As Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 6 of 15 · 44 min
The Fraudulent Treaty Behind the Trail of Tears
The Treaty of New Echota was signed by a handful of Cherokees without authority, over a petition of sixteen thousand begging the Senate to reject it, and ratified by one vote. The episode traces removal through two treaties, from the Choctaws' Dancing Rabbit Creek to New Echota, where a Supreme Court victory was defied and thousands died on the roads west.
Who's who
- Andrew Jackson+7 more episodesPresident who signed the Indian Removal Act
- Martin Van Buren+2 more episodesPresident who ordered the 1838 Cherokee removal enforced
- Winfield Scott+4 more episodesGeneral who led about 7,000 troops in the Cherokee roundup
- William WardIndian agent whose failure to register Choctaw claims stranded thousands
- George W. HarkinsChoctaw chief who wrote a 1832 farewell letter to the American people
- John Ross+2 more episodesPrincipal Chief of the Cherokee Nation who led resistance to removal
- John Marshall+7 more episodesChief Justice who wrote Cherokee Nation and Worcester
- Samuel Worcester+1 more episodeMissionary jailed by Georgia, subject of Worcester v. Georgia
Where it happens
- Dancing Rabbit Creek, MississippiSite of the 1830 Choctaw removal treaty
- New Echota, Georgia+2 more episodesSite of the 1835 Cherokee treaty
- Indian TerritoryWestern destination of removed nations
Timeline
- May 28, 1830Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act
- September 27, 1830The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek cedes about 11 million Choctaw acres
- March 3, 1832Worcester v. Georgia holds Georgia's laws void in Cherokee territory; Georgia ignores it
- December 29, 1835The Treaty of New Echota is signed by the Treaty Party
- May 1836The Senate ratifies New Echota by a single vote
- 1838-1839The Cherokee Trail of Tears, with deaths most often cited near 4,000
Still debated
Death tolls are estimates, with Cherokee deaths ranging from about 2,000 to 4,000. Historians weigh whether the Treaty Party were traitors or realists and whether Article 14's failure was one agent's misconduct or federal design. The famous Jackson quote about Marshall is apocryphal.
← PreviousHow Andrew Jackson Turned Conquest Into Federal PolicyNext →How the Supreme Court Made Breaking Native Treaties Legal
Connected episodes in other series
The Highland Clearances and the Trail of Tears: Removal by LawEmpty the Land · Episode 2Also features Andrew Jackson, John Marshall
The Courts of the Conqueror: How the Marshall Trilogy Legalized the Taking of Native LandThe Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 13Also features Andrew Jackson, John Marshall
The Supremacy Clause: Why Every Nullification Theory Has Lost in Court for 200 YearsHomemade Sovereignty · Episode 7Also features Andrew Jackson, John Marshall
The Training Ground: The Officers Who Would Break the UnionTake the Land, Not the People · Episode 2Also features Winfield Scott