This episode traces the passage and enforcement of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the legal battle the Cherokee Nation fought all the way to the Supreme Court, and the harrowing forced march that killed an estimated 4,000 people. It's essential viewing for understanding how the early United States treated its native peoples.

Key Takeaways

• By 1830, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations, collectively called the five civilized tribes, had adopted written constitutions, established towns, and participated in the American economy.

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), but President Jackson and the state of Georgia refused to enforce the decision.

• Davy Crockett lost his congressional seat partly because of his outspoken opposition to the Indian Removal Act, and he later died at the Alamo.

• Approximately 16,000 Cherokees were removed to Indian territory; an estimated 4,000 died during the journey.

• Chief John Ross, who opposed removal until the end, arrived in Oklahoma in 1839 and was elected chief of the reconstituted Cherokee Nation.

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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Why is it called the Trail of Tears?

The name comes from a phrase used by members of the Cherokee Nation to describe the forced march west. The journey covered roughly 800 miles under brutal conditions. Thousands of people died from disease, cold, and starvation along the route. The Cherokees were not the only tribe affected; the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations also endured forced removals.

Q2: Did the Supreme Court rule against Indian removal?

Yes. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the Supreme Court ruled 6-to-1 in favor of the Cherokee Nation, finding that Georgia had no legal authority over Cherokee lands. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the decision. Despite this ruling, President Jackson and Georgia refused to enforce it, rendering the victory meaningless in practice.

Q3: Who negotiated the Treaty of New Echota?

The treaty was negotiated by a small minority faction within the Cherokee Nation called the Treaty Party, not by Chief John Ross or the principal Cherokee leadership. Ross and the majority of Cherokees rejected the treaty as illegitimate. Nonetheless, the US Senate ratified it in 1836, and the federal government used it to justify forced removal.

Q4: How many Cherokees died on the Trail of Tears?

Estimates vary, but historians generally place the death toll at approximately 4,000 people out of roughly 16,000 who were removed. Deaths resulted from disease, especially cholera, as well as exposure to harsh winter conditions, inadequate food and shelter, and the physical demands of an 800-mile journey largely completed on foot.

Q5: What happened to the Cherokee Nation after removal?

The Cherokee Nation reconstituted itself in Oklahoma under Chief John Ross, who was elected chief in 1839. The tribe rebuilt its institutions, including schools, a newspaper, and a formal government. Internal divisions between those who had supported and opposed removal took years to heal. Samuel Worcester continued to live and work among the Cherokees until his death in 1859.

A Growing Nation and the Indian Removal Act

In 1800, America's population was approximately 5.3 million. By 1830, it had more than doubled. In that same period, the country added eight new states. Since the Lewis and Clark expedition, Americans looked westward, all the way to the Pacific coast. But their immediate interests lay in the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Just west of that was what Americans called Indian Territory. In 1830, that name took on a whole new meaning.

A law was passed, the Indian Removal Act, which meant that native tribes in the Southeast would soon be forced to migrate west of the Mississippi. For many, the terrible journey would come to be known as the Trail of Tears. From the beginning of the American Republic, native tribes posed a great challenge. Could the country coexist with the tribes, acknowledging them as independent nations, or would the natives have to assimilate into the mainstream of American life? Washington and Jefferson both thought coexistence was possible if the tribes became, in their terms, civilized. Jefferson, the first president to envision American expansion all the way to the Pacific coast, was also the first to ponder a land exchange where the native tribes in the east would move to west of the Mississippi. It was Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, however, who oversaw its execution. The president who pushed removal forward is the subject of our episode on Andrew Jackson and the rise of Jacksonian democracy.

The Five Civilized Tribes

Jackson was elected in 1828. Two years later, he signed into law the Indian Removal Act. The law was intended to force the Cherokees, Choctaw, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles from their lands that lay between the original American colonies and the Mississippi River. They were the five principal tribes of the American Southeast.

By the 1830s, they were also known as the five civilized tribes, so-called for the traits they shared with their white neighbors. Centralized governments and written constitutions, established towns, farms, and participation in the American marketplace. Many had adopted Christianity. Members of each of the five tribes owned black slaves. The Indian Removal Act was not passed without some significant resistance. Most vocal in Congress was Tennessee Representative Davy Crockett. The frontiersman would lose reelection in 1835 due largely to his opposition to the Indian Removal Act. Shortly afterward, he left for Texas, where he died a year later defending the Alamo. The Cherokee and other native nations had occupied this land long before European arrival, as we cover in our episode on the first Americans.

Worcester v. Georgia

As the groundswell for removal grew, there emerged one possible source of interruption. Samuel Austin Worcester, a Vermont native, was a Congregational minister. In 1823, he was sent to the American Southeast as a missionary to the Cherokees.

A year after the Indian Removal Act, Worcester was working on a translation of the Bible into Cherokee, and he had helped the tribe found the first Native American newspaper, The Phoenix. He was in violation, however, of Georgia's prohibition on being on Indian land without official permission from the state. Twice he was arrested. The second time, Worcester was found guilty and sentenced to four years of hard labor. Worcester challenged Georgia's law. His case made it all the way to the Supreme Court. On March 3rd, 1832, in a 6-to-1 majority decision written by Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Worcester. Marshall decided that since the Cherokee Nation was in fact an independent nation, the preacher was allowed to be on Cherokee land without authorization from the state of Georgia. For the time being, however, the ruling had no impact. Neither President Jackson nor the state of Georgia honored it.

The Trail of Tears

In 1835, the federal government negotiated for the Cherokee lands. What developed was the Treaty of New Echota, named after the capital city of the Cherokee Nation. The treaty was struck on December 29th, 1835. Under its terms, the Cherokee exchanged their lands east of the Mississippi River for $5 million and new homelands in Oklahoma. On May 23rd, 1836, the Senate narrowly passed the treaty. Neither John Ross nor any of the other Cherokee chiefs were present at the negotiation. President Martin Van Buren enforced the treaty, and in May 1838, he ordered its execution. Under the command of General Winfield Scott, 7,000 federal forces began rounding up the natives and placing them in stockades. That summer, the Cherokee began the 800-mile trek to northeast Oklahoma. Although much of the journey could be accomplished by boat, the river levels were too low, forcing most of the natives to travel by foot. Approximately 16,000 Cherokees were removed to Indian territory.

An estimated 4,000 died on the way. Among the survivors, Chief John Ross arrived in 1839. Shortly afterward, he was elected chief of the reconstituted Cherokee Nation. Samuel Worcester moved to live with the Cherokee in the new Indian territory. He continued to translate the Bible into Cherokee and helped the tribe publish its newspaper. He also helped mediate between the two factions who remained divided over Indian removal. In 1859, Worcester died in Park Hill, Indian Territory. He was laid to rest there. A previous chapter of native resistance to American expansion is covered in our episode on Tecumseh, Harrison, and the Battle of Tippecanoe.