The Indian Removal Act was an act put into action to remove the Native Americans from the east and relocate them west of the Mississippi. Many of the nations left with little or no problems. Five nations became well known because they not only refused to move they took on traits that the settlers had so they could co-exist. These “Five Civilized Tribes” even took to holding slaves, so they would fit in. These five tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and the Seminole Nations.
Just one year after taking office Andrew Jackson pushed a new bill through congress. The Indian Removal Act gave the president (Jackson) power to make treaties with the Native Americans living east of the Mississippi, and removing them to lands in the west. In theory they were to exchange lands. Most the other Native American tribes moved quietly, but the five tribes mentioned before gave the most resistance.
The Cherokee Nation used the white man’s court to fight for their land. They adopted a constitution declaring them a sovereign nation. The state of Georgia refused to recognize their status. The Cherokee’s took their case to the Supreme Court, who in 1831 ruled against them. At a later time they went back to the Supreme Court on appeal, this time the court saw in favor and said the Cherokee’s had a right to self govern, but the state of Georgia and President Jackson refused to enforce this ruling.
In 1833 the Cherokee were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. 15,000 Cherokee’s signed a protest against the treaty, and went back to the Supreme Court, they did not care about the illegal treaty and ruled against them. In 1836 they were given two years to move voluntarily; after that period of time has lapsed they would be forced to move. By 1838 only 2,000 had left voluntarily; 16,000 remained on their land. The Government sent in 7,000 troops to force the people out. They never gave them a chance to gather any of their belongings, food, or supplies. This is known as “The Trail of Tears” in which 4,000 Cherokees died of cold, hunger, and/or disease.
Today the Cherokee’s are split, a small part live in the Great Smoky Mountains, while the remainder are in northwestern Oklahoma, and under their own government.
The Chickasaw Nation were great warriors, they fought against France and Spain to help Great Britain gain control of the southern United States. They participated in the Revolutionary War and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Even with this helpful background during the early years of statehood, the Chickasaw’s knew that they were going to have to move, and signed a treaty. The 1832 treaty stated that the Federal government would give them land, and give them protection from the settlers until they moved. The War Department did not follow through, they did not protect and the Chickasaw’s were forced to pay the Choctaws rent to live on their land. The Chickasaw’s migrated in the winter of 1837 and 1838.
Today in Oklahoma there are only about 5,300 Chickasaws left. They have a democratic government.
The Choctaws were the first to sign Jackson’s act, many of them migrated in 1830. They did fight it at first, but in the end they were forced to sign the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This treaty gave the Choctaws more land in Oklahoma where they are in the present day. The few that did decide to stay finally left years later because of the land hungry white man, and the inability of the government to protect them as promised.
Today there are two places that the Choctaws are located. 11,000 are in Oklahoma and are farmers; about 4,000 are in Mississippi and are a separate tribe.
The Creek nation did not want to move so they signed a treaty that allowed white settlers to live on their land in exchange for protected ownership of the remaining land. The white settlers tricked them out of this land, because of this trickery the Creeks were forced to steal livestock and crops from the white settlers. Some Creeks even murdered or set farms on fire because of the treatment that they endured. 15,000 Creeks migrated west by 1837, they never signed a removal treaty.
Today the Creeks are living in different places, a few are in Alabama, a few in Florida, and the rest have assimilated themselves in Oklahoma and their culture. At the same time they have saved their own culture and share it with everybody that wants to participate. They are also known as the Muscogee.
The Seminoles used war to fight for their land. They fought in three different wars, and cost the U.S. Government $40 to $60 million, and it took up to 28 years to move their people. The first Seminole war was from 1817 to 1818. They fought with the Creeks to protect their territories. The second Seminole war was from 1835 to 1842. This time a small group of Seminoles were tricked into signing a treaty. The larger group refused to acknowledge that the treaty was legit and refused to leave. Thousands of lives were lost and most of the Seminoles moved. The third Seminole war was from 1855 to 1858, and only the remaining Seminoles fought. Finally the U.S. paid the remaining Seminoles to leave.
Today the Seminoles that live in Oklahoma are about 6,000 strong, and there are still some that live in Florida.
The assigned texts that we had for this week were the readings by Joseph Nicolar, The Life and Traditions of the Red Man; Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, The Sound and Stars Make Rushing Through the Sky; Pauline Johnson, A Red Girl’s Reasoning; Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, Life among the Piutes; and Zitkala-Sa’s, The School Days of an Indian Girl and Why I am a Pagan. These stories are about Native Americans and the struggles that they had to fit into both of the two worlds, white man’s and the American Indian. The Indian Removal Act forced the Native Americans to deal with the white man coming in and telling them what they could and could not do. The Removal of Native Americans caused the people to lose their land, homes, families, and cultures. They were even forced to send their children away for school.
The Indian Removal Act is not as well known as the Trail of Tears, even though the Trail of Tears was caused by the Indian Removal Act by removing the Cherokee Nation. The Indian Removal Act shows how the white man got his way in the end, the readings mentioned before show how the Native Americans felt before, during and after the act was enforced.