The Cherokee Removal of 1838-1839 unfolded against a complex backdrop of competing ideologies, self-interest, party politics, altruism, and ambition. Using documents that convey Cherokee voices, government policy, and white citizens views, Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green present a multifaceted account of this complicated moment in American history. The second edition of this successful, class-tested volume contains four new sources, including the Cherokee Constitution of 1827 and a modern Cherokees perspective on the removal. The introduction provides students with succinct historical background. Document headnotes contextualize the selections and draw attention to historical methodology. To aid students investigation of this compelling topic, suggestions for further reading, photographs, and a chronology of the Cherokee removal are also included.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The Cherokees and U.S. Indian Policy
The Cherokee People
Early Contact with British Colonists
The United States "Civilization" Program
Cherokee Culture Change
Pressure for Removal
Cherokee Resistance and Capitulation
1. Cherokee "Civilization"
Becoming "Civilized"
Young Wolf, Last Will and Testament, 1814
Cherokee Committee, Ruling on Young Wolf's Estate, 1824
A Cherokee View of "Civilization"
John Ridge, Letter to Albert Gallatin, February 27, 1826
Christian Missions
Elizabeth Taylor, Letter to Miss Abigail Parker, June 26, 1828
Sally M. Reece, Letter to Reverend Daniel Campbell, July 25, 1828
Nancy Reece, Letter to Reverend Fayette Shepherd, December 25, 1828
Quantifying Cherokee "Civilization"
The Census of 1835
The Cherokee Constitution of 1827
Constitution of the Cherokee Nation: Formed by a Convention of Delegates from the Several Districts, at New Echota, July 1827
2. Georgia Policy
The Georgia Laws
Georgia State Assembly, Laws Extending Jurisdiction over the Cherokees, December 19, 1829 and December 22, 1830
Georgia and the Supreme Court
United States Supreme Court, Worcester v. Georgia, March 1832
Dispossessing the Cherokees
Memorial of Protest of the Cherokee Nation, June 22, 1836
White Intruders
Zillah Haynie Brandon, Memoir, 1830-1838
3. United States Policy
In Defense of the Cherokees: The "William Penn" Essays
William Penn [Jeremiah Evarts], A Brief View of the Present Relations between the Government and People of the United States and Indians within Our National Limits, November 1829
American Women Organize against Removal
Catherine Beecher, Circular, Addressed to Benevolent Ladies of the U. States, December 25, 1829
Lewis Cass Justifies Removal
Lewis Cass, Removal of the Indians, January 1830
Congress Acts
United States Congress, Indian Removal Act, May 28, 1830
Andrew Jackson Applauds the Removal Act
Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1830
4. The Cherokee Debate
Women and Removal
Cherokee Women, Petition, May 2, 1817
Cherokee Women, Petition, June 30, 1818
Cherokee Women, Petition, October 17, 1821 [1831?]
Elias Boudinots Editorials in the Cherokee Phoenix
Elias Boudinot, Editorials in the Cherokee Phoenix, 1829, 1831
The Treaty of New Echota
Treaty with the Cherokees, 1835
The Opposition Continues
John Ross, Letter in Answer to Inquiries from a Friend, July 2, 1836
The Treaty Partys Defense
Elias Boudinot, Letters and Other Papers Relating to the Cherokee Affairs: Being a Reply to Sundry Publications of John Ross, 1837
5. The Trail of Tears
Enrollment
Memorial of Protest of the Cherokee Nation, June 22, 1836
Forced Removal
Evan Jones, Letters, May-December 1838
Waiting to Cross the Mississippi
George Hicks, Letter from the Trail of Tears, January 13, 1839
Removal through a Childs Eyes
Rebecca Neugin, Recollections of Removal, 1932
Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Journal, 1841
Removal 150 Years Later
Wilma Mankiller, Reflections on Removal, 1993
Appendix
Chronology of the Cherokee Removal (c. 1700-2003)
Index