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Earlier in this unit, you learned about President Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Native American removal is usually associated with President Jackson because of this act that resulted in the forced relocation (and deaths) of thousands of Native Americans. However, the questions over control of Native American lands goes back much further and was a source of conflict throughout the period of colonization and the American Revolution.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson authorized the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States. However, the United States was unwilling to follow the precedents established by both France and Spain in their peaceful dealings and negotiations with Native Americans in the area. For example, both the French and Spanish recognized tribal law and the supreme power of the chief to uphold these laws. But after Louisiana was sold and Spain withdrew from the United States territory, the Native Americans had no allies or agency within the U.S. government.

White settlers, particularly those in the Southeast United States, mistakenly believed Native Americans to be nomads, travelers without permanent settlements. However, the tribes in the Southeastern U.S., especially the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, raised crops and lived in villages. These tribes’ way of life was increasingly threatened as white settlers and the U.S. government took more and more land. Beginning with President Jefferson, tribes were offered lands in the West where they could continue and maintain their way of life. Some Native Americans chose to relocate, but most fell into one of two categories:

  • those who would accommodate, or adopt white culture
  • those who favored the traditional way of life and completely rejected white culture

The Cherokee tried to accommodate in order to stay on their tribal lands, mainly in present-day Georgia and Alabama. They allowed their children to learn English, adopted new farming techniques, and even changed their style of government in an effort to accommodate to white culture and stay on their lands. However, as the pressure from white settlers to move onto the valuable farmlands of the Southeast, the U.S. government began to forcibly remove Native Americans from their lands and relocate them to “Indian Territory” in present-day Oklahoma.

In the Supreme Court rulings Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee nation could not be removed from their lands. However, President Jackson ignored this ruling and pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress.

The journey west was difficult and took place in the winter. Many of the Cherokee had no shoes or protection from the weather. As a result, about one-fourth of the nearly 15,000 Cherokee on the journey died from starvation, disease, and exposure to the elements. For this reason, the Cherokee called the journey “the place where they cried”. It is now known as the Trail of Tears.

Despite the many hardships endured, the Cherokee tried to persevere. They began planting crops in the new territory, but they were not accustomed to the harsh weather, soil, and river conditions, and the first year, their crops flooded.

Even though they were in a new place, the Cherokee tried to recreate some of their traditional ways, such as performing the Green Corn Dance to celebrate a strong harvest. They also attempted to retain their cultural identity, helped in large part by the writing system and Cherokee alphabet developed by Cherokee Indian scholar Sequoyah. Watch The Cherokee Alphabet (1:20) to learn more about this important milestone. PBS login information.

The Cherokee established schools and slowly, the tribe began to prosper. These successes would be short-lived, however, as the abuses committed upon Native Americans would continue well into the 19th century and would result in bloody clashes between tribes and white settlers for decades to come.