Jacksonian Indian Removal

and the Trail of Tears

1828–1842

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Timeline: Key Events

1802 Georgia Compact: U.S. promises to extinguish Indian title in Georgia
1821 Sequoyah completes Cherokee syllabary; Creek National Council decree
1827 Cherokee Nation adopts written constitution
1828 Gold discovered in Cherokee territory; Cherokee Phoenix begins publication; Andrew Jackson elected
1829-31 Georgia passes "Extension Laws" over Cherokee territory
1830 Indian Removal Act passes Congress; Choctaw removal begins (1831)
1831-32 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia; Worcester v. Georgia
1835 Treaty of New Echota signed by Treaty Party faction
1838-39 Cherokee Trail of Tears; ~4,000 deaths
1835-42 Second Seminole War in Florida

Native Americans After the War of 1812

The Situation

  • ~125,000 Native peoples live east of Mississippi River
  • "Five Civilized Tribes" in Southeast: ~60,000 people
  • Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole
  • Increasingly surrounded by white settlement

Federal Policy Claims

  • "Civilize" and "Christianize" Native peoples
  • Then they can remain on their lands
  • Assimilation is the official goal

The Cotton Economy

Post-War of 1812 Expansion

  • Cotton production explodes with spread of short-staple cotton
  • Entrenchment of enslaved labor system
  • Land becomes the critical bottleneck

Pressure on Native Lands

  • Planters, speculators, small farmers push into Indigenous homelands
  • Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee
  • Political culture treats Native landholding as illegitimate

Why Removal? Three Intertwined Reasons

  • 1) Economic: Land Hunger
  • 2) Racial Ideology: "Civilization" Rhetoric
  • 3) Political Pressure

Cherokee "Civilization" Strategy

Economic Transformation

  • Most Cherokee abandon hunting, adopt settled agriculture
  • Own farms, plantations, enslaved people
  • Operate mills, stores, ferries, inns

Cultural Adaptation

  • Sequoyah creates Cherokee syllabary (1821)
  • Cherokee literacy rate equals or exceeds white South
  • Cherokee Phoenix (1828): First Native American newspaper

Political Innovation

  • Cherokee National Council passes written law codes
  • Establish police force and court system
  • Cherokee Constitution (1827): Mirrors U.S. Constitution

The Numbers (by 1835)

The "Civilization" Paradox

  • Early 19th-century U.S. policy encouraged Native "civilization" (farming, Christianity, education, centralized government)
  • Southeastern nations adopted many practices: Cherokee written constitution (1827), schools, bilingual newspapers
  • Paradox: More organized Native polities became greater perceived threats to state sovereignty claims
  • Assimilation did not secure land tenure — it intensified the conflict

The Creek National Council Decree (1821)

Lead-Up to the Decree

  • After War of 1812, U.S. pressure for Creek land cessions intensified
  • Federal and Georgia officials bribed chiefs to sign unauthorized treaties
  • Internal rifts grew between traditional leaders and mixed-heritage elites
  • The National Council acted to defend tribal sovereignty

Decree of the Creek National Council

Adopted at Broken Arrow, 1821

  • Any Creek who sells or conveys national land without Council consent shall suffer death
  • Private land agreements with settlers hold no legal standing
  • All lands are held in common under the protection of the Council

Treaty of Indian Springs (1825)

February 1825: McIntosh signs treaty at his inn

The Deal:

  • Ceded ALL Creek land in Georgia to United States
  • McIntosh and supporters receive $40,000
  • Opposed by majority of Creek people

The Consequence

  • May 1825: McIntosh executed by Creek warriors
  • Executed under Creek law as a land-seller
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Execution of William McIntosh (Creek), 1825

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Georgia Forces the Crisis

Gold Discovered (1828)

  • Gold found at Dahlonega, Georgia (Cherokee territory)
  • First major U.S. gold rush begins
  • White settlers surge illegally into Cherokee land

Georgia's "Extension Laws" (1829–1831)

  1. Cherokee laws declared void within Georgia
  2. Cherokees barred from testifying against whites
  3. Cherokees prohibited from mining gold on their own land
  4. White missionaries required Georgia license to remain
Goal: Make Cherokee life untenable so they would "voluntarily" agree to move west.

Competing Sovereignties: The Legal Battle

Tribes Assert Nationhood

  • Cherokee Nation writes constitution (1827)
  • Declares Cherokee sovereignty and independence
  • Claims the Cherokee are a nation, not subjects of Georgia

U.S. Government's Position

  • Tribes are "domestic dependent nations"
  • Subject to federal (not state) authority
  • But NOT fully sovereign

Georgia's Position

  • Indians have NO sovereignty
  • State law applies to all people in Georgia
The Clash: Three competing claims to authority would be decided by the Supreme Court—and then largely ignored.

Cherokee Legal Resistance: Two Supreme Court Cases

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

  • Question: Is Cherokee Nation a "foreign nation" that can sue Georgia?
  • Marshall's Decision: NO — Indian tribes are "domestic dependent nations."
  • Not a foreign nation, but not Georgia citizens either
  • Case dismissed on procedural grounds

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

  • Question: Can Georgia enforce laws in Cherokee territory?
  • Marshall's Decision: NO — Cherokee Nation is sovereign
  • Georgia laws in Cherokee territory are unconstitutional
  • Only the federal government has authority over tribes

When Law Meets Power

This Should Have Stopped Removal… But:

  • Georgia refuses to comply with the Supreme Court ruling
  • President Jackson refuses to enforce it
  • Apocryphally: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it."

Legal victory became meaningless without enforcement.

Jackson's Indian Policy

Jackson's Motivations:

  • Indians seen as barrier to American settlement of valuable farmland
  • Doubted Native peoples would ever fully join American society
  • Paternalistic racism: Thought Indians were degraded by contact with whites
  • Believed removal would "save" Native peoples from extinction
  • Opening Indian land would strengthen Democratic Party power

Indian Removal Act (1830)

The Law:

  • Stipulated exchange of Indian territory in East for lands west of Mississippi
  • United States would "forever secure and guaranty" new lands in West
  • Government would pay for lost homes and removal
  • Government would protect Indians from all threats

The Vote:

  • Passed by only 5 votes in House (102-97)
  • Senate: 28-19
  • Strong opposition, especially from northern representatives
  • Shows removal was controversial even at the time

The Treaty of New Echota (1835)

Who Signed:

  • "Treaty Party" — Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot
  • Represented a few hundred Cherokee at most, out of about 16,000; roughly twenty men signed
  • Principal Chief John Ross + elected Cherokee gov't opposed

The Deal:

  • Cede all lands east of the Mississippi
  • Receive $5 million
  • Land in "Indian Territory" (Oklahoma)
  • U.S. promises land will be theirs "forever"
Opposition: John Ross carried to Congress a protest signed by 15,665 Cherokee (1838), nearly the whole nation, rejecting the treaty as illegitimate and unauthorized

Treaty of New Echota: Aftermath

Senate Ratification:

  • May 1836 — Ratified by one vote (31-15)
  • Legal — but deeply contested

The Price Paid:

  • 1839: Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot assassinated
  • Executed by Cherokee for violating national law against land cession
  • Internal conflict continued for years in Indian Territory

Removal Across the Southeast

While "Trail of Tears" commonly refers to Cherokee removal, multiple nations were displaced:

Choctaw

Among first removed (1831-33)

Severe planning failures

Winter travel, cholera outbreaks

Estimated 2,500-6,000 deaths

Creek (Muscogee)

Faced settler violence in Alabama/Georgia

Removal involved military force

Multiple waves of displacement

Several thousand deaths

Chickasaw

Negotiated better compensation

Still faced hazardous conditions

Disease and resettlement stress

~600 deaths estimated

Seminole

Removal entangled with Second Seminole War (1835-42)

Extended armed resistance

Some Seminole remained in Florida

The Trail of Tears (1838–1839)

Cherokee Removal Implementation

  • May 1838: Treaty deadline passes, most Cherokee remain
  • Roundup: Federal troops and militia gather Cherokee into stockades and detention camps
  • Detachment system: Groups of 700-1,600 travel by different routes
  • Timing: Late fall and winter departures magnify exposure risks
  • Duration: Journeys of 3-5 months, over 1,000 miles

The Trail of Tears: The March

Forced Removal Begins:

  • ~16,000 Cherokees rounded up by U.S. Army
  • General Winfield Scott commanded ~7,000 troops
  • Held in stockades before departure
  • Removal executed under Van Buren (Jackson's policy)

The March:

  • ~1,000-mile journey to "Indian Territory"
  • Traveled mostly on foot through harsh winter
  • Some traveled by water (river, steamboat)
  • ~4,000 die from disease, exposure, starvation
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The Death Toll

~4,000

Most-cited estimate of Cherokee deaths in the roundup, the camps, and on the trail (1838–1839)

Approximately one-fifth of the Cherokee population removed

Understanding the Estimate

  • The 4,000 figure is an estimate by missionary doctor Elizur Butler, who traveled with the Cherokee, not an official count
  • Russell Thornton's demographic study (1984) argues the toll may have been about twice that, roughly 8,000
  • Estimates range from about 2,000 to about 8,000

The Human Cost: Five Nations Removed

Nation People Removed Deaths (estimates)
Cherokee (1838–1839) About 16,000 About 4,000 most cited; range about 2,000–8,000
Creek (1836–1837) About 15,000, some men in chains Heavy, mostly after arrival in the West
Choctaw (1831–1833) Removed in three waves About 2,500; some historians give higher figures
Chickasaw (1837–1838) Roughly 4,000–5,000 Many died in the West of smallpox and spoiled rations
Seminole (1835–1842) Most, after the Second Seminole War; several hundred stayed in Florida Heavy, in war and after removal

Five nations • some 60,000 people • no reliable single death total

What Killed People?

Disease

  • Dysentery and diarrheal illnesses
  • Respiratory infections (pneumonia, tuberculosis)
  • Measles, whooping cough
  • Cholera in some detachments

Environmental Exposure

  • Freezing temperatures, snow, ice
  • Inadequate clothing and shelter
  • Exhaustion from forced marches
  • Malnutrition weakening immune systems

Pattern: Deaths concentrated among the most vulnerable populations (children, elderly, those already sick or weakened)

Key insight: These deaths were predictable consequences of forced migration under harsh conditions with inadequate provisioning

Evidence Review: Was it Forced Displacement?

Evidence:

  • About 60,000 people removed from the Southeast
  • Army/militia round-ups; families confined to stockade camps pre-departure
  • Those who hid were hunted, seized, and imprisoned
  • Marches under compulsion; refusal was not permitted

Evidence Review: Was it Systematic Policy?

Evidence:

  • Indian Removal Act (1830) — federal legislative authorization
  • 70+ treaties (1830–1842) implementing removals across regions
  • Coordinated execution among federal authorities, states, and the U.S. Army
  • Gen. Winfield Scott commanded ~7,000 troops for Cherokee removal

Evidence Review: Community Destruction

Evidence:

  • Homes burned; farms and improvements confiscated
  • Cherokee capital (New Echota) dismantled; civic institutions abandoned
  • Burial grounds desecrated; sacred sites lost
  • $15–$20 million in Cherokee property value destroyed or seized

Aftermath in Indian Territory

  • Material challenges: Rebuilding homes, farms, towns from scratch in unfamiliar territory
  • Political crisis: Internal conflict over Treaty of New Echota legitimacy
  • Violence: 1839 assassinations of Treaty Party leaders
  • Federal promises: Compensation often delayed, insufficient, or embezzled
  • Long-term impact: Demographic loss, cultural disruption, political divisions lasting decades

Historical Significance

  • Territorial reorganization: Cleared southeastern lands for cotton expansion and slave-based agriculture
  • Exercise of federal power: Demonstrated capacity for coordinated, large-scale forced migration
  • Legal precedents: Established patterns for federal-tribal relations and sovereignty doctrines
  • Demographic impact: Tens of thousands displaced, thousands killed, nations fractured
  • Memory and legacy: Trail of Tears remains central symbol in American historical memory

Conclusion

  • Indian removal was a policy choice, not an inevitable outcome
  • Operated through combination of law (Removal Act, treaties, court decisions) and coercion (state harassment, detention, military force)
  • Produced mass displacement (tens of thousands) and mass death (best estimate ~4,000 Cherokee deaths alone)
  • Predictable consequences: Officials knew from prior experience that these conditions were deadly
  • Remade the American South (cotton expansion) and Indigenous nations (political, demographic, territorial transformation)
"We found the road literally filled with the procession for about three miles in length. The sick and feeble were carried in waggons . . . a great many ride horseback and multitudes go on foot—even aged females, apparently nearly ready to drop into the grave, were traveling with heavy burdens attached to the back."
— A traveler from Maine, New York Observer, January 26, 1839 (reader Doc 10; NPS)

Additional Resources

Key Scholarly Works

  • Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears (2007)
  • Claudio Saunt, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans (2020)
  • Russell Thornton, "Cherokee Population Losses during the Trail of Tears," Ethnohistory 31:4 (1984)
  • Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (2007)
  • Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father (1984)

Historical Context