In response to the Indian Removal Act, the United States government relocated the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Choctaw tribes to a new territory in Oklahoma.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave the American government the impetus to resettle the five southeastern tribes to a designated Indian Territory in Oklahoma. This legislation put on paper what President Andrew Jackson had advocated since his days as Governor of Florida Territory—the systematic removal of all tribes and the acquisition of their lands. The result of this policy would be twofold. First, the states would no longer encounter problems with the tribes along their borders. Second, the land formerly occupied by native tribes would be open for public consumption. Through a series of treaties, the United States secured the title to several million acres of Indian land. What is more astonishing, however, is the terrible struggle that the tribes affected by this legislation endured during their removal.
Although the term “Trail of Tears” was first used to describe the relocation of the Cherokee Nation, contemporary historians have applied it to all five tribal groups who were subsequently affected—Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, and Chickasaw. It has become the nomenclature ascribed to a forced march. In response to the Indian Removal Act, Jackson appointed commissioners to negotiate the removal of these groups. Some resisted and were put down by military force, while others insisted that the treaties were signed by chiefs who did not represent the will of the collective governments of these tribes. The main argument of the Cherokee stands as an exemplar of this position.
The tribes affected by this removal were known by the United States as the five “civilized tribes,”’ in that they had adopted representative forms of government—in fact, most possessed an elected head of state, legislature, and even a supreme court. The argument of the tribal governments was that, by and large, the treaties used to enforce the removal act were not given official assent. The Cherokee went so far as to take their protests to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Choctaw Nation made similar claims and attempted to forestall the machinery of their removal to no avail. In the Treaty of Dancing Rabbi Creek, a small group of chiefs who were not directly connected with their national government signed away the heritage of their people. Again, this was achieved through bribery in some case and threats in others. In 1831, the United States Army began escorting groups of 500 to 1,000 Choctaw westward. A shortage of food and blankets resulted in the deaths of one fourth of the tribe by the time they had been resettled in 1834.
The Creek had been divided for many years over previous conflict with the whites and when the American government began to relocate them in 1836, they were already in a state of disarray. Their resistance was quickly put down by the army. It is estimated that a total of 3,500 of the 15,000 Creek who were moved from their lands in Alabama died during the move.
In 1837, despite attempts at protest, the Chickasaw Nation was relocated. Like the previous tribes, cholera, pneumonia, and unfriendly terrain claimed many. In 1838, after years of legal protest, the Cherokee were forced to move. Between 1838 and 1839, the Cherokee were marched 800 miles through harsh winters and the chilling rain. Over 4,000 died. The army even refused to allow these refugees to bury their dead and many were left where they fell. The Seminole, who resisted through seven years of guerrilla warfare finally acquiesced in 1842 and agreed, on an individual basis and not as a nation, to relocate.
Sources:
Mark C Carnes, Ed, U.S. History. (New York: MacMillan Library Reference, 1996).
Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History. (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003).
Carl Waldman, Atlas of the North American Indian. (New York: Checkmark Book, 2000).
