Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal

The East coast of the United States was burdened with new

settlers and becoming over populated. President Andrew

Jackson and the government had to find a way to alleviate

this over crowdedness and move people to the West. The

government passed the Indian Removal Policy in the year

1830, which called for the removal of Native Americans from

the Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia

areas. It also moved the Seminole capital, Echota, in

Tennessee to the new capital called New Echota, Georgia and

then eventually to the Indian Territory. The Indian

Territory was declared in the Act of Congress in 1830 with

the Indian Removal Policy. Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge, and

John Ridge and their corps accepted the responsibility for

the removal of one of the largest tribes in the Southeast.

Even though they were the earliest to adapt to European

ways, they were still considered inferior to the white man.

There was a war involving the Cherokee and the Chickasaw

before the Indian Removal Policy was passed and the

Cherokee were defeated. Chief Dragging Canoe was forced to

sign a treaty in 1777 which split up the tribe. The portion

of the tribe in Chattanooga, Tennessee became known as the

Chickamauga and

Chief Doublehead became their chief. After a short period

of time, Chief Doublehead signed a treaty and gave away the

land of his people. Since tribal law says "Death to any

Cherokee who proposed to sell or exchange tribal land",

Chief Doublehead was later executed by Major Ridge.

Shortly thereafter, there was another treaty signed in

December 29, 1835 which is called The Treaty of New Echota.

It was signed by a party of 500 Cherokee out of about

17,000. Between 1785 and 1902 twenty-five treaties were

signed with white men and more and more tribal lands were

given away. In 1838 General Winfield Scott collected the

Cherokee Indians and took them from their homes. Along with

their personal belongings, The Cherokee were placed in

holding camps so none would escape. They were going to be

moved in the fall of 1838. The journey did not occur in

October, 1838 because of bad weather. They were now

supposed to move 13,000 Cherokee in the spring of 1839 a

distance of eight-hundred miles. The Cherokee were fed on

meager rations and suffered malnutrition. They were badly

clothed for the spring and many caught diseases and died.

Many Cherokee tried to escape and some succeeded. The

Cherokee knew these woodlands and knew where to go. The

white men couldn't find them without the help of other

Cherokee and bribes. Most of the Cherokee hid in the

mountains and could not be found.

During the eight-hundred mile trek many children and

spouses were separated from their families when the

Government split up the Cherokee into groups of 1,000 for

ease of removal. About one-third of the original Cherokee

they collected died in the holding camps and on the trek

from the Southeast section of the Union to Indian

Territory. After they reached their new homes, they had to

adjust to a new way of life. The Cherokee, who had been

farmers, could not use their agricultural skills as the

land of their new surroundings was infertile.