“The Trail Where We Cried” Could we have prevented the ? Grade 8 April Bennett Thomas Starr King Middle School, Film and Media Magnet

INTRODUCTION: The Trail of Tears marked an important turning point in U.S. policy regarding Native Americans and their rights to lands. This series of primary source documents and the accompanying lessons support an understanding of how we, the American people, shaped the circumstances that led to “the trail where we cried,” as it is known in the .

COMPELLING QUESTION: Could the have prevented the Cherokee Trail of Tears?

SUPPORTING QUESTIONS: Who is the “we” in the Compelling Question and the Cherokee name for the Trail of Tears (“the trail where we cried”)? What can we create to display the results of our research in the Our West gallery at the Autry? What was the Cherokee Trail of Tears? What was the U.S. policy regarding Native Americans in the first four Presidential administrations? How did ’s attitude compare to earlier Presidents? Why did many Euro-Americans desire to take over Cherokee lands in the Southeast in the early nineteenth century? What was the Act of 1830? How did various groups (including the Cherokee) react to the of 1830?

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will have a greater understanding of the numerous factors and their effects that led to the Cherokee Trail of Tears. In addition, they will be able to apply their understanding of the complexities in this event to other controversial events in United States history. Finally, students will come to see that events like the Cherokee Trail of Tears have had a collective impact on our nation, not just on one segment of our population. As they compose an essay response to the compelling question—Could we have prevented the Cherokee Trail of Tears?— they will actively participate in an ongoing discussion of a responsible citizenry in which we all take responsibility for the events of the past, present, and future.

History-Social Science Content Standards: 8.5.3 Outline the major treaties with American Indian nations during the administrations of the first four presidents and the varying outcomes of those treaties. 8.8.1 Discuss the election of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828 … and his actions as president (e.g., … policy of Indian removal, …). 8.8.2 Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated with westward expansion, … (e.g., … accounts of the removal of Indians, the ’ “Trail of Tears,” …) and the territorial acquisitions that spanned numerous decades.

ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards: Reading 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions 6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts) 8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text Writing 2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

ASSESSMENT/PERFORMANCE TASK: Task 1: At the conclusion of the six lessons attached to the end of this document, the students will answer the Compelling Question with a five- to six-paragraph essay. The essay should use a variety of primary source evidence to substantiate their assertion. Task 2: The students will work in groups to create a piece of art that illustrates one of the factors that led to the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Each group will also provide a label for their piece of artwork that provides a clear and concise summary of the factor. Collectively, the students will put together a gallery art exhibit at the Autry that asks the visitor to wrestle with the Compelling Question. Visitors will have an opportunity to record their answer to the Compelling Question at the end of the gallery exhibit.

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: cultivate, herdsmen, husbandry, implements, cede, sovereign, jurisdiction, savage, civilize.

PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS: See the attached lessons for seven primary source documents around which this investigation revolves. There are several suggestions for other primary sources that can be used in this investigation. Please note that some of these documents are very long. They can be used in their entirety or modified (by shortening or using more student-friendly language) according to the needs of the students.

MOTIVATION: In this nation, we embrace certain principles that cannot be altered and must be honored among and by all people. The Declaration of Independence asserts that people are created equal and are endowed with certain “unalienable” rights. It also declares that the government is put in place to protect these rights. How do we reconcile the Trail of Tears with these beloved and essential truths?

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Students assess their level of interaction with Native Americans in our world today. They will also assess their identification with and connection to the American collective known as “we the people” in the U.S. Constitution. Throughout these lessons they will seek to answer: Who is the “we” in the Compelling Question and the Cherokee name for the Trail of Tears, “the trail where we cried”?

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE: See attached Lessons 1 – 6. These lessons can take place in one cohesive unit or be spread throughout the first semester of the eighth grade year and scheduled in conjunction with other relevant topics. For example, The Treaty of Holston can be studied at the same time as the U.S. Constitution to provide an example of the powers of the executive branch, legislative branch, and balance of powers between the branches of our federal government. Also, the call to action written by Catherine Beecher can introduce the work of women in reform movements such as abolition and women’s suffrage in nineteenth century America.

Bibliography Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the . New York: Anchor Books, 1988. Perdu, Theda and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears. New York: The Penguin Group, 2007. Perdu, Theda and Michael D. Green. The : A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005.

***Please also note helpful websites listed at the end of each lesson.

LESSON 1 Introduce the pre-contact world of the Cherokee by reading or storytelling the excerpt of the myth of Kana’ti and Selu. Have students use the Graphic Organizer entitled, “Kana’ti and Selu” (Column 1) to sketch what they imagine as you retell the story. Next, have them answer the first question in each row of Column 2. Then, explain to the students that traditionally Cherokee men hunted and Cherokee women farmed. This myth provides important background information about the culture of the Cherokee. Use this space to record other important information about the pre-contact Cherokee that you feel will help the students understand (in future lessons) the changes that were made under the U.S. “Civilization” program.

Kana'ti and Selu by Grey Bear

Long years ago, soon after the world was made, a hunter and his wife lived at Pilot Knob with their only child, a little boy. The father's name was Kana'ti (The Lucky Hunter), and his wife was called Selu (Corn). No matter when Kana'ti went into the woods, he never failed to bring back a load of game, which his wife would cut up and prepare, washing off the blood from the meat in the river near the house. The little boy used to play down by the river every day, and one morning the old people thought they heard laughing and talking in the bushes as though there were two children there. When the boy came home at night his parents asked him who had, been playing with him all day. "He comes out of the water," said the boy, "and be calls himself my elder brother. He says his mother was cruel to him and threw him into the river." Then they knew that the strange boy had sprung from the blood of the game which Selu had washed off at the river's edge. Every day when the little boy went out to play the other would join him, but as he always went back again into the water the old people never had a chance to see him. At last one evening Kana'ti said to his son, "Tomorrow, when the other boy comes to play, get him to wrestle with you, and when you have your arms around him hold on to him and call for us." The boy promised to do as he was told, so the next day as soon as his playmate appeared he challenged him to a wrestling match. The other agreed at once, but as soon as they had their arms around each other, Kana'ti's boy began to scream for his father. The old folks at once came running down, and as soon as the Wild Boy saw them he struggled to free himself and cried out, "Let me go; you threw me away!" but his brother held on until the parents reached the spot, when they seized the Wild Boy and took him home with them. They kept him in the house until they had tamed him, but he was always wild and artful in his disposition, and was the leader of his brother in every mischief. It was not long until the old people discovered that he had magic powers, and they called him I'nage-utasvhi (He-who-grew- up-wild). Whenever Kana'ti went into the mountains he always brought back a fat buck or doe, or maybe a couple of turkeys. One day the Wild Boy said to his brother, "I wonder where our father gets all that game; let's follow him next time and find out." A few days afterward Kana'ti took a bow and some feathers in his hand and started off toward the west. The boys waited a little while and then went after him, keeping out of sight until they saw him go into a swamp where there were a great many of the small reeds that hunters use to make arrow shafts. Then the Wild Boy changed himself into a puff of bird's down, which the wind took up and carried until it alighted upon Kana'ti's shoulder just as he entered the swamp, but Kana'ti knew nothing about it. The old man cut reeds, fitted the feathers to them and made some arrows, and the Wild Boy -- in his other shape -- thought, "I wonder what those things are for?" When Kana'ti had his arrows finished he came out of the swamp and went on again. The wind blew the down from his shoulder, and it fell in the woods, when the Wild Boy took his right shape again and went back and told his brother what he had seen. Keeping out of sight of their father, they followed him up the mountain until he stopped at a certain place and lifted a large rock. At once there ran out a buck, which Kana'ti shot, and then lifting it upon his back he started for home again. "Oho!" exclaimed the boys, "He keeps all the deer shut up in that hole, and whenever he wants meat he just lets one out and kills it with those things he made in the swamp." They hurried and reached home before their father, who had the heavy deer to carry, and he never knew that they had followed him. A few days later the boys went back to the swamp, cut some reeds, and made seven arrows, and then started up the mountain to where their father kept the game. When they got to the place, they raised the rock and a deer came running out. Just as they drew back to shoot it, another came out, and then another and another, until the boys got confused and forgot what they were about. In those days all the deer had their tails hanging down like other animals, but as a buck was running past the Wild Boy struck its tail with his arrow so that it pointed upward. The boys thought this good sport, and when the next one ran past the Wild Boy struck its tail so that it stood straight up, and his brother struck the next one so hard with his arrow that the deer's tail was almost curled over his back. The deer carries his tail this way ever since. The deer came running past until the last one had come out of the hole and escaped into the forest. Then came droves of raccoons, rabbits, and all the other four-footed animals all but the bear, because there were no bear then. Last came great flocks of turkeys, pigeons, and partridges that darkened the air like a cloud and made such a noise with their wings that Kana'ti, sitting at home, heard the sound like distant thunder on the mountains and said to himself, "My bad boys have got into trouble; I must go and see what they are doing." So he went up the mountain, and when he came to the place where he kept the game he found the two boys standing by the rock, and all the birds and animals were gone. Kana'ti was furious, but without saying a word he went down into the cave and kicked the covers off four jars in one corner, when out swarmed bedbugs, fleas, lice, and gnats, and got all over the boys. They screamed with pain and fright and tried to beat off the insects, but the thousands of vermin crawled over them and bit and stung them until both dropped down nearly dead. Kana'ti stood looking on until he thought they had been punished enough, when he knocked off the vermin and gave the boys a lecture. "Now, you rascals," said he, "you have always had plenty to eat and never had to work for it. Whenever you were hungry all I had to do was to come up here and get a deer or a turkey and bring it home for your mother to cook; but now you have let out all the animals, and after this when you want a deer to eat you will have to hunt all over the woods for it, and then maybe not find one." "Go home now to your mother, while I see if I can find something to eat for supper." When the boys got home again they were very tired and hungry and asked their mother for something to eat. "There is no meat," said Selu, "but wait a little while and I'll get you something." So she took a basket and started out to the storehouse. This storehouse was built upon poles high up from the ground, to keep it out of the reach of animals, and there was a ladder to climb up by, and one door, but no other opening. Every day when Selu got ready to cook the dinner she would go out to the storehouse with a basket and bring it back full of corn and beans. The boys had never been inside the storehouse, so they wondered where all the corn and beans could come from, as the house was not a very large one; so as soon as Selu went out of the door the Wild Boy said to his brother, "Let's go and see what she does." They ran around and climbed up at the back of the storehouse and pulled out a piece of clay from between the logs, so that they could look in. There they saw Selu standing in the middle of the room with the basket in front of her on the floor. Leaning over the basket, she rubbed her stomach around and around counterclockwise and the basket was half full of corn. Then she rubbed under her armpits in the same way and the basket was full to the top with beans. The boys looked at each other and said, "This will never do; our mother is a witch. If we eat any of that it will poison us. We must kill her." When the boys came back into the house, she knew their thoughts before they spoke. "So you are going to kill me?", said Selu. "Yes," said the boys, "You are a witch." "Well," said their mother, "When you have killed me, clear a large piece of ground in front of the house and drag my body seven times around the circle. Then drag me seven times over the ground inside the circle, and stay up all night and watch, and in the morning you will have plenty of corn." The boys killed her with their clubs, and cut off her head and put it up on the roof of the house with her face turned to the west, and told her to look for her husband. Then they set to work to clear the ground in front of the house, but instead of clearing the whole piece they cleared only seven little spots. This is why corn now grows only in a few places instead of over the whole world. They dragged the body of Selu around the circle, and wherever her blood fell on the ground the corn sprang up. But instead of dragging her body seven times across the ground they dragged it over only twice, which is the reason the people still work their crop but twice. The two brothers sat up and watched their corn all night, and in the morning it was full grown and ripe. When Kana'ti came home at last, he looked around, but could not see Selu anywhere, and asked the boys where their mother was. "She was a witch, and we killed her," said the boys; "There is her head up there on top of the house." When he saw his wife's head on the roof, he was very angry, and said, "I won't stay with you any longer; I am going to the Wolf people."

Source: "Kana\'ti and Selu." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. Kana’ti and Selu

Sketch important images from the parts of the What does the story tell you about the role of story about Kana’ti. Kana’ti (The Lucky Hunter) in his family?

Notes:

Sketch important images from the parts of the What does the story tell you about the role of story about Selu. Selu in her family?

Notes:

LESSON 2 Investigate Native American policy under the first four presidents and the establishment of the “Civilization” program. Conduct a close reading of the Treaty of Holston (1791) to facilitate this investigation. Give students background information on the following either before the close reading or as they make discoveries in the document: • The Cherokee’s alliance with the British during the Revolutionary War. • The history of American settlers’ incursion on Native American lands. • The Proclamation of 1763. • Washington’s Civilization policy, developed by Henry Knox. Students follow these steps to conduct a close reading of the Treaty of Holston (1791). Step 1: Examine the title of this document and read the first two paragraphs. Answer these questions: What type of document is this? When was it written? Who wrote this document? Who is William Blount? What is the purpose of this document? Step 2: Have students read the rest of the document and answer the questions below. Consider breaking students into groups (according to the groupings of Amendments below) to read an assigned portion of the document. Then, students report their findings to the whole class. • Articles I and II: What is the stated goal in Article I? What two agreements are stated in Article II? • Article III: What do the Cherokee and the United States promise to return? What do you think has happened to cause this circumstance? • Article IV: Write one sentence to summarize what is explained in the first paragraph. What is the agreement listed in the second paragraph. • Article V – VII: What rights are given to U.S. citizens, the U.S. government, and the Cherokee? • Article VIII and IX: What two policies are established in these articles? • Article X: This article describes a certain type of crime against a certain group of people and the policy for punishment. Who are the people involved? What is the crime? How should punishment be given to those accused of this crime? • Article XI: How should citizens or inhabitants of the U.S. be punished for committing a crime against an Indian? • (skip Article XII) • Article XIII: What are the Cherokee required to tell the United States government? • Article IV: Why will the United States give the Cherokee “useful implements of husbandry”? What will the United State do in order to strengthen communication with the Cherokee? • Article XV and XVI: What must stop with the signing of this treaty? Who must agree upon this treaty to make it legal? Step 3: Have students respond to these final questions: How does this document help you answer the Compelling Question so far? What questions are left unanswered? Consider having students research answers to the questions generated from their close reading of this treaty. Source: http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/History/Facts/TreatyofHolston,1791.aspx Treaty of Holston, 1791

A Treaty of Peace and; Friendship made and concluded between the President of the United States of America, on the Part and Behalf of the said States, and the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors, of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, on the part aide Behalf of the said Nation.

The parties being desirous of establishing permanent peace and friendship between the United States and the said Cherokee Nation, and the citizens and members thereof, and to remove the causes of war, by ascertaining their limits and making other necessary, just and friendly arrangements: The President of the United States, by William Blount, Governor of the territory of the United States of America, south of the river Ohio, and Superintendant of Indian affairs for the southern district, who is vested with full powers for these purposes, by and with-the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. And the Cherokee Nation, by the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors representing the said nation, have agreed to the following articles, namely:

ARTICLE I. There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between all the citizens of the United States of America, and all the individuals composing the whole Cherokee nation of Indians.

ARTICLE II. The undersigned Chiefs and Warriors, for themselves and all parts of the Cherokee nation do acknowledge themselves and the said Cherokee nation, to be under the protection of the said United States of America, and of no other sovereign whosoever; and they also stipulate that the said Cherokee nation will not hold any treaty with any foreign power, individual state, or with individuals of any state.

ARTICLE III. The Cherokee nation shall deliver to the Governor of the territory of the United States of America, south of the river Ohio, on or before the first day of April next, at this place, all persons who are now prisoners, captured by them from any part of the United States: And the United States shall on or before the same day, and at the same place, restore to the Cherokees, all the prisoners now in captivity, which the citizens of the United States have captured from them.

ARTICLE IV. The boundary between the citizens of the United States and the Cherokee nation, is and shall be as follows: Beginning at the top of the Currahee mountain, where the Creek line passes it; thence a direct line to Tugelo river; thence northeast to the Occunna mountain, and over the same along the South-Carolina Indian boundary to the North-Carolina boundary; thence north to a point from which a line is to be extended to the river Clinch, that shall pass the Holston at the ridge which divides the waters running into Little River from those running into the ; thence up the river Clinch to Campbell’s line, and along the same to the top of Cumberland mountain; thence a direct line to the Cumberland river where the Kentucky road crosses it; thence down the Cumberland river to a point from which a south west line will strike the ridge which divides the waters of Cumberland from those of Duck river, forty miles above Nashville; thence down the said ridge to a point from whence a south west line will strike the mouth of Duck river.

And in order to preclude forever all disputes relative to the said boundary, the same shall be ascertained, and marked plainly by three persons appointed on the part of the United States, and three Cherokees on the part of their nation. And in order to extinguish forever all claims of the Cherokee nation, or any part thereof, to any of the land lying to the right of the line above described. Beginning as aforesaid at the Currahee mountain, it is hereby agreed, that in addition to the consideration heretofore made for the said land, the United States will cause certain valuable goods, to be immediately delivered to the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors, for the use of their nation; and the said United States will also cause the sum of one thousand dollars to be paid annually to the said Cherokee nation. And the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors, do hereby for themselves and the whole Cherokee nation, their heirs and descendants, for the considerations above-mentioned, release, quit-claim, relinquish and cede, all the land to the right of the line described, and beginning as aforesaid.

ARTICLE V. It is stipulated and agreed, that the citizens and inhabitants of the United States, shall have a free and unmolested use of a road from Washington district to Mero district, and of the navigation of the .

ARTICLE VI. It is agreed on the part of the Cherokees, that the United States shall have the sole and exclusive right of regulating their trade.

ARTICLE VII. The United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee nation, all their lands not hereby ceded.

ARTICLE VIII. If any citizen of the United States, or other person not being an Indian, shall settle on any of the Cherokees’ lands, such person shall forfeit the protection of the United States, and the Cherokees may punish him or not, as they please.

ARTICLE IX. No citizen or inhabitant of the United States, shall attempt to hunt or destroy the game on the lands of the Cherokees; nor shall any citizen or inhabitant go into the Cherokee country, without a passport first obtained from the Governor of some one of the United States, or territorial districts, or such other person as the President of the United States may from time to time authorize to grant the same.

ARTICLE X. If any Cherokee Indian or Indians, or person residing among them, or who shall take refuge in their nation, shall steal a horse from, or commit a robbery or murder, or other capital crime, on any citizens or inhabitants of the United States, the Cherokee nation shall be bound to deliver him or them up, to be punished according to the laws of the United States.

ARTICLE XI. If any citizen or inhabitant of the United States, or of either of the territorial districts of the United States, shall go into any town, settlement or territory belonging to the Cherokees, and shall there commit any crime upon, or trespass against the person or property of any peaceable and friendly Indian or Indians, which if committed within the jurisdiction of any state, or within the jurisdiction of either of the said districts, against a citizen or white inhabitant thereof, would be punishable by the laws of such state or district, such offender or offenders, shall be subject to the same punishment, and shall be proceeded against in the same manner as if the of fence had been committed within the jurisdiction of the state or district to which he or they may belong against a citizen or white inhabitant thereof.

ARTICLE XII. In case of violence on the persons or property of the individuals of either party, neither retaliation or reprisal shall be committed by the other, until satisfaction shall have been demanded of the party of which the aggressor is and shall have been refused.

ARTICLE XIII. The Cherokees shall give notice to the citizens of the United States, of any designs which they may know, or suspect to be formed in any neighboring tribe, or by any person whatever, against the peace and interest of the United States.

ARTICLE XIV. That the Cherokee nation may be led to a greater degree of civilization, and to become herdsmen and cultivators, instead of remaining in a state of hunters, the United States will from time to time furnish gratuitously the said nation with useful implements of husbandry, and further to assist the said nation in so desirable a pursuit, and at the same time to establish a certain mode of communication, the United States will send such, and so many persons to reside in said nation as they may judge proper, not exceeding four in number, who shall qualify themselves to act as interpreters. These persons shall have lands assigned by the Cherokees for cultivation for themselves and their successors in office; but they shall be precluded exercising any kind of traffic.

ARTICLE XV. All animosities for past grievances shall henceforth cease, and the contracting parties will carry the foregoing treaty into full execution with all good faith and sincerity.

ARTICLE XVI. This treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contracting parties as soon as the same shall have been ratified by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. In witness of all and every thing herein determined between the United States of America and the whole Cherokee nation, the parties have hereunto set their hands and seals, at the treaty ground on the bank of the Holston, near the mouth of the French Broad, within the United States, this second day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one.

William Blount, governor in and over the territory of the United States of America south of the river Ohio, and superintendent of Indian Affairs for the southern district, Chuleoah, or the Boots, his x mark, Squollecuttah, or Hanging Maw, his x mark, Oecunna,or the Badger,his x mark, Enoleh, or Black Fox, his x mark, Nontuaka, or the Northward, his x mark, Tekakiska, his x mark Chutloh, or King Fisher, his x mark, Tuckaseh,orTerrapin,his x mark, Kateh, his x mark Kunnochatutloh, or the Crane, his x mark Canquillehanah, or the Thigh, his x mark, Chesquotteleneh, or Yellow Bird, his x mark, Chickasawtehe, or Killer, his x mark, Tuskegatehe, Tuskega Killer, his x mark, Kulsatehe, his x mark, Tinkshalene, his x mark Sawntteh, or Slave Catcher, his x mark, Auknah, his x mark Oosenaleh, his x mark Kenotetah, or Rising Fawn, his x mark, Kanetetoka, or Standing Turkey, his x mark. Yonewatleh, or Bear at Home, his x mark, Long Will, his x mark Kunoskeskie, or John Watts, his x mark, Nenetooyah, or Bloody Fellow, his x mark, Chuquilatague, or Double Head his x mark, Koolaquah, or Big Acorn, his x mark Too wayelloh, or Bold Hunter, his x mark Jahleoonoyehka, or Middle Striker, his x mark, Kinnesah, or Cabin, his x mark, Tullotehe, or Two Killer, his x mark Kaalouske, or Stopt Still, his x mark Kulsatche, his x mark, Auquotague, the ’s Son, his x mark, Talohteske, or Upsetter, his x mark, Cheakoneske, or Otter Lifter, his x mark Keshukaune, or She Reigns, his x mark, Toonaunailoh, his x mark, Teesteke, or Common Disturber his x mark, Robin McClemore Skyuka John Thompson, Interpreter. James Cery, Interpreter.

Done in presence of- Dan’l Smith, Secretary Territory United States south of the river Ohio Thomas Kennedy, of Kentucky. Jas. Robertson, of Mero District Claiborne Watkins, of Virginia. Jno. McWhitney, of . Fauche, of Georgia. Titus Ogden, . Jno. Chisolm, Washington District. Robert King. Thomas Gegg.

Additional Article To the Treaty made between the United States and the Cherokees on the second day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one. IT is hereby mutually agreed between Henry Knox, Secretary of War, duly authorized thereto in behalf of the United States, on the one part, and the undersigned chiefs and warriors, in behalf of them selves and the Cherokee nation, on the other part, that the following article shall be added to and considered as part of the treaty made between the United States and the said Cherokee nation on the second day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one; to wit:

The sum to be paid annually by the United States to the Cherokee nation of Indians, in consideration of the relinquishment of land, as stated in the treaty made with them on the second day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, shall be one thousand five hundred dollars instead of one thousand dollars, mentioned in the said treaty. In testimony whereof, the said Henry Knox, Secretary of War, and the said chiefs and warriors of the Cherokee nation, have hereunto set their hands and seals, in the city of Philadelphia, this seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety- two.

H. Knox, Secretary of War, Iskagua, or Clear Sky, his x mark (formerly Nenetooyah, or Bloody Fellow), Nontuaka, or the Northward, his x mark, Chutloh, or King Fisher, his x mark, Katigoslah, or the Prince, his x mark, Teesteke, or Common Disturber, his x mark, Suaka, or George Miller, his x mark,

In presence of- Thomas Grooter. Jno. Stagg, Jr. Leonard D. Shaw James Cery, sworn intrepreter to the Cherokee Nation. LESSON 3 Discuss why American settlers ignored treaties such as the Treaty of Holston (1791) and regularly moved onto Native American lands throughout the U.S in the early 1800s. (Make sure to include information about the discovery of gold on Cherokee lands in the late 1820s and the discovery’s various impacts.) Use the excerpt from the popular song and the accompanying questions as a springboard into this discussion.

Source: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4548#note5

A popular song in Georgia during the included this refrain:

All I want in this Creation Is a pretty little wife and a big plantation Way up north in the Cherokee Nation.

Who do you think sang this song or enjoyed this song? Why do you think so?

Who do you think did not enjoy this song? Why do you think so?

Popular music can give us insight into the issues of a nation and the interests of its citizens. Why kind of issues do you think were present in our nation at the time this song was written and enjoyed? LESSON 4 Examine efforts to remove Native Americans from their lands within the state of Georgia. A close reading of Catharine Beecher’s call to action provides the focal point for this examination. You may choose to have your students read some of the other documents (below) or provide historical information about each document before or as you read Beecher’s appeal. • Compact of 1802 • created by • The Cherokee Constitution of 1827 • Laws passed by Georgia’s State Assembly in 1829 and 1830 that extended the state’s jurisdiction over the Cherokee and limited their rights. • Indian Removal Act (1830) • Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) • Worcester v. Georgia (1832) • The “William Penn” Essays

Step 1: Have students preview the reading by reading the title and the first paragraph and then answer the questions below. Then, reveal to students that this appeal was published anonymously and the purpose was to convince other women to petition Congress to defeat the Indian Removal Act. Note that this was an early effort on the part of women to address an injustice in our nation. This effort would be followed by efforts to provide women with voting rights and abolish slavery in the years to come. 1. Who wrote this document? 2. When was this document written? What relevant events take place before this article is published and after? 3. What is the purpose of this article? Step 2: Have students use two different colors of highlighters as they read Beecher’s appeal. Answers to #4 below should be highlighted with one color and answers to #5 below should be highlighted with the other. Begin the activity as a whole class (teacher reads out loud) and then move students into groups of three or four to finish the reading. Have groups brainstorm ideas to #6 and then have students work independently to write their answers. 4. What reasons does Catherine Beecher give to stop Indian removal? 5. What “loaded” words or strong descriptive words are used to persuade the reader not to remove the Cherokee from their lands? 6. Which reasons put forth by the author are the most effective? Explain why. (Please note that the purpose of this question is not to ask the students to agree or not agree with the author’s reasoning, but instead evaluate their argument for effectiveness.)

Source: http://www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/CherokeePhoenix/Vol2/no39/pg2col3bpg3col2 b.htm

Circular Addressed to Benevolent Ladies of the U. States December 25, 1829

The present crisis in the affairs of the Indian Nations in the United States, demands the immediate and interested attention of all who make any claims to benevolence or humanity. The calamities now hanging over them, threaten not only these relics of an interesting race, but if there is a Being who avenges the wrongs of the oppressed, are causes of alarm to our whole country.

The following are the facts of the case. This continent was once possessed only by the Indians, and earliest accounts represent them as a race, numerous, warlike and powerful.-- When our forefathers sought refuge from oppression on these shores, this people supplied their necessities, and ministered to their comfort; and though some of them, when they saw the white man continually encroaching upon their land, fought bravely for their existence and their country, yet often too, the Indian has shed his blood to protect and sustain our infant nation.

As we have risen in greatness and glory, the Indian nations have faded away. Their proud and powerful tribes are gone, their noble [chiefs] and mighty warriors are heard of no more and it is said the Indian often comes to the borders of his limited retreat, to gaze on the beautiful country no longer his own, and to cry with bitterness at the remembrance of past greatness and power.

Ever since the existence of this nation, our general government, pursuing the course, alike of policy and benevolence, have acknowledged these people, as free and independent nations, and has protected them in the quiet possession of their lands. In repeated treaties with the Indians, the United States, by the hands of the most distinguished statesmen, after purchasing the greater part of their best lands, have promised them "to continue the guaranty of the remainder of their country FOREVER." And so strictly has government guarded the Indian's right to his lands, that even to go on to their boundaries to survey the land, subjects to heavy fines and imprisonment.

Our government also, with parental care, has persuaded the Indians to forsake their savage life, and to adopt the habits and pursuits of civilized nations, while the charities of Christians, and the labors of missionaries have sent to them the blessings of the gospel to purify and enlighten. The laws and regular forms of a civilized government are instituted; their simple and beautiful language, by the remarkable ingenuity of one of their race, has become a written language with its own peculiar alphabet, and by the printing press, is sending forth among these people, the principles of knowledge, and liberty, and religion. Their fields are beginning to smile with the labors of the husbandman; their villages are busy with the toils of the mechanic and the artisan; schools are rising in their hamlets, and the temple of the living God is seen among their forests.

Nor are we to think of these people only as naked and wandering savages. The various grades of intellect and refinement exist among them as among us; and those who visit their chieftains, and families of the higher class, speak with wonder and admiration of their dignified propriety, nobleness of appearance, and refined characteristics as often exhibited in both sexes. Among them are men fitted by native talents, to shine among the statesmen of any land, and who have received no inferior degree of cultivation. Among them also, are those who by honest industry, have assembled around them most of the comforts, and many of the elegancies of life.

But the lands of this people are claimed to be embraced within the limits of some of our Southern States, and as they are fertile and valuable, they are demanded by the whites as their own possessions, and efforts are making to dispossess the Indians of their native soil. And such is the singular state of concurring circumstances, that it has become almost a certainty, that these people are to have their lands torn from them, and to be driven into western wilds and to final annihilation, unless the feelings of a humane and Christian nation shall be aroused to prevent the unhallowed sacrifice.

Unless our general government interfere to protect these nations, as by solemn and oft- repeated treaties they are bound to do, nothing can save them. The states which surround them are taking such measures as will speedily drive them from their country, and cause their final extinction.

By enactments recently passed in some of these states, it is decided that the laws of these states shall be extended over the in the course of the next year, (1830). And the following specimen of their laws will show what will be the fate of the Indian when they take effect.

"Art. 8. All laws, usages and customs, made, established, and in force in the said territory, by the said Cherokee Indians, be, and are hereby, on and after the first day of June 1830, declared null and void.

"Art. 9. No Indian, or descendant of Indians, residing within the Creek or Cherokee Nations of Indians, shall be deemed a competent witness, or a party to any suit, in any court created by the constitution, or laws of this state, to which a white man may be a party."

If these laws are permitted to take effect, the Indians are no longer independent nations, but are slaves, at the sovereign disposal of the whites, who will legislate for them. Their land will be divided up among those who are seeking it; their cattle may be driven off; their persons and their property abused; even their wives and children could be murdered before their eyes, and no Indian might approach a court of justice to testify of wrongs received. Should those who seek the Indian lands, be deterred from such open violence, other as ready and as effectual could be adopted. Should their lands be divided among the whites, the Indian cannot be surrounded by their settlements. He has a spirit of freedom and nobility, and cannot consent to be trod down, reviled and scorned. He would fly to the ends of the earth to avoid the humiliation and ruin. Or should some portion of this race remain, still bound to their native soil, intoxication is a scourge the white man has well learned to wield. Now, by the Indian laws, whiskey is seized and destroyed on their lands; but, then, when all their laws "become null and void," it would be brought to every man's door, and be presented to his lips. Then feeble, dispirited, scorned and oppressed, what shadow of hope that this fiery temptation would not waste and destroy them, till desolation take its fill.

But it is said that our government has provided a refuge for them beyond the , where they may retreat and be protected. But let the simple matter of fact be stated, and this seems but solemn mockery. The Indians have never been subject to any man. They consist of different free born, independent tribes. They are attached to their native soil, and have again and again refused to relinquish it. They know that they have a perfect natural right to it, and that the government of the United States by many treaties have solemnly promised to protect them in their lawful possession of it. They know they have rights as independent nations and distinct communities, and in this character can make the most forcible appeals both to the justice and the magnanimity of the United States.

But they are required to give up their national character and rights, and become wandering emigrants. A small tract of wild and uncultivated land has been apportioned to them principally beyond the ; a territory found by examination to be deficient both in wood and water, which are articles of indispensable necessity to emigrants and from whence the Indians who have been persuaded to depart, are returning with dissatisfied complaints. To this wild and unpromising resort, it is proposed to remove 60,000 people of all ages, sexes, and condition; to break up all their existing social, political and religious associations; to expose them to the hunger, nakedness, sickness and distress of a long and fatiguing journey, through unfrequented wilds; to crowd into this narrow space different tribes, speaking divers languages, and accustomed to different habits of life; and to place them under the government of white agents, to be appointed by government.-- Here, they are expected to take up their residence, with no other hope than that when they have made their lands valuable by cultivation, they again must be driven into still more distant wilds; for if our government cannot fulfil its treaties and protect them now, well they know it could not do it then. Is the thing possible, that these 60,000 Indians can thus be stripped of all they hold dear on earth, and in direct violation of oft repeated treaties, and yet quietly and unresistingly submit to such oppression and robbery? Does not the very statement show, that in effecting this wicked project, the "voice of our brothers' blood" would cry unto God from this guilty land?

It appears then, that measures are fast ripening, which, if put in execution, are to exterminate the Indians. If they remain where they are, and the laws of the different states are permitted to be extended over them, and their lands divided among the whites, intoxication, quarrels, and unrestrained oppressions will soon change them to vagabonds and ensure their final extinction. Should they be driven to the west, a fate no less cruel awaits them there, where they lose even the last sad hope of reposing from their oppressions in the sepulchers of their fathers, and beneath their native soil. But why should this deed of infamy and shame be perpetrated before the nations of the earth and in the face of high Heaven? Are the people who claim the Indian's country in need of land? They have more than they can possibly occupy, for a hundred years to come. Has not our government power to prevent this deed? If our government has not power to fulfil its treaties, it would be a most humiliating fact thus to be exposed before the nations of the earth. But our President is empowered by the constitution to issue his proclamation forbidding any such encroachment as are threatened, and if this is disregarded, he has power by his sole authority, to command, the whole military force of our nation, to protect and sustain the Indian in his rights.

Can any difficulty or danger arise from allowing this small remnant of a singular and peculiar race to exist in the midst of us? Why should they not stand, the cherished relic of antiquity, protected and sustained in their rights, and becoming a free and christian people, under their own laws and government? Can the millions of our nation, fear any evil from their numbers or their power? Can anything be feared but that their helplessness should be made the prey of the avaricious and the unprincipled?

But they are beginning to be oppressed and threatened, and when they have looked for protection and help, it has been refused. already we begin to hear them lamenting, that they must leave their home, their country, the land of their fathers, and all that is dearest to them on earth. At a late Indian council, after having been told by the agent of our government, that they no longer could be protected, the head chieftain thus replies in the language of sorrow and reproach.

"We do not wish to sell our lands and remove. This land our Great Father above gave us. We stand on it. We stood on it before the white man came to the edge of the American land. We stand on it still. It belongs to us. It belongs to no one in any place but ourselves. Our land is no borrowed land. White men came and sat down here and there and everywhere around us. When they wished to buy land of us, we have had good councils together. The white man always said "the land is yours-it is yours." We have always been true friends of the American people. We have not spoiled the least thing belonging to an American. Although it has been thus, a very different talk is now sent us. We are told that the King of Mississippi is about to extend his laws over us. We are distressed. Our hands are not strong. We are a small people; we do not know much. The King of Mississippi has strong arms, many warriors, and much knowledge. He is about to lay his laws upon us; we are distressed.

"Colonel Ward, (the agent) knows we have just begun to build new houses and make new fields, and to purchase iron and set up blacksmiths shops with our annuity. We have some schools, we have begun to learn, and we have begun to embrace the gospel. We are like an infant so high, (here the chief bowed and extended his hand as low as his knee,) who has just begun to walk. So it is with us. We have just begun to rise and go.- And our great Father who sits in the white house says to us- Unless you go yonder (pointing to the west) the white man will extend his laws over you. We do not say his words are lies.- we believe they are true. We respect them as sacred. But we are distressed. Oh that our great Father would love us! Oh that the King of Mississippi would love us!"

It cannot but seem a matter of grief and astonishment, that such facts exist in this country; in a nation blessed with wealth, and power, and laws, and religion; and whose possessions reach from ocean to ocean. But humiliating as is the reflection, the Indian must perish unless their destruction can be averted by a most decided and energetic expression of the wishes and feelings of a christian nation addressed to the Congress now assembling and which is soon to decide their doom.

Have not then the females of this country some duties devolving upon them in relation to this helpless race? They are protected from the blinding influence of party spirit, and the aspirates of political violence. They have nothing to do with any struggle for power nor any right to dictate the decisions of those that rule over them. But they may feel for the distressed, they may stretch out the supplicating hand for them, and by their prayers strive to avert the calamities that are impending over them. It may be, that female petitioners can lawfully be heard, even by the highest rulers of our land. Why may we not approach and supplicate that we and our dearest friends may be saved from the awful curses denounced on all who oppress the poor and needy, by Him, whose anger is to be dreaded more than the wrath of man; "who can blast us with the breath of his nostrils," and scatter our hopes like chaff before the storm. It may be, this will be forbidden; yet still we remember the Jewish princess, who being sent to supplicate for a nation's life, was thus reproved for hesitating even when death stared her in the way.- "If thou altogether hold thy peace at this time, then shall deliverance arise from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed;" and who knoweth whether thou are come to the kingdom for such a cause as this?

To woman, it is given to administer the sweet charities of life, and to sway the empire of affection; and to her it may also be said, "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a cause as this?"

In the days of chivalry, at the female voice, thousands of lances would have been laid in rest to protect the helpless and oppressed. But these are days of literature, refinement, charity, and religion; and may we not appeal to nobler champions, than chivalry could boast? Will the liberal and refined, those who are delighted with the charms of eloquence and poetry; those who love the legends of romance and the records of antiquity; those who celebrate and admire the stern virtues of Roman warriors and patriots; will these permit such a race to be swept from the earth?- a nation who have emerged from the deepest shades of antiquity; whose story, and whose wild and interesting traits are becoming the theme of the poet and novelist; who command a native eloquence unequaled for pathos and sublimity; whose stern fortitude and unbending courage, exceed the Roman renown? Will the naturalist, who laments the extinction of the mammoth race of the forest, allow this singular and interesting species of the human race to cease from the earth? Will those who boast of liberty, and feel their breasts throb at the name of freedom and their country, will they permit the free and noble Indian to be driven from his native land, or to crouch and perish under the scourge of oppression? And those whose hearts thrill at the magic sound of home, and turn with delightful remembrance to the woods and valleys of their childhood and youth, will they allow this helpless race to be forced for ever from such blessed scenes, and to look back upon them with hopeless regret and despair? You who gather the youthful group around your fireside and rejoice in their future hopes and joys, will you forget that the poor Indian loves his children too, and would as bitterly mourn over all their blasted hopes? And, while surrounded by such treasured blessings, ponder with dread and awe these fearful words of Him, who thus forbids the violence, and records the malediction of those who either as individuals, or as nations shall oppress the needy and helpless.

"Thou shalt not vex the stranger nor oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land. If thou afflict them, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless."

P. S. Should the facts alluded to in the preceding be doubted, they can be fully substantiated by consulting the communications signed "William Penn," and the statements made and signed by many of the most distinguished philanthropists of our country, which are to be found in the recent numbers of our public prints.

This communication was written and sent abroad solely by the female hand. Let every woman who peruses it, exert that influence in society, which falls within her lawful province and endeavor by every suitable expedient to interest the feelings of her friends, relatives and acquaintances, in behalf of this people, that are ready to perish. A few weeks must decide this interesting and important question, and after that time, sympathy and regret will all be in vain. Lesson 5 Contrast the viewpoint of Catherine Beecher with the viewpoint of President Andrew Jackson. Use this lesson to also contrast the attitude and policy of the Jackson Administration with the first four U.S. Presidents. Many Americans shared Andrew Jackson’s viewpoint and these Americans welcomed the change in U.S. Native American policy.

Step 1: Have students preview the article by reading the titles of each document then answer the questions below. Then, explain that the President is required by the Constitution to give reports to Congress from time to time on the state of the nation. Today we call this the State of the Union Address and it is delivered as a speech to Congress. In Jackson’s day, he wrote a letter to Congress. 1. Who wrote this document? 2. When was this document written? What relevant events take place before this article is published and after? 3. What is the purpose of this article? Step 2: Have students use two different colors of highlighters as they read Jackon’s Messages. Answers to #4 should be highlighted with one color and answers to #5 below should be highlighted with the other. Begin the activity as a whole class (teacher reads out loud) and then move students into groups of three or four to finish the reading. Have groups brainstorm ideas to #6 and then have students work independently to write their answers. 4. What reasons does Andrew Jackson give to promote Indian removal? 5. What “loaded” words or strong descriptive words are used to persuade the reader to remove the Cherokee from their lands? 6. Which reasons put forth by the author are the most effective? Explain why. (Please note that the purpose of this question is not to ask the students to agree or not agree with the author’s reasoning, but instead evaluate their argument for effectiveness.)

Source: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29471 http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29472

Andrew Jackson First Annual Message December 8, 1829

I suggest for your consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of any State or Territory now formed, to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it, ...There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them the arts of civilization, and, by promoting union and harmony among them, to raise up an interesting commonwealth, destined to perpetuate the race and to attest the humanity and justice of this Government. Andrew Jackson Second Annual Message December 6, 1830

It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly 30 years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages.

The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the SW frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community. These consequences, some of them so certain and the rest so probable, make the complete execution of the plan sanctioned by Congress at their last session an object of much solicitude.

Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people. I have endeavored to impress upon them my own solemn convictions of the duties and powers of the General Government in relation to the State authorities. For the justice of the laws passed by the States within the scope of their reserved powers they are not responsible to this Government. As individuals we may entertain and express our opinions of their acts, but as a Government we have as little right to control them as we have to prescribe laws for other nations.

With a full understanding of the subject, the and the Chickasaw tribes have with great unanimity determined to avail themselves of the liberal offers presented by the act of Congress, and have agreed to remove beyond the . Treaties have been made with them, which in due season will be submitted for consideration. In negotiating these treaties they were made to understand their true condition, and they have preferred maintaining their independence in the Western forests to submitting to the laws of the States in which they now reside. These treaties, being probably the last which will ever be made with them, are characterized by great liberality on the part of the Government. They give the Indians a liberal sum in consideration of their removal, and comfortable subsistence on their arrival at their new homes. If it be their real interest to maintain a separate existence, they will there be at liberty to do so without the inconveniences and vexations to which they would unavoidably have been subject in Alabama and Mississippi.

Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country, and Philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth. To follow to the tomb the last of his race and to tread on the graves of extinct nations excite melancholy reflections. But true philanthropy reconciles the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to the extinction of one generation to make room for another. In the monuments and fortifications of an unknown people, spread over the extensive regions of the West, we behold the memorials of a once powerful race, which was exterminated or has disappeared to make room for the existing savage tribes. Nor is there any thing in this which, upon a comprehensive view of the general interests of the human race, is to be regretted. Philanthropy could not wish to see this continent restored to the condition in which it was found by our forefathers. What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?

The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to a land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual.

Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from every thing, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and faculties of man in their highest perfection.

These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by events which it can not control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy.

And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement.

In the consummation of a policy originating at an early period, and steadily pursued by every Administration within the present century -- so just to the States and so generous to the Indians -- the Executive feels it has a right to expect the cooperation of Congress and of all good and disinterested men. The States, moreover, have a right to demand it. It was substantially a part of the compact which made them members of our Confederacy. With Georgia there is an express contract; with the new States an implied one of equal obligation. Why, in authorizing Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama to form constitutions and become separate States, did Congress include within their limits extensive tracts of Indian lands, and, in some instances, powerful Indian tribes? Was it not understood by both parties that the power of the States was to be coextensive with their limits, and that with all convenient dispatch the General Government should extinguish the Indian title and remove every obstruction to the complete jurisdiction of the State governments over the soil? Probably not one of those States would have accepted a separate existence -- certainly it would never have been granted by Congress -- had it been understood that they were to be confined for ever to those small portions of their nominal territory the Indian title to which had at the time been extinguished.

It is, therefore, a duty which this Government owes to the new States to extinguish as soon as possible the Indian title to all lands which Congress themselves have included within their limits. When this is done the duties of the General Government in relation to the States and the Indians within their limits are at an end. The Indians may leave the State or not, as they choose. The purchase of their lands does not alter in the least their personal relations with the State government. No act of the General Government has ever been deemed necessary to give the States jurisdiction over the persons of the Indians. That they possess by virtue of their sovereign power within their own limits in as full a manner before as after the purchase of the Indian lands; nor can this Government add to or diminish it.

May we not hope, therefore, that all good citizens, and none more zealously than those who think the Indians oppressed by subjection to the laws of the States, will unite in attempting to open the eyes of those children of the forest to their true condition, and by a speedy removal to relieve them from all the evils, real or imaginary, present or prospective, with which they may be supposed to be threatened. Lesson 6 Discuss the removal debate within the Cherokee community. Closely examine the argument put forth by in his speech given at on December 22, 1835.

Step 1: Use this document to preview a discussion of the . Have students read the document and then answer the following questions. 1. Who wrote this document? 2. When was this document written? What relevant events take place before this article is published? 3. What is the purpose of this article? Tell students about the Treaty of New Echota (Treaty with the Cherokees, 1835). Alternately, have students conduct a close reading of the document before explaining the main ideas of the Treaty of New Echota. Step 2: Explain the viewpoints of other prominent Cherokee: Elias Boudinot, Chief John Ross, and . Once again, excerpts of primary sources that give the viewpoints of these men can be studied in order to facilitate this discussion. Step 3: Students conduct independent research to find a member of the Cherokee that opposed Major Ridge’s opinion. Have students write a dialogue that includes the voices of Catherine Beecher, Andrew Jackson, Major Ridge, and the Cherokee person of their research. Their dialogue should be based on the primary sources given in this lesson (and discovered in research) and accurately portray the viewpoints of each of these people. They may or may not quote each individual, but the words given to each individual should be historically sound.

Source: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4548#noteref8

Major Ridge Speech delivered at an open-air council New Echota, Georgia December 22, 1835

I am one of the native sons of these wild woods. I have hunted the deer and turkey here, more than fifty years. I have fought your battles, have defended your truth and honesty, and fair trading. The Georgians have shown a grasping spirit lately; they have extended their laws, to which we are unaccustomed, which harass our braves and make the children suffer and cry. I know the Indians have an older title than theirs. We obtained the land from the living God above. They got their title from the British. Yet they are strong and we are weak. We are few, they are many. We cannot remain here in safety and comfort. I know we love the graves of our fathers. We can never forget these homes, but an unbending, iron necessity tells us we must leave them. I would willingly die to preserve them, but any forcible effort to keep them will cost us our lands, our lives and the lives of our children. There is but one path of safety, one road to future existence as a Nation. That path is open before you. Make a treaty of cession. Give up these lands and go over beyond the great Father of Waters.