A Timeline of Events

Native Americans, 1600-1830

GunsDisease: smallpox, chicken pox, measlesStarvationEnslavementGovernment Policies: war, genocide,

removal

Negative Factors onNative American Population:

How did Native Americans believe they were connected to plants, animals, and other natural objects?

Why did they believe this?If each object in nature has its own spirit,

what is each person’s responsibility to these spirits?

Do Native Americans believe people can own land as private property?

Do Native Americans believe in damaging the environment?

First Americans’ View of Their Environment (read TCI 1.4, p.6)

formed agreements and treaties with Native Americans

relied on the Native Americans’ knowledge of the land

Puritans: Massasoit and SquantoJamestown: Chief Powhatan and Pocahontas

both sides were interested in peaceful co-existence

Puritans: let’s work together and help each otherJamestown: stay out of our way and we’ll stay out

of yours

Virginia Colony (1607) andthe Puritans (1620)

Native Americans had divided allegiancesupported both the French & British

British defeated the French and left the Ohio Valley

Native Americans had no more allies against the Americans

British/U.S. took control of lands that weren’t really theirs, made decisions about what to do with that land

French & Indian War (1753-1763)

Native Americans were divided over who to support

Most opposed the colonistssettlers were constantly moving in on native land

13,000+ aided the British, including the Iroquois

those who fought with the British did so to protect their own interests, not to support the British empire

American Revolution (1776-1783)

Signed by leaders from 12 tribes Chippewa, Delaware, Eel-River, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo,

Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Piankashaw, Potawatomi, Wea, Wyandot

Established “Greenville Treaty Line” boundary between native territory and land for white

settlers from Ohio to Kentucky settlers ignored the line and moved where they wanted

anyway…just like the Proclamation Line of 1763!!

Native Americans gave up land in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan to U.S.

Treaty of Greenville (1795)

Native American Land (north of line)

Settlers’ Land (south of line)

settlers pushed Shawnee out of their tribal lands in Ohio/Mississippi Valleys

Chief Tecumseh & Prophet tried to unite with other Native Americans along the Mississippi River

Used British guns to fight the Indiana militia led by Governor William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe Creek

led to declaration of war against Britain

Battle of Tippecanoe Creek (1811)

British tried to keep U.S. out of Canada, fought alongside Native Americans to attack the Americans

Native Americans believed U.S. took lands that it didn’t have a claim to

Tecumseh killed while fighting for the British in Canada against Americans

Native Americans helped Gen. Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans

War of 1812

Results of War of 1812 (Treaty of Ghent)Weakened Native American resistance

primary leader was dead—TecumsehBritish wouldn’t help them now that war with the

U.S. was overcompletely forced them out of the Ohio Valley

American promised to stop attacking Native Americans and to give back their property and possessions

War of 1812

more conflicts between Georgia settlers and Seminoles over land and tradeSeminoles raided settlements on the

Florida/Georgia borderEscaped slaves were protected by Seminoles

General Andrew Jackson invaded Floridaresulted in conflicts with Spain, and later in the

Florida Cession via the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819

U.S. gov’t continued its attempts to remove the Seminoles during the 1830s

1st Seminole War (1817-1818)

created as part of the Department of Warlater became part of the Department of the

Interior

Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824)

Inauguration of Andrew Jackson (1829)

How had the U.S. government attempted to keep peace between settlers and Native Americans following the American Revolution?

How were Native Americans compensated for their land?

When Jackson was elected, how many Native Americans still lived east of the Mississippi?

Which tribes made up the “five civilized tribes”? What made them “civilized”?

What impact did the expansion of the “cotton kingdom” have on Native American lands?

Jackson’s Indian Policy(read TCI 14.7, p.192)

Passed by Congress, allowed federal gov’t to pay Native Americans if they moved west

DID NOT say that the Native Americans should be forcibly removed

Pres. Jackson sent various gov’t officials to negotiate treaties with tribes in the southeast U.S. for them to leave

Congress created the “Indian Territory” in 1834 to be set aside for transplanted Native Americans“Indian Territory” located in present-day

OklahomaCherokee Nation refused to give up their land and

leave

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Worcester v. Georgia (1831)

Worcester Georgia Samuel Worcester was a

missionary working with the Cherokeeo Arrested for “failure to

have a license”—Georgia required non-Native Americans to have licenses to live on Cherokee lands

o Arrested for resisting the Georgia militia’s order to leave

o Claimed Georgia had no authority in native territory because the Cherokee were recognized as a separate nation

 

Georgia refused to acknowledge the Cherokee Nation’s sovereignty

 

Since the 1790s, the federal gov’t had recognized Cherokee Nation and other native tribes as sovereign nations with their own laws

Worcester v. Georgia (1831)Supreme Court Ruling: Georgia had no rights on Cherokee land

• Native Americans were protected by the Constitution and their treaties with the federal government

• Chief Justice John Marshall

Problem: Jackson disagreed with the court, ignored the ruling

• “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.”

Cherokee v. Georgia (1832)Cherokee Georgia

Cherokee adopted a written constitution declaring themselves to be a sovereign nation (1827)

1784 Treaty with the Six Nations acknowledged sovereignty of the tribes

 

State of Georgia did not recognize their independent statuso The Cherokee were just

tenants on Georgia land Gold was found on Cherokee land,

giving Georgia further motivation to get the Cherokee out (1829)

 Supreme Court Ruling:AGAIN, the Supreme Court ruledthat the state had no rights on Cherokee land

 Problem:

AGAIN, President Jackson disagreed with the court,so he ignored the ruling

Seminoles continued to resist relocation, led by OsceolaEffectively used guerilla tactics for over

two yearsFour military leaders failed in their attempts

to force the Seminoles outMajor Dade; Generals Gaines, Clinch, and

Winfield ScottMajor General Jesup brought in to turn things

around for the U.S.Waged a campaign designed to wear down

the tribeCol. Zachary Taylor defeated Seminoles at

Lake Okeechobee

2nd Seminole War (1835-1842)

Then Col. Worth is called in to wage search-and-destroy missionsmany Seminoles surrendered rather than face

starvationmost expensive war with Native Americans, longest

war in U.S. history before Vietnam—estimated at $40-60 million—ten times more than what the gov’t had allotted for the whole removal!

Seminoles gave up over 100 million acres of land

2nd Seminole War (1835-1842)

U.S. agreed to give the Cherokee new land in Oklahoma and pay them $5 million to relocate in exchange for all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi

not signed by an official Cherokee Council representative, so the Cherokee Nation elders declared it invalid

asked Congress to not approve the treaty, but it passed by 1 vote

Results in the Trail of Tears (1838)

Treaty of New Echota (1836)

U.S. agreed to give the Cherokee new land in Oklahoma and pay them

General Winfield Scott forced 20,000 Cherokees to leave their land and walk 1,200 miles to their new “home” in the Oklahoma Territory

4,000-8,000 Cherokees died between 1836 and 1838

23-47% of relocated Cherokee diedvery controversial decision—not all Americans

supported the removal

Trail of Tears (1836-1838)