Indian Removal in Georgia
Created by Caleb Hardy Creeks (A.K.A. Muskogees)
Upper Creeks- lived in towns in upper Alabama Lower Creeks- lived in towns in western Georgia,southern Alabama and Northern Florida (these Creekslater became known as Seminoles) The Creek Territory in Georgia was used for hunting(Very Important) The Muskogee Creeks were given the name Creeks fromthe Ocmulgee Creek by the white settlers, but soonbegan to call themselves Muskogee to the Europeans. Conflicts with White Man
The Creeks fought on the side of the British during theRevolutionary War. Once the Patriots won their Independence, Americansthought that they should not have the right to theirnative land. Lower Creeks peacefully gave up their land (they areknown as White Sticks) Upper Creeks fought the white invaders fiercely (theyare known as Red Sticks) Oconee War Chief Alexander McGillivray led the Red Sticks to wage a waragainst the white settlers and others siding with them. Many Cherokees fought on behalf of the white men To end the fighting, President Washington invited ChiefAlexander McGillivray to New York in 1790. They signed the Treaty of New York, ending the fighting. This treaty granted all of the land east of the Oconee Riverto the whites and all of the land west of the Oconee River tothe Creeks. The Whites were angry that the Creeks were given any landand the Creeks were agitated that the whites were givenland; therefore, nobody was happy with this treaty. New Land for Georgians With the Creeks giving up land more land was availablefor White settlers. After the Treaty of New York (1790), many White familiesbegan to come for land. As more and more came, theybegan to move north and then west. More people are wanting to own land in Georgia, butthere is only so much land to go around. To decide who would get the land, they performed a landlottery, with the first one beginning in 1803. War of 1812 Not even three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris,which formalized Britains recognition of the United States ofAmerica, the two countries were again in conflict. Resentment for Britains interference with American internationaltrade, combined with American expansionist visions, led Congressto declare war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812. Lower Creeks (White Sticks) sided with the United States and didnot want to fight. Upper Creeks (Red Sticks) sided with the British hoping to gettheir back that they lost in the Treaty of New York. Fort Mims Massacre On August 30, 1813, more than Red Sticks attacked FortMims, in southern Alabama, killingand scaling 500 innocent white andmixed blood men, women, andchildren who had fled to the fortfor safety. The Creeks had been armed by theBritish in Pensacola, FL. Known as the Worst Massacre inAmerican History. Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)
American Forces, led by Andrew Jackson,met the Red Sticks at Horseshoe Bend, onthe Tallapoosa River, in eastern Alabama. Fighting alongside Jackson were,Cherokee Indians led by John Ross andSequoyah, and White Stick Creeks led byWilliam McIntosh. About 600 Red Sticks were killed. This defeat led the Red Sticks to give uptheir land in South Georgia to GeneralJackson. Chief William McIntosh
His efforts during the Battle of Horseshoe Bend made him a War Heroleading the Creeks to name him Chief of the tribe left in Georgia. His first cousin was George Troup, who was the Governor of Georgia,and Troup believed that this relationship would lead to the Creeksselling the rest of their land in Georgia. McIntosh was offered $200,000 to sell the rest of the Creek land inGeorgia. McIntosh approached Cherokee Chief John Ross to sell the Cherokeeland as well, but Ross warned the Creeks of the intentions of theWhite Man. Creek Land Sold On February 12, 1825, McIntoshtook the offer and sold theremaining land in Georgia bysigning the Treaty of IndianSprings. After selling the Creek land,McIntosh was brutally murderedoutside his home in Indian Springs. Watch Georgia Stories:s/story/story_of_chief_william_m cintosh http://digital. library. okstate. edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/cre0264
Cherokees The Cherokee Chiefdom consisted of 80or so towns along rivers and streams inNorthern Georgia. In the late 1700s, thechiefdoms combined in a unifiedgovernment. The Cherokees adopted much of thewhite culture. A Cherokee namedSequoyah created a Syllabary in the early1800s, and many Cherokee becameteachers and lawyers. New Echota was the capital.
They established a legislative, executive, and judicial branch, through a constitution. The Cherokee Phoenix was printed as a bilingual newspaper. Many Cherokees converted to Christianity as missionaries built churches in their territory. Sequoyah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L84GG4hEfts Gold Rush Benjamin Parks discovered gold inLick Log, Georgia, while deer hunting,which is now Dahlonega. Parksproceeded to tell everybody and thisled to the first Gold Rush in theUnited States. The Cherokee controlled most of theland in the gold region. Georgiaslegislature began to plan the removalof the Cherokee immediately afterthe discovery of gold in their land. This would eventually lead to theTrail of Tears. Indian Removal Act In 1828, the General Assembly decided to makethe Cherokees body of laws null and void. As Andrew Jackson took office in 1829, hedeclared that he would remove all Indians in theSoutheast. The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress onMay 28, 1830. The law authorized the president to negotiatewith southern Indian tribes for their removal tofederal territory west of the Mississippi River inexchange for their ancestral homelands. Worcester v. Georgia Worcester was a Christian Missionary living in the Cherokee Nation.Georgia directed any whites living in the Cherokee territory to sign anoath pledging to uphold the laws of Georgia because the Cherokee hadtheir own set of laws. Worcester said no, was jailed, and took it all theway to the Supreme Court. Justice John Marshall announced the Supreme Courts decision: Georgialaws did not apply in the Cherokee Nation and Georgia could not detainWorcester, since he lived in the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee celebrated, but President Jackson stated, John Marshallhas made his decision; now let him enforce it. John Ross Like the Creeks, the Cherokeewere divided. Many Cherokeefollowed Chief John Ross andresisted the whites. The othersbelieved that it was best if theywent west. Major Ridge, John Ridge, and EliasBoudinot (Cherokee Leaders)ended up singing the Treaty ofNew Echota (1835), selling therest of the Cherokee land for 5million dollars. They were laterkilled for selling the land. Trail of Tears Indian removal began in 1838.
Andrew Jackson forced his adversary,General Winfield Scott, to enforce theremoval. The first parties of Cherokee to leaveGeorgia suffered huge losses in bothpeople and livestock, attempting to travelwest in the scorching heat of summer. The Cherokee clearly viewed Scott as theirwarden, when they appealed to him topostpone the removal until cooler months,stating, We, your prisoners, wish to speakto you... We have been made prisoners byyour men but do not fight you. The appeal to Scott worked, and he agreed to postpone the removal
The appeal to Scott worked, and he agreed to postpone the removal.Scott even backed a proposal to allow the departing Indians to be lead by Cherokee Chiefs, rather than by the U.S. Army.For this, Winfield Scott received terrible backlash from the pro-removal forces, including former President Andrew Jackson, who wrote to protest Scotts decision. Hitler later copied Andrew Jacksons plan of Indian removal in his plans for removal of Jews.Native Americans were virtually wiped out by Jackson.Today, Native Americans make up less than 1.5% of the U.S. population.