Conflicts Over Land

Conflicts Over Land

By Cedric Gillette

Removing Native Americans

As the nation expanded west, many Native Americans still remained in the East. The Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw peoples lived in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. These groups had created successful farming communities that were much like many other American communities. As a result, Americans considered them "civilized" and referred to them as the "Five Civilized Tribes.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

The "Five Civilized Tribes" consisted of the ____.

• Cherokee, Creek, Osage, Seminole, and Kiowa

• Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Seminole, and Creek

• Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole

• Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, Kiowa, and Cherokee

Though Americans recognized the success of the Five Civilized Tribes, they did not necessarily respect their rights. In fact, some white people wanted the Native Americans' lands for themselves. To make this possible, they wanted the federal government to force eastern Native Americans to relocate to lands west of the Mississippi River.

Subject | Subject

relocate - to move to another place

Multiple Choice

Settlers wanted the Native Americans to relocate so that the settlers could take the land for themselves.

• TRUE

• FALSE

The Cherokee Versus Georgia

In 1830 President Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress. This law allowed the federal government to pay Native Americans to move west. Jackson then sent officials to make treaties with the Native Americans in the Southeast. In 1834 Congress established the Indian Territory. Most of the region was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma. This area was to be the new home for the Native Americans of the Southeast.

Subject | Subject

Multiple Choice

The Indian Removal Act ____.

• created the Indian Territory

• paid settlers to occupy the Native American lands

• ended the Americans' fight against the Seminole

• paid Native Americans to relocate

Multiple Choice

The Trail of Tears went from Georgia and Florida to ____.

• Mississippi

• Mexico

• present-day Oklahoma

• present-day Texas

Most eastern Native American peoples felt forced to sell their land and move west. The Cherokee refused to do so. In treaties of the 1790s, the federal government had recognized the Cherokee as a separate nation. However, the state of Georgia, in which many Cherokee lived, refused to accept the Cherokee's status. In 1830 Georgia made Cherokee land part of the state. It also began to enforce state laws in the Cherokee Nation.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

The ____ had a separate nation within the state of Georgia.

• Cherokee

• Choctaw

• Seminole

• Creek

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Still, Georgia pressured the Cherokee. In response, the Cherokee turned to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia had no right to interfere with the Cherokee. President Jackson, who supported Georgia's efforts to remove the Cherokee, declared that he would ignore the Supreme Court's ruling. "John Marshall has made his decision," Jackson is said to have declared, "now let him enforce it." No one was willing or able to challenge the president's failure to enforce the Court's ruling.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

What was the case of Worcester v. Georgia about?

• a dispute between Georgia and the town of Worcester

• a dispute over federal government tariffs

• a Supreme Court decision about Native American rights

Multiple Choice

President Jackson ignored Chief Justice John Marshall's decision about the Cherokee.

• TRUE

• FALSE

The Trail of Tears

When the treaty's 1838 deadline arrived, only about 2,000 Cherokee had moved west. Jackson's successor, President Martin Van Buren, ordered the army to move the rest of them. In May 1838, General Winfield Scott arrived in the Cherokee Nation with 7,000 troops to remove the remaining Cherokee by force. He told them that resistance and escape were hopeless. The Cherokee knew that fighting would lead to their destruction. Filled with sadness and anger, Cherokee leaders gave in.

Between June and December 1838, soldiers rounded up Cherokee in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Under guard, the Cherokee began their march to Indian Territory in the West.

Subject | Subject

Multiple Choice

When the Cherokee protested their removal, ____.

• they decided to stay and fight

• President Jackson met with them to find a peaceful solution

• the government gave them land in the Florida territory

• President Van Buren sent the army to force them to move

Resistance and Removal

​Many Native American peoples did not want to give up their lands. However, the Seminole in Florida were the only group to successfully resist removal. They faced pressure in the early 1830s to sign treaties giving up their land, but the Seminole leader Osceola (ah • see • OH • luh) and his followers refused to leave. They decided to fight instead. Osceola was born a Creek but lived among the Seminole of Florida. "I will make the white man red with blood, and then blacken him in the sun and rain," Osceola vowed.

Subject | Subject

Multiple Choice

The Seminole were the only Native Americans to successfully resist removal.

• TRUE

• FALSE

The Seminole Wars

​Between 1835 and 1842, about 3,000 Seminole and African Americans known as Black Seminole fought some 30,000 U.S. soldiers. The Black Seminole had escaped from Georgia and South Carolina slaveholders. Some lived among the Seminole people. Others had built their own settlements. Like the Seminole, they did not want to move. One reason is that they feared the American soldiers would force them back into slavery. Together, the Seminole and Black Seminole attacked white settlements along the Florida coast. They made surprise attacks and then retreated back into the forests and swamps.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

Which people provided a safe haven for African Americans who escaped from slavery?

• the Chickasaw in Alabama

• the Seminole in Florida

• the Cherokee in Georgia

• the Creek in Mississippi