Most members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” did not want to leave their homes. They resisted the U.S. government’s efforts to drive them out of the Southeast. But neither the states nor the federal government would act against white settlers. After many years of frustration, Native Americans gradually decided that the settlers were unstoppable. Reluctantly, they signed away their land. First to leave were the Choctaw, in Mississippi, who signed a removal treaty in 1830. The Chickasaw gave up their territory in Mississippi and Alabama in 1832.

Not all the treaties went so smoothly. The United States signed land exchange treaties with small groups of Seminoles and Cherokees who did not officially represent their tribes.

The instrument in question is not the act of our nation. We are not parties to its [promises]; it has not received the [approval] of our people.

—Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross
Because the treaty signers were not authorized to sign, the treaties were not legally valid. Nevertheless, the federal government held the treaties to be binding on the tribes. Those who had signed the treaties did leave and collected cash payments from the U.S. government. When the rest of the tribes did not leave voluntarily, the U.S. army forced them out.

According to one of the treaties, the Seminole were required to leave Florida by 1835. In that year the U.S. military began to force them out. Under the leadership of four chiefs, including Osceola, the Seminole stayed and fought. During the war, the United States promised to discuss a truce. When Osceola showed up to negotiate, he was instead captured and imprisoned. Osceola died in prison in 1838. The Seminole lost the war and were forced west in 1842.

Like the Seminole, the Cherokee refused to abide by a false treaty. Chief Ross worked within the U.S. legal system to fight removal. Ross started a petition demanding that Congress cancel the invalid Treaty of New Echota. He gathered nearly 16,000 Cherokee signatures. He believed their rights would be respected, but they were not.



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