Cherokee Removal
Cherokee Removal
Chapter 2:
Georgia was one of the most important in the policy of indian removal and its relation to the Cherokees
No state wanted them out more, sent most resolutions, had hard delegation, most press about indian removal
Begins in 1802, state and fed gov. negotiated arrangement where Georgia gives up its colonial charter claims to Alabama and Mississippi.
In compensation, Georgia gets $1.25 million, congressional agreement to assume responsibility for the legal and financial tangles left by the Yazoo grants of 1790’s, and a pledge that the U.S. gov. would acquire all land held by Indians within the new boundaries of the state as rapidly as it could be done.
Georgia immediately started doing a lottery system where they disposed the land they expected to get, this removed it as a financial temptation to corrupt another legislature, thwarted speculation schemes and created a universal enthusiasm for acquiring land from Indians that no politician could ignore
But US had land treaties with Indian nations and couldn’t force them to sell, and so Georgia got mad
Georgia created a very threatening atmosphere s most of the creeks left and settled in Alabama, Georgia learned they could threaten them to move out by force
Cherokees
Cherokees were becoming more civilized and it threatened Georgians, they were harder to trick and understood the economy
Cherokees 1827 constitution, defined the borders of the nation and said they could govern people in those borders, this was not for the people that wanted the removal
Cherokee nation included northwest corner of territory claimed by Georgia and so it blocked Georgia’s access to Tennessee River, which emptied into Ohio and Mississippi.
Debate over slavery expansion that led to the Missouri compromise in 1821 revealed deep divisions over slavery in the nation
Slave holders got scared that the government would go antislavery and had 2 ways to block that
1. Replace Indians with free white voters
Chapter 2:
Georgia was one of the most important in the policy of indian removal and its relation to the Cherokees
No state wanted them out more, sent most resolutions, had hard delegation, most press about indian removal
Begins in 1802, state and fed gov. negotiated arrangement where Georgia gives up its colonial charter claims to Alabama and Mississippi.
In compensation, Georgia gets $1.25 million, congressional agreement to assume responsibility for the legal and financial tangles left by the Yazoo grants of 1790’s, and a pledge that the U.S. gov. would acquire all land held by Indians within the new boundaries of the state as rapidly as it could be done.
Georgia immediately started doing a lottery system where they disposed the land they expected to get, this removed it as a financial temptation to corrupt another legislature, thwarted speculation schemes and created a universal enthusiasm for acquiring land from Indians that no politician could ignore
But US had land treaties with Indian nations and couldn’t force them to sell, and so Georgia got mad
Georgia created a very threatening atmosphere s most of the creeks left and settled in Alabama, Georgia learned they could threaten them to move out by force
Cherokees
Cherokees were becoming more civilized and it threatened Georgians, they were harder to trick and understood the economy
Cherokees 1827 constitution, defined the borders of the nation and said they could govern people in those borders, this was not for the people that wanted the removal
Cherokee nation included northwest corner of territory claimed by Georgia and so it blocked Georgia’s access to Tennessee River, which emptied into Ohio and Mississippi.
Debate over slavery expansion that led to the Missouri compromise in 1821 revealed deep divisions over slavery in the nation
Slave holders got scared that the government would go antislavery and had 2 ways to block that
1. Replace Indians with free white voters