SS8H5d Notes

SS8H5 The student will explain significant factors that affected the development of Georgia as part of the growth of the United States between 1789 and 1840.

d. Analyze the events that led to the removal of Creeks and Cherokees; include the roles of Alexander McGillivray, William McIntosh, Sequoyah, John Ross, Dahlonega Gold Rush, Worcester v. Georgia, Andrew “I Hate Indians” Jackson, John Marshall, and the Trail of Tears.

Alexander McGillivray:

-leader of the Upper Creeks

-upset over the taking of Indian lands under any circumstances

-led attacks against Backcountry settlers form 1787-1789-known as the Oconee War

-Upper Creek and settler battles led to the federal government’s involvement and resulted in the Treaty of New York

            -Treaty of New York-said that settlers would be removed from Creek lands

                        -this treaty left the settlers in disbelief that the government sided with the Indians-led settlers to take things into their own hands by

                        Building forts and continuing to battle the Indians

William McIntosh:

-chief of the Lower Creeks

-he was fluent in English and was able to live in either Indian or white societies

-he supported Andrew “I hate Indians” Jackson in the Creek War of 1813-14

-he supported the United States and its efforts to obtain Creek lands

-his support of the United States and ability to live in either society led him to be disliked by many Creeks

Sequoyah:

-1770-1840

-Cherokee Indian best known for creating the Cherokee syllabary (a syllabary represented syllables in spoken Cherokee)

-Cherokee syllabary contained eighty-four to eighty-six characters

-the only member of an illiterate group in human history to have single-handedly devised a successful system of writing

-the syllabary led to the Cherokee peoples learning to read and to the founding of their own newspaper the Cherokee Phoenix

John Ross-

-1790-1866

-principal chief of the Cherokee Nation

-prominent store and plantation owner

-led the Cherokee through its “civilizing,” the Trail of Tears, and the post-relocation years

-truly believed that Cherokee rights would be upheld

-the fraudulent Treaty of New Echota, gold in Dahlonega, the Indian Removal Act, and the Georgia land lottery all led to the removal of the Cherokee from Georgia while Ross was Chief

-fought removal until 1838

Dahlonega Gold Rush:

- gold was discovered here in 1828-29

-the name Dahlonega comes from a Cherokee word that refers to the yellow color of gold

-county seat of Lumpkin County

-originally part of the Cherokee Nation

-the land her was sold through the land lottery system- forty-acre “gold districts” sold for $10

-the discovery of gold here was one of the major reasons for the removal of the Cherokee

Worcester v. Georgia:

-1832

-Supreme Court case involving Samuel Worcester and the state of Georgia

-Worcester was a Christian missionary who lived among the Cherokee in Georgia

            -Worcester often gave political and legal advice to the Cherokees

-Georgia passed a law that made it illegal for any “white persons” to live amongst the Cherokee Nation without permission from the state

            -Worcester was arrested three times

            -he was later sentenced to four years of hard labor

-Worcester, backed by the Cherokee Nation, appealed to the Supreme Court

-the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Worcester and the Cherokee Nation, saying that the Georgia law was not valid within the Cherokee Nation

-despite the court’s decision, Georgia and Andrew “I Hate Indians” Jackson refuse to enforce the court’s ruling and continued to pursue Indian removal 

Andrew “I Hate Indians” Jackson:

-1767-1845

-United States President from 1829-1837

-defeated the British at the battle of New Orleans

-won the battle of Horseshoe Bend – which led to the removal of the Creeks from southern Georgia and eastern Alabama

-refused to enforce Worcester v. Georgia

-told the Cherokees to relocate or fall under the jurisdiction of Georgia law

John Marshall:

-Supreme Court Chief Justice

-presided over Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia

-ruled in Worcester v. Georgia that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct nation with its own laws, and that Georgia law was not valid within it

Trail of Tears:

-1838-1839

-the removal of the Cherokee Indians from the Southeast

-brought about by the Treaty of New Echota – which was written by the “Treaty Party,” a group consisting of Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot, that did not officially represent the Cherokee Nation

-Cherokee men, women, and children were marched form locations throughout the Southeast to Oklahoma

-to prevent their return, federal troops burned the Cherokee’s homes and crops

-The Cherokee suffered from a lack of food, water, and shelter along the “trail”

-4,000-5,000 estimated deaths along the “trail where they cried”