Beginning of Indian Removal
The Indian removal was harmful to the Indian nations who were living on the land that they now had to vacate. These next few events were only the beginning of this era. This removal era went on past 1820 and continued to effect the nations years later. Starting in 1816, the Cherokee’s aided the United States in attacking the Creek tribe. This was an example of the Indians and the United States working together in unity. At the success of this war, the United States granted the Cherokees land in Georgia and Alabama. President James Madison was content with this trade off, because it meant that there was not another war with the Cherokees. He also assumed that this trade would end in “habits of the savage to the arts and comforts of social life”.8 However, this peace between the Indians and the United States did not last long. Soon, General Andrew Jackson went behind the President’s back to offer money to the Cherokees to leave their new land. This led into the Indian Removal era, since General Andrew Jackson did not want the Indians living on “their” land.
Next, in 1818, the Osage tribe was also pushed out of their lands by the United States. This land succession happened in the Treaty of St. Louis. In this treaty the Osage had to cede their land in the areas from the Arkansas river to the Verdigris River. With this treaty, this gave the Cherokee tribe an opportunity to move their lands further west into the new territory. This was difficult for the Osage tribe, because they now were forced to find new lands to settle on.9 This demonstrated how the Indigenous nations who did not aid the United States in taking over land, where then pushed from their land. This made it clear who the United States valued in protecting and who they were taking advantage of.
Lastly, the Choctaw Indians were also bribed to give up part of their land to the white settlers in 1820. This bribe became known as the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. This treaty outlined that the Choctaw Indians who became accustomed to the American way’s would therefor qualify as an American citizen. As a citizen the Choctaw Indians would receive “federal aid for education of children and included humanitarian aid”.10 The white settlers in exchange would receive one-third of the land that the Choctaw tribe still had claim to. The Choctaw tribe also received land in the Arkansas territory, even though white settlers continued to live on this land. This demonstrated that the Indian tribe was mistreated in this trade, as well as forced to leave their homeland unless they changed to American customs.
8Wagner, Dennis. “1816 James Madison - the Indian Removal Era Begins.” State of the Union History. Accessed November 11, 2024. https://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2017/01/1816-james-madison-indian-removal-era.html.
9Tinker, George E. “The Osage: A Historical Sketch [A Machine-Readable Transcription].” Center for Arkansas History and Culture – We know Arkansas. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Tinker_Osage-Historical-Sketch.html#TreatyWithTheOsages1818.
10A. Stahr, Beth. “Treaties of Doak’s Stand, Dancing Rabbit Creek and Pontotoc Creek.” Mississippi Encyclopedia, April 19, 2018. https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/doaks-stand-dancing-rabbit-creek-and-pontotoc-creek-treaties-of/.