By the start of the 1820’s, the old native tribes of New England and the Midwest had largely been scattered and driven westward across the Mississippi. Having allied themselves with the British in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, they found few supporters to help them resist the growing encroachment of European settlers upon their lands. Seeing the fate of their northern brethren, the five main tribes in the southeast; the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole; instead mostly chose a route of assimilation. Through a series of treaties, they established independent territories within the United States. In return, members of the tribes converted to Christianity, formed centralized governments, and shifted their way of life to more closely match that of their new European neighbors, including the owning of slaves. Unfortunately, these attempts did little to slow the progress of European settlers, who were eager to claim new lands for settlement. As a result, both the Creek and the Seminole fought against the Americans, a decision that led to both tribes being forced to sign treaties surrendering wide swaths of territory. Unfortunately, the opening of these newly captured lands for European settlement only increased the tensions between the tribes and their new neighbors, creating a rift between the government of the U.S. and the newly made southeastern states. Tensions were only exacerbated when gold was discovered on Cherokee lands in 1828.
That same year, Andrew Jackson was elected president. Jackson had led troops in the Creek and Seminole wars, both of which he largely spent tied to his horse and shitting his pants. Jackson had long been a proponent of moving the southeastern tribes westward, though not necessarily out of a sense of hostility towards the tribes. In Jackson’s view, the tensions between the states and the tribes would continue to grow, eventually leading to a conflict that the tribes would undoubtedly lose due to their smaller numbers. If the federal government tried to intervene on the behalf of the tribes, there was a risk that federal troops would have to fight the state militias, which may cause a civil war. In Jackson’s opinion, it was better to remove the tribes to federal lands west of the Mississippi where they would be left alone and no longer in conflict with hostile state governments. In order to do this, Jackson pushed the controversial Indian Removal Act through Congress in 1830, which gave him the ability to negotiate with tribes for their removal westward.
The Choctaw nation, centered in central Mississippi, was the first group to agree to the removal. Though reluctant to do so, the Choctaw were convinced it was in their best interest to make the trade. Starting in 1831, some 17,000 Choctaw made the journey, leaving in November so they could plant crops in the spring. Though initially well supplied by the government, a much more severe than expected winter and an outbreak of cholera killed some 4,500 people. It was a disastrous start, which caused the other tribes to resist attempts to get them to voluntarily move. Similar to the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, who lived in northern Mississippi, reluctantly signed a treaty agreeing to removal in 1832. However, the decision was more contentious, and it took years for the removal to begin. The Chickasaw finally moved west in 1837. Of the 3,000 who made the journey, some 500 died. The Creek, who lived in central Alabama, were also forced to sign a treaty agreeing to the removal in 1832. However, they largely chose to remain, putting them in increasing conflict with encroaching settlers and the state militia. This eventually led to the outbreak of some violence in 1836, which the U.S. government used as an excuse to forcefully remove the Creek that same year. Under military escort, some 15,000 Creek moved westward. An estimated 3,500 died along the way.
Negotiations with the Seminole did not go as well as the other tribes. Though a few agreed to the idea of relocation, most refused to budge, preferring to take refuge in the Floridan Everglades. This resulted in a war which was fought from 1835 to 1842. Bolstered by freed slaves, some 3,000 Seminoles fought against a U.S. military expedition that eventually reached 40,000 in number. Though around a thousand or more were eventually relocated westward, the remainder fought on until the American government eventually gave up on the war, leaving the few hundred members of the tribe left to live as they wished in the swamps.
The last tribe to be removed were the Cherokee. The Cherokee were split on the idea of removal, though most were not in favor. Negotiations between the Cherokee and the U.S. stretched on for years. In 1835, the U.S. signed a treaty with the pro-removal faction of the Cherokee, claiming that they represented the entire nation. Over the next several years, some 2,000 Cherokee voluntarily moved west, but the remaining 16,000 Cherokee refused to budge. This was the plate of hot shit Martin Van Buren was left with when he became president in 1837. Deciding not to put up with any further delays, Van Buren sent in the U.S. Army in the spring of 1838 and forcefully moved the Cherokee to internment camps where disease ran rampant. The Cherokee were kept in these camps until the fall of 1838, when agreeing to stop resisting, they were allowed to make their way westward. Severe winter weather caused further death on the journey. In total, some 4,000 Cherokee died in the removal.
In the proceeding decades many more tribes were removed to what became known as the Indian Territory from across the Midwest, Great Plains, and Southwest. Eventually large amounts of this land was seized by the U.S. government in 1887, which then in turn opened up large amounts of it to white settlement. Today we call it Oklahoma.
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