeks and escaped African American slaves

Pg 229 The Cherokees had adopted some white customs Ran successful businesses Had own schools Some could speak and read English Many converted to Christianity Had a written alphabet for their language Created by Sequoyah In 1827 established a gov’t based on a written constitution Claimed statues Started a newspaper in both English and Cherokee

Pg 231 Conflict Over Land To gov’t leaders the presence of NAs in the Southeast stood in the way to westward expansion Many farmers wanted the fertile land the NAs lived on for growing cotton

Forced Movement Plans to move the NAs dated back to Jefferson Pg 231 Forced Movement Plans to move the NAs dated back to Jefferson He hoped they would move voluntarily After the War of 1812, the fed gov’t signed treaties w/ several NAs in the NW They gave up their lands and moved west of the Mississippi River

The NAs of the SE refused to move Pg 231 The NAs of the SE refused to move In 1825, President Monroe suggested a plan to move all NAs living east of the Mississippi River to west of the River Nothing ever happened from this By the 1820s, many white southerners demanded they be removed by force In 1825 and 1827, the state Georgia passed a law forcing the Creeks to give up their land Tried to do the same thing to the Cherokees in 1828

Support for Native Americans Pg 231 Support for Native Americans Georgia’s actions were challenged in 2 Supreme Court cases Cherokee Nation v. Georgia: refused to stop Georgia from enforcing the law Worcester v. Georgia: Georgia’s laws have no power in Cherokee territory b/c the US had signed treaties saying we would guarantee land to the Cherokees This upset Jackson b/c he wanted to remove the NAs from their lands Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave him the authority to offer land west of the Mississippi in exchange for their lands

On the Trail of Tears Most NAs believed they had no choice Pg 232 Signed treaties giving up their lands Moved to area called Indian Territory Today’s Oklahoma

Removal of the Choctaws Pg 232 Removal of the Choctaws The Choctaws were the first to sign in 1830 Closely guarded by American soldiers, they moved west from 1831 – 1833 Federal gov’t did not provide enough tents, food, blankets, shoes, winter clothes, or other supplies Some Choctaws walked for 24 hours barefoot in the snow before reaching shelter

Pg 232 - 233 Cherokee Removal The Cherokees held out until 1837 (when Jackson left office) In 1838, President Martin Van Buren forced them to move In the winter of 1838-39, they moved to Oklahoma guarded by 7,000 soldiers Route is called Trail of Tears Of the 15,000 that started the journey, 4,000 died

The Seminoles refused to move and fought 3 wars against removal Pg 233 The Seminoles refused to move and fought 3 wars against removal Forced to move in 1840s