A total of 125,000 Native Americans lived on vast expanses of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida during the early 1830s – territories their forefathers had inhabited and farmed for generations. However, by the close of the decade, only a small number of indigenous people remained in the southeastern region of the United States. Acting in the interests of white settlers eager to cultivate cotton on Native Americans’ territories, the federal government compelled them to abandon their ancestral lands and embark on a grueling trek spanning thousands of miles to a designated “Indian territory” situated beyond the Mississippi River. This arduous and at times fatal expedition is now remembered as the Trail of Tears.¹ 

White Americans, especially those residing on the western frontier, often harbored fear and animosity towards the Native Americans they encountered. American Indians were viewed as unfamiliar and alien individuals who inhabited land covered by white settlers. In the American republics earlier years, only certain officials, In order to resolve the “Indian problem,” many people, including George Washington, believed that “civilizing” Native Americans would be the most effective solution. The goal of this civilization’s capability was to work the Native Americans into white American culture by promoting their conversion to Christianity, English language acquisition, and adoption of European economic practices such as private land ownership and, in some cases in the South, ownership of African slaves. In the southeastern United States, numerous Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee individuals embraced these customs and were collectively referred to as the “Five Civilized Tribes.”²

Indian removal also occurred in the Northern states. In Illinois and Wisconsin, the violent Black Hawk War of 1832 resulted in the opening of millions of acres of land to white settlement that had previously belonged to the Sauk, Fox, and other indigenous nations. The land in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee was highly valuable and became increasingly desired as more white settlers arrived in the region. Many of these settlers were eager to profit from cotton cultivation and were willing to take the land by any means necessary, regardless of the level of “civilization” of the native inhabitants. They engaged in theft of livestock, arson, looting, and squatting on land that did not rightfully belong to them. State governments actively participated in the expulsion of Native Americans from the South by passing laws that restricted their sovereignty and rights, encroaching on their territories. Despite objections from the U.S. Supreme Court in cases like Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the mistreatment of native nations persisted. President Andrew Jackson, in 1832, made it clear that he had no intention of enforcing the Supreme Court’s decisions, allowing Southern states to continue their efforts to claim Indian lands through any means necessary.³

Work Cited

1. History.com Editors, “Trail of Tears,” HISTORY, Last modified September 26, 2023. Accessed March 22, 2024. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears.

2. History.com Editors, “Trail of Tears.”

3. Ibid.