Editing Cherokee (section)

=====Trail of Tears=====
{{Main|Trail of Tears|Cherokee Removal}}
[[File:Chief John Ross.jpg|left|thumb|upright=.8|Chief [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|John Ross]], c. 1840]]

Following the War of 1812, and the concurrent [[Red Stick War]], the U.S. government persuaded several groups of Cherokee to a voluntary removal to the Arkansas Territory. These were the "[[Old Settlers]]", the first of the Cherokee to make their way to what would eventually become [[Indian Territory]] (modern day [[Oklahoma]]). This effort was headed by Indian Agent [[Return J. Meigs Sr.|Return J. Meigs]], and was finalized with the signing of the [[Jackson and McMinn Treaty]], giving the Old Settlers undisputed title to the lands designated for their use.<ref name="Tenn">[https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/treaties/ ''Treaties'']; Tennessee Encyclopedia, online; accessed October 2019</ref>

During this time, Georgia focused on removing the Cherokee's neighbors, the [[Muscogee (Creek)|Lower Creek]]. Georgia Governor [[George Troup]] and his cousin [[William McIntosh]], chief of the Lower Creek, signed the [[Treaty of Indian Springs (1825)|Treaty of Indian Springs]] in 1825, ceding the last [[Muscogee (Creek)]] lands claimed by Georgia. The state's northwestern border reached the [[Chattahoochee River|Chattahoochee]], the border of the Cherokee Nation. In 1829, gold was discovered at [[Dahlonega, Georgia|Dahlonega]], on Cherokee land claimed by Georgia. The [[Georgia Gold Rush]] was the first in U.S. history, and state officials demanded that the federal government expel the Cherokee. When [[Andrew Jackson]] was inaugurated as president in 1829, Georgia gained a strong ally in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. In 1830 Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]], authorizing the forcible relocation of American Indians east of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] to a new Indian Territory.

Jackson claimed the removal policy was an effort to prevent the Cherokee from facing extinction as a people, which he considered the fate that "...the [[Mohegan]], the [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]], and the [[Lenape|Delaware]]" had suffered.<ref>Wishart, p. 120</ref>  There is, however, ample evidence that the Cherokee were adapting to modern farming techniques. A modern analysis shows that the area was in general in a state of economic surplus and could have accommodated both the Cherokee and new settlers.<ref>Wishart 1995.</ref>

The Cherokee brought their grievances to a US judicial review that set a precedent in [[Indian country]]. John Ross traveled to Washington, D.C., and won support from [[National Republican Party]] leaders [[Henry Clay]] and [[Daniel Webster]]. [[Samuel Worcester]] campaigned on behalf of the Cherokee in New England, where their cause was taken up by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (see [[Emerson's letter to Martin Van Buren|Emerson's 1838 letter to Martin Van Buren]]). In June 1830, a delegation led by Chief Ross defended Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court in ''[[Cherokee Nation v. Georgia]]''.

In 1831, Georgia militia arrested [[Samuel Worcester]] for residing on Indian lands without a state permit, imprisoning him in [[Milledgeville, Georgia|Milledgeville]]. In ''[[Worcester v. Georgia]]'' (1832), the US [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] [[Chief Justice]] [[John Marshall]] ruled that American Indian nations were "distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights," and entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments that infringed on their [[sovereignty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2720 |title=New Georgia Encyclopedia: "Worcester v. Georgia (1832)" |publisher=Georgiaencyclopedia.org |date=April 27, 2004 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-date=September 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918023050/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2720 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Worcester v. Georgia'' is considered one of the most important dicta in law dealing with Native Americans.

Jackson ignored the Supreme Court's ruling, as he needed to conciliate Southern sectionalism during the era of the [[Nullification Crisis]]. His landslide reelection in 1832 emboldened calls for Cherokee removal. Georgia sold Cherokee lands to its citizens in a [[Georgia Land Lottery|Land Lottery]], and the state militia occupied [[New Echota]]. The Cherokee National Council, led by John Ross, fled to [[Red Clay State Park|Red Clay]], a remote valley north of Georgia's land claim. Ross had the support of Cherokee traditionalists, who could not imagine removal from their ancestral lands.

[[File:Cherokee beadwork sampler 1840 ohs.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Cherokee [[beadwork]] sampler, made at [[Dwight Presbyterian Mission|Dwight Mission]], Indian Territory, 19th century, collection of the [[Oklahoma History Center]] ]]

A small group known as the "Ridge Party" or the "Treaty Party" saw relocation as inevitable and believed the Cherokee Nation needed to make the best deal to preserve their rights in Indian Territory. Led by [[Major Ridge]], [[John Ridge]] and [[Elias Boudinot (Cherokee)|Elias Boudinot]], they represented the Cherokee elite, whose homes, plantations and businesses were confiscated, or under threat of being taken by white squatters with Georgia land-titles. With capital to acquire new lands, they were more inclined to accept relocation. On December 29, 1835, the "Ridge Party" signed the [[Treaty of New Echota]], stipulating terms and conditions for the removal of the Cherokee Nation. In return for their lands, the Cherokee were promised a large tract in the [[Indian Territory]], $5 million, and $300,000 for improvements on their new lands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/documents/treaty_of_new_echota.html |title=Treaty of New Echota, Dec. 29, 1835 (Cherokee – United States) |publisher=Ourgeorgiahistory.com |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-date=October 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027030209/http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/documents/treaty_of_new_echota.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

John Ross gathered over 15,000 signatures for a petition to the U.S. Senate, insisting that the treaty was invalid because it did not have the support of the majority of the Cherokee people. The Senate passed the Treaty of New Echota by a one-vote margin. It was enacted into law in May 1836.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ngeorgia.com/history/cherokeehistory7.html |title=Cherokee in Georgia: Treaty of New Echota |publisher=Ngeorgia.com |date=June 5, 2007 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-date=January 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110212312/http://ngeorgia.com/history/cherokeehistory7.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Two years later, President [[Martin Van Buren]] ordered 7,000 federal troops and state militia under General [[Winfield Scott]] into Cherokee lands to evict the tribe. Over 16,000 Cherokee were forcibly relocated westward to [[Indian Territory]] in 1838–1839, a migration known as the [[Trail of Tears]] or in Cherokee {{lang|chr|ᏅᎾ ᏓᎤᎳ ᏨᏱ}} or {{lang|chr|Nvna Daula Tsvyi}} (''The Trail Where They Cried''), although it is described by another word {{lang|chr|Tlo-va-sa}} (''The Removal''). Marched over {{convert|800|mi|km}} across [[Tennessee]], [[Kentucky]], [[Illinois]], [[Missouri]] and [[Arkansas]], the people suffered from disease, exposure and starvation, and as many as 4,000 died, nearly a fifth of the population.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Happened on the Trail of Tears?|url=https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/what-happened-on-the-trail-of-tears.htm|url-status=live|website=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012171452/https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/what-happened-on-the-trail-of-tears.htm |archive-date=October 12, 2020 }}</ref> As some Cherokees were slaveholders, they took [[slavery|enslaved]] African Americans with them west of the Mississippi. Intermarried European Americans and [[missionaries]] also walked the Trail of Tears. Ross preserved a vestige of independence by negotiating permission for the Cherokee to conduct their own removal under U.S. supervision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/225917.Alex_W_Bealer|title=Books by Alex W. Bealer|publisher=goodreads.com, 1972 and 1996|access-date=March 27, 2011}}</ref>

In keeping with the tribe's "blood law" that prescribed the death penalty for Cherokee who sold lands, Ross's son arranged the murder of the leaders of the "Treaty Party". On June 22, 1839, a party of twenty-five Ross supporters assassinated Major Ridge, John Ridge and Elias Boudinot. The party included Daniel Colston, John Vann, Archibald, James and Joseph Spear. Boudinot's brother [[Stand Watie]] fought and survived that day, escaping to [[Arkansas]].

In 1827, [[Sequoyah]] had led a delegation of Old Settlers to Washington, D.C., to negotiate for the exchange of Arkansas land for land in Indian Territory. After the Trail of Tears, he helped mediate divisions between the Old Settlers and the rival factions of the more recent arrivals. In 1839, as President of the Western Cherokee, Sequoyah signed an Act of Union with John Ross that reunited the two groups of the Cherokee Nation.