E 
 
 99 
 
 C5F88 
 
 FRELINGHUYSEN 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. 
 FRELINGHUYSEN, OF 
 
 NEW JERSEY
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 /A 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF NEW JERSEY, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 APRIL 6, 1830, 
 
 ON THE BILL FOR AN EXCHANGE OF L\NDS WITH THE INDIANS 
 RESIDING IN ANY OF THE STATES OR TERRITORIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 FOR THEIR REMOVAL WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OP THE 
 NATIONAL JOURNAIft 
 
 j::::::::::: 
 
 1830.
 
 SPEECH OF 
 
 3IR, FRELINGIIUYSEN, OF NEW JERSEY 
 
 IN SENATE UNITED STATES APRIL 6, 1830. 
 
 The Bill to provide for an exchange of Lands with 
 the Indians residing in any of the States or Territories, 
 and for their removal West of the river Mississippi , 
 being under consideration, MR. FRELINGIIUYSEN spoke 
 as follows : 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT : I propose an amendment to this bill, by the addition 
 of two sections in the form of provisos. The first of which brings up 
 to our consideration the nature of our public duties, in relation to the 
 Indian Nations; and the second provides for the continuance of ouc 
 future n j gntiations, by the mode of treaties, as in our past intercourse 
 with them. The following is the amendment : 
 
 " Provided always. That, until the said tribes or nations shall choose 
 to remove, as by this act is contemplated, they shall be protected in 
 their present possessions, and in the enjoyment of all their rights of 
 territory and government, as heretofore exercised and enjoyed, from all 
 interruptions and encroachments. 
 
 " And provided also, That before any removal shall take place of any 
 of the said tribes or nations, and before any exchange or exchanges of 
 land be made as aforesaid, that the rights of any such tribes or nations 
 in the premises shall be stipulated for, secured and guarantied by treaty 
 or treaties as heretofore made." 
 
 The first of these sections discloses the real object sought by this bill, 
 seemingly composed of harmless clauses. It supposes that the design of 
 the system of which the present bill forms but a part, is really to remove 
 all the Indian tribes beyond the Mississippi, or in case of their refusal, to 
 subject them to State sovereignty and legislation. The Hon. Senator, 
 (Mr. WHITE,) who yesterday addressed the Senate, found it necessary 
 so to consider it ; and to anticipate and endeavor to meet all such objec- 
 tions to this course of policy, as he deemed worthy of a refutation. 
 
 Sir, I prefer that this latent object should be put fully before us, that 
 we and the nation may look at it, and freely scrutinize it. At an early 
 stage of the present Administration, its views and opinions on the inte- 
 resting subject of our Indian relations, were developed in language not 
 TO be nistaken. It is greatly to be regretted, Sir, that our present 
 Chief Magistrate did not pursue the wise and prudent policy of his ex-
 
 alted predecessor, President Washington, who, at a lime of collision- and 
 difficulty with these tribes, came before the Senate, anil laid open to 
 them, in propositions for their approbation, the various important sub- 
 jects involved in our relations. The annexed extract from the Journals 
 of the Senate 'illustrates the principles of Washington's Administration. 
 It fallows : 
 
 " SATURDAY, August 22, 1789- 
 
 " The President of the United States came into the Senate, attended 
 by General Knox, and laid before the Senate the following state of lacts, 
 with the questions thereto annexed,/- their advice and consent." 
 
 This was a most important document. It developed all the collisions 
 that existed between the Indian tribes and the States ; and referred to 
 the consideration of the Senate certain leading principles of policy 
 which he thought it was wise to pursue. 
 
 These principles are embodied in seven distinct interrogatories. The 
 4th of which submits to the Senate " whether the United States shall 
 solemnly guarantee to the Creeks their remaining territory, and maintain 
 the same, if necessary, by a line of military posts." This question 
 " was wholly answered in the affirmative" by that body, and the blank 
 (for ab appropriation of necessary funds) was ordered to be filled at the 
 discretion of the President of the United States. Again, on the llth of 
 August, 1790, President Washington sent a special message to (he Senate 
 by his Secretary, the subject matter of which he introduces by the fol- 
 lowing suggestion : 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate: 
 
 " Although the treaty with the Creeks may be regarded as the main 
 foundaiion of the future peace and prosperity of the Southwestern fron- 
 tier of the United States, yet, in order fully to effect so desirable an 
 object, the treaties which have been entered into with the other tribes 
 in that quarter must be faithfully performed on our part." 
 
 He then proceeds to remind the Senate, that, by the treaty with the 
 Cherokees, in November, 1785, (the treaty of Hopewell,) '4he said 
 Cherrkees placed themselves under the protection of the United States, 
 and had a boundary assigned them ;' that the white people settled on the 
 frontiers h;td openly violated the said boundary by intruding on the In- 
 dian lands ; that the United States in Congress Assembled, on the first 
 day of Si ptember, 1788, had, by their proclamation, forbidden all such 
 unwarrantable intrusions, enjoined the intruders to depart without loss of 
 time; but that there were still some refractory intruders remaining. The 
 President then distinctly announces his determination to exert the powers 
 entrusted to him by the Constitution, in order to carry into faithful exe- 
 cution the treaty of Hopewell, unless a new boundary should be arranged 
 \viih the Cheroktes embracing the intrusive settlement, and compensat- 
 ing the Cherokees in the cessions they shall make on the occasion. 
 And in view of the whole case, he requests the advice of the Senate, 
 whether overtures shall be made to the Cherokees to arrange such new 
 boundary, and concludes his communication with the following emphatical 
 question : "3d. Shall the United States stipulate solemnly to guarantee 
 the new boundary which may be arranged ?" 
 
 It produced as pointed a response for the Senate 
 " Resolved, In case a new or other boundary than that stipulated by 
 the treaty of Hopewell, shall be concluded with the Cherokee Indians,
 
 that the Senate do advise and consent solemnly to guarantee the same.' 7 
 A new boundary was arranged by a second treaty ; the solemn gua- 
 rantee was given to the Cherokees ; and cogent, indeed, should be the 
 causes that now lead us to think or speak lightly of such sacred obliga- 
 tions. 
 
 I lament, Sir, that so bright and illustrious a precedent was not re- 
 garded, and that the President had not yielded to the safe guidance of 
 such high example; and I deplore it the more because it was concerning 
 these very tribes, in the State of Georgia, that General Washington chose 
 to confer with his constitutional advisers. 
 
 Instead of this just proceeding, the present Administration have 
 thought proper, without the slightest consultation with either House of 
 Congress without any opportunity for counsel or concert, discussion or 
 deliberation, on the part of these co-ordinate branches of the Govern- 
 ment, to despatch the whole subject in a tone and style of decisive con- 
 struction of our obligations and of Indian rights. It would really seem, 
 Sir, as if opinion was to be forestalled, and the door of inquiry shut for- 
 ever upon these grave questions, so deeply implicating our national faith 
 and honr. 
 
 We must firmly protest against this Executive disposition of these high 
 interests. No one branch of the Government can rescind, modify or 
 expl.tin away our public treaties. They are tha supreme law of the 
 land, so declared to be by the Constitution. They bind the President 
 and all other departments, rulers and people. And when their provisions 
 shall be controverted when their breach or fulfilment become subjects 
 of investigation here, Sir, and in the other Hall of our Legislation, are 
 such momentous concerns to be debated and considered. That we may 
 freely exercise these essential powers, and review the proclaimed opinions 
 of the Executive, I have submitted the first branch of the amendment. 
 We possess the constitutional right to inquire wherefore it was that, 
 when swme of these tribes appealed to the Executive for protection, ac- 
 cording to the terms of our treaties with them, they received the answer 
 that the Government of the United States could not interpose to arrest 
 or prevent the legislation of the States over them. Sir, this was a harsh 
 measure, indeed, to faithful allies, that had so long reposed in confidence 
 on a nation's faith. They had in the darkest hour of trial turned to the 
 aegis wbicb the most solemn pledges had provided for them, and were 
 comforted by the conviction that it would continue to shed upon them a 
 pure and untarnished beam of light and hope. Deep, indeed, must have 
 been their despondency, when their political father assured them that 
 their confidence would be presumptuous, and dissuaded them from all 
 expectation of relief. 
 
 Mr. President: The instructions that have proceeded from the War 
 Department to the Agents of Indian Affairs have excited just and strong 
 jealousies of the measures that are now recommended. They have 
 prompted this amendment, in the hope that by some public and decided 
 expression of our disapprobation, a train of political management with 
 these tribes may be arrested, and our country saved from the dishonor of 
 buying over the consent of corrupted Chiefs, to a traitorous surrender of 
 their country. 
 
 I will read a part of these instructions ; they are from the War De- 
 partraeqt to Generals Carroll and Coffee, of the date of 30lh May,
 
 1S29 : " The past (remarks the Secretary, in respect to Indian councils,) 
 has demonstrated their utter aversion to this modo, whilst it has been 
 made equally clear, that another mode promises greater success. In re- 
 gard to the first, (that by councils,) the Indians have seen in the past, 
 that it has been by the result of councils that the extent of their country 
 has been fiom time to time diminished. They all comprehend this. 
 Hence it is that those who are interested in keeping them where they are 
 alarm their fears, and by previous cautioning induce them to reject all 
 offers looking to this nbject. There is no doubt, however, but the OIHSS 
 of the people would be glad to emigrate ; and there is as little doubt that 
 they are kept from this exercise of their choice by their chiefs and other 
 interested and influential men," &c. Again : " Nothing is more certain 
 than that if the chiefs and influential men could be brought into the 
 measure, the rest would implicitly follow. It becomes, therefore, a 
 matter of necessity, if the General Government would benefit these peo- 
 ple, that it move upon them in the line of their own prejudices, and, by 
 the jJoption of any proper means, break the pow^r that is warring with, 
 their best interests. The question is, how can this be best done? IS' t, 
 it is believed, for the reasons suggested, by means of a general council. 
 There, they would be awakened to all the intimations which those who 
 ar^ 1 opposed to their exchange of country might throw out; and the con* 
 sequence would be what it has been a firm refusal to acquiesce. The 
 best resort is believed t<; be that which is unbraced in an appeal t<- the 
 chiefs and influential men, not together, but apart, at their own houses, 
 and, by a proper exposition of their real condition, rouse them to ihink 
 of that ; whilst offers to them, of extensive reservations in fee simple, 
 and other rewards^ would, it is hoped, result in obtaining their acqui- 
 escence." 
 
 Let cs analyze this singular state paper. It does not relish the con- 
 gregation of Indian councils. In these assemblies, they deliberate and 
 weigh the policy of measures they calculate the results of proposed im- 
 provements. These councils embody the collected wisdom of the tribes. 
 Their influence is of the authority of law ; the people l"ok to them for 
 protection. They know that in the multitude -,f counselors there is 
 safety. Hence nations, far in advance of the Indians, always meet in 
 council, when their great interests are to be promoted or defended. 
 But these special agents are discouraged from hoping that the object can 
 be obtained in this good old fashioned way. The Indians are too wise 
 to be caught when the net is spread so fully in sight. They are directed 
 to avoid all associations ; and, with the public purse in hand, to take the 
 chiefs alone to approach individually, and at home " to meet them in 
 the way of their prejudices." I admire the ingenious clothing of a most 
 odious proposal. 
 
 A strong hint is suggested to try the effect of terror, and, by a proper 
 exposition of their real condition, rouse them to think upon that, and to 
 follow this up with " large offers to them of extensive reservations in fee 
 simple, and other rewards." The report made by one of these agents 
 to the War Department, dated September 2d, 1829, still further discloses 
 the nature of the exigencies to which the Indians are to he subjected, to 
 constrain their removal. The agent observes, " The truth is, they 
 (Cherokees) rely with great confidence on a favorable report <^n the 
 petitions they have before Congress. Jf that is rejected) and the laws
 
 of tlie States are enforced, you will have no difficulty in obtaining an 
 exchange of lands with them." It may be true, that if we withdraw our 
 protection, give them over to the high-handed, heart-breaking legislation 
 of the States, and drive them to despair, ih:tt when improper means fail to 
 win them, f-rce and terror may compel them. We shall have no diffi- 
 culty, the agent assures the War Department. Sir, there will be one 
 difficulty that should be deemed insurmountable. Such a process will 
 disgrace us in the estimation of the whole civilized world. It will de- 
 grade us in our own eyes, and blot the page of our history with indelible 
 dishonor. 
 
 Now, Sir, I have brought this measure before the Senate, and wait 
 with intense anxiety to hear the final disposition of it. Where is the 
 maa that can, in view of such policy, open the door, or afford the slight- 
 est facility to the operation of influences that we should blush with 
 honest shame could we, in an unguarded moment, consent to have em- 
 ployed them with our equal in the scale of civilization. It is not in- 
 tended, Sir, to ascribe this policy exclusively to the present Adminis-' 
 tration. Far from it. The truth is, we have long been gradually, and 
 almost unconsciously, declining into these devious ways, and we shall 
 inflict lasting injury upon our good name, unless we speedily abandon 
 them. 
 
 I now proceed to the discussion of those principles wbicb,in my hum- 
 ble judgment, fully and clearly sustain the claims of the Indians to all 
 their political and civil rights, as by them asserted. 
 
 And here, Mr. President, I insist that, by immemorial possession, as 
 the original tenants of the soil, they hold a title beyond and superior to 
 the British crown and her colonies, and to all adverse pretensions of our 
 confederation and subsequent Union. God, in his Providence, planted 
 these tribes on this Western continent, so far as we know, before Great 
 Britain herself had a political existence. I believe, Sir, it is not now 
 seriously denied that the Indians are men, endowed with kindred facul- 
 ties and powers with ourselves ; that they have a place in human syni 
 pathy, and are justly entitled to a share in the common bounties of a 
 benignant Providence. And, with this conceded, I ask in what code of 
 the law of nation, or by what process of abstract deduction, their lights 
 have been extinguished f 
 
 Where is the decree or ordinance that has stripped these early and 
 first lords of the soil ? Sir, no record of such measure can be found. 
 And I might triumphantly rest the hopes of these feeble fragments of 
 once great nations upon this impregnable foundation. However mere 
 human policy, or the law of power, or the tyrant's plea of expediency, 
 may have found it convenient at any or in all times to recede from the 
 unchangeable principles of eternal justice, no argument can shake the 
 political maxim that where the Indian always has been, he enjoys an 
 absolute right still to be, in the free exercise of his own modes of thought, 
 government and conduct. 
 
 Mr. President : In the light of natural law, can a reason for a distinction 
 exist in the mode of enjoying that which is my own. If I use it for hunting 
 may another take it because he needs it for agriculture ? I am aware that 
 some writers bave, by a system of artificial reasoning, endeavored to 
 justify, or rather, excuse the encroachments made upon Indian territory ; 
 and they denominate these abstractions the law of nations, and, io this
 
 ready way, the question is despatched. Sir, as we trace the sources of 
 this law, we find its authority lo depend either upon the conventions or 
 common consent of nations. And when, permit me to inquire, were the 
 Indian tribes ever consulted on the establishment of such a law ? Who- 
 ever represented them or their interests iu any Congress of nations, to 
 confer upon the public rules of intercourse, and the proper foundations 
 of dominion and property ? The plain matter of fact is, that all these 
 partial doctrines have resulted from the selfish plans and pursuits of 
 more enlightened nations ; and it is not matter for any great wonder, 
 lhat they should so largely partake of a mercenary and exclusive spirit 
 towards the claims of the Indians. 
 
 It is however admitted, Sir, that when the increase of population and 
 the wants of mankind demand the cultivation of the earth, a duty is 
 thereby devolved upon the proprietors of large and uncultivated regions, 
 of devoting them to such useful purposes. But such appropriations are to 
 be obtained by fair contract, and for reasonable compensation, ft is, in 
 such a case, the duty of the proprietor to sell we may properly address 
 his reason to induce him ; but we cannot rightfully compel the cession 
 of his lands, or take them by violence if his consent be withheld It is 
 with great satisfaction, that I am enabled upon the best authority to 
 affirm, that this duty has been largely and generously met and fulfilled 
 on the part of the aboriginal proprietors of this continent. Several years 
 ago, official reports to Congress stated the amount of Indian grants to 
 the United States to exceed 214 millions of acres. Yes, Sir, we have 
 acquired, and now own, more land as the fruits of their bounty than we 
 shall dispose of at the present rate to actual settlers in two hundred 
 years. For, very recently, it has been ascertained on this floor, that our 
 public sales average not more than about one million of acres annually. 
 It greatly aggravates the wrong that is now meditated against these tribes 
 to survey the rich and ample districts of their territories that either force 
 or persuasion have incorporated into our public domains. As the tide 
 of our population has rolled on, we have added purchase to purchase 
 the confiding Indian listened to our professions of friendship we called 
 him brother, and he believed us millions after millions, he has yielded 
 to our importunity, until we have acquired more than can be cultivated 
 in centuries and yet we crave more. We have crowded the tribes 
 upon a few miserable acres on our Southern frontier it is all that is left 
 to them of their once boundless forests, and still, like the horseleech, our 
 insatiated cupidity cries give, give. 
 
 Before 1 proceed to deduce collateral confirmations of this original 
 title, from all our political intercourse and conventions with the Indian 
 tribes, I beg leave to pause a moment, and view the case as it lies beyond 
 the treaties made with them ; and aside also from all conflicting claims 
 between the confederation and the colonies, and the Congress of the 
 States. Our ancestors found these people, far removed from the commo- 
 tions of Europe, exercising all the rights, and enjoying the privileges of 
 free and independent sovereigns of this new world. They were not a 
 wild and lawless horde of banditti; but lived under the restraints of Go- 
 vernment, patriarchal in its character and energetic in its influence. 
 They had chiefs, head men and councils. The white men, the authors 
 of all their wrongs, approached them as friends they extended the olive 
 branch, and being then a feeble colony, and at the mercy of the native
 
 9 
 
 tenants of the soil, by presents and professions, propitiated their good 
 will. The Indian yielded a slow, but substantial confidence granted 
 to the colonies an abiding place, and suffered them to grow up to man's 
 estate beside him. He never raised the claim of elder title as the 
 white man's wants increased, he opened the hand of his bounty wider 
 and wider. By and by, conditions are changed. His people melt 
 away ; his lands are constantly coveted ; millions after millions are ceded. 
 The Indian bears it all meekly ; he complains, indeed, as well he may ; 
 but suffers on ; and now he finds that this neighbor, whom his kinHness 
 had nourished, has spread an adverse title over the last remains of his 
 patrimony, barely adequate to his wants, and turns upon him, and says: 
 " away, we cannot -pndure you so near us. These forests and rivers, 
 these groves of your fathers, these firesides and hunting grounds, are ours 
 by the right of power, and the force of numbers." Sir, let every treaty 
 be blotted from our records, and in the judgment of natural and un- 
 changeable truth and justice, I ask who is the injured, and who is the 
 aggressor ? Let conscience answer, and I fear not the result. Sir, let 
 those who please, denounce the public feeling on this subject, as the 
 morbid excitement of a false humanity; but I return with the inquiry, 
 whether I have not presented the. case truly, with no feature of it over- 
 charged or distorted? And, irr view of it, who can help feeling, Sir? 
 Do the obligations of justice change with the color of the skin ? Is it 
 one of the prerogatives of the white man, that he may disregard the dic- 
 tates of moral principles, when an Indian shall be concerned ? No, Mr. 
 President. In that severe and impartial scrutiny which futurity will cast 
 over this subject, the righteous award will be, that those very causes which 
 are now pleaded for the relaxed enforcement of the rules of equity, urg- 
 ed upon us not only a rigid execution of the highest justice, to the vety 
 letter, but claimed at our hands a generous and magnanimous policy. 
 
 Standing here, then, on this unshaken basis, how is it possible that 
 even a shadow of claim to soil or jurisdiction can be derived, by forming 
 a collateral issue between the State of Georgia and the General Govern- 
 ment? Her complaint is made against the United States, for encroach- 
 ments on her sovereignty. Sir, the Cherokees are no parties to this 
 issue ; they have no part in this controversy. They hold by better title 
 than either Georgia or the Union. They have nothing to do with State 
 sovereignty, or United States sovereignty. The}' are above and beyond 
 both. True, Sir, they have made treaties with both, but not lo^acquire 
 title or jurisdiction ; these they had before ages before the evil hour, to 
 them, when their white brothers fled to them for an asylum. They 
 treated, to secure protection and guaranty for subsisting powers and 
 privileges ; and so far as those conventions raise obligations, they are 
 willing to meet, and always have met, and faithfully performed them ; 
 and now expect from a great People, the like fidelity to plighted cove- 
 nants. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to bring this question up to the control of first 
 principles. I forget all that we have promised, and all that Georgia 
 has repeatedly conceded; and by her conduct confirmed. Sir, in this 
 abstract presentation of the case, stripped of every collateral circum- 
 stance, and these only, the more firmly establish the Indian claims, thus 
 regarded ; if the contending parties were to exchange positions ; place 
 the white man where the Indian stands ; load h\m with all these wrongs,
 
 10 
 
 and what path would his outraged feelings strike out for his career ? 
 Twenty shillings tax, t think it was, imposed upon thej immortal Hamp- 
 den, roused into activity the slumbering fires of liberty in the old world, 
 from which she dates a glorious epoch, whose healthful influence still 
 cherishes the spirit of freedom. A few pence of duty on tea, that in- 
 vaded no fireside, excited no fears, disturbed no substantial interest what- 
 ever, awakened in the American colonies a spirit of firm resistance ; 
 and how was the tea tax met, Sir ? Just as it should be. There was 
 lurking beneath this trifling imposition of duty, a covert assumption of 
 authority, that led directly to oppressive exactions. " No taxation with- 
 out representation" became our, motto. We would neither pay the tax 
 nor drink the tea. Our fathers buckled on their armour, and, from the 
 water's edge, repelled the encroachments of a misguided cabinet. We 
 successfully and triumphantly contended for the very rights and privi- 
 leges that our Indian neighbors now implore us to protect and preserve 
 to them. Sir, this thought invests the subject under debate with most 
 singular and momentous interest. ll r e, whom God has exalted to the 
 very summits of prosperity whose brief career forms the brightest page 
 in history ; the wonder and praise of the world ; Freedom's hope, and 
 her consolation. \\ c.^ about to turn traitors to our principles and our 
 fame about to become the oppressors of the feeble, and to cast away 
 our birth-right ! Mr. President, I hope for better things. 
 
 It is a subject fall of grateful satisfaction, Mr. President, that, in our 
 public intercourse with the Indians, ever since the first colonies of white 
 men found an abode on these western shores, we have distinctly recognised 
 their title ; treated with them as the owners, and in all our acquisitions of 
 territory applied ourselves to these ancient proprietors, by purchase and 
 cession alone, to obtain the right of soil. Sir, I challenge the record of 
 any other or different pretension. When or where did the assembly or 
 convention meet which proclaimed, or even suggested to these tribes, that 
 the right of discovery contained a superior efficacy over all prior titles. 
 
 And our recognition was not confined to the soil merely. We re- 
 garded them as nations far behind us indeed in civilization, but still we 
 respected their forms of government we conformed our conduct to their 
 notions of civil policy. We were aware of the potency of any edict that 
 sprang from the deliberations of the council fire; and when we desired 
 lands, or peace, e>r alliances to this source of power and energy, to this 
 great lever of Indian government we addressed our proposals to this 
 alone did we look, and from this alone did we expect aid or relief. 
 
 I now proceed, very briefly, to trace our public history in these im- 
 portant connexions. As early as 1763, a proclamation was issued by 
 the King of Great Britain to his American colonies and dependencies, 
 which, in clear and decided terms, and in the spirit of honorable regard 
 for Indian privileges, declared the opinions of the Crown and the duties 
 of its subjects. The preamble to that part of this document which con- 
 cerns Indian affairs, is couched in terms that cannot be misunderstood. 
 I give a literal extract : " And whereas it is just and reasonable, and es- 
 sential to our interest, and the security of our colonies, that the several 
 nations or tribes of Indians with whom we are connected, and who live 
 under our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the posses- 
 sion of such parts of our dominions and territories, as not having been 
 ceded to or purchased by us, are reserved to them or any of them as
 
 II 
 
 their hunting grounds/*' Therefore the governors of colonies are prohibit* 
 ed, upon any pretence whatever, from granting any warrants of survey, 
 or passing any patents for lands, "upon any lands whatever, which, not 
 having been ceded or purchased, were reserved to the said Indians ;" 
 and, by another injunction in the same proclamation, " all persons what- 
 ever, who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon 
 any lands, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by the Crown, 
 were reserved to the Indians as aforesaid, are strictly enjoined and re- 
 quired to remove themselves from such settlements." 
 
 This royal ordinance is an unqualified admission of every principle 
 that is now urged in favor of the liberties and rights of these tribes. It 
 refers to them as nations that had put themselves under the protection of 
 the Crown ; and adverting to the fact that their lands had not been ceded 
 or purchased) it freely and justly runs out the inevitable conclusion that, 
 they are reserved to these nations as their property ; and forbids all sur- 
 veys and patents, and warns off all intruders and trespassers. Sir, this 
 contains the epitome of Indian history and title. No King, Colony, 
 State or Territory, ever made, or attempted to make, a grant or title to 
 the Indians, but universally and perpetually derived their titles/row them, 
 This one fact, that stands forth broadly on the page of Indian history 
 which neither kings nor colonies neither lords, proprietors, nor diploma- 
 tic agents, have, on any single occasion, disputed, is alone sufficient to 
 demolish the whole system of political pretensions, conjured up in mo- 
 dern times, to drive the poor Indian from the last refuge of his hopes. 
 
 The next important era in the order of time, relates to the dispute of 
 the Colonies with Great Britain. The attention of the Congress on the 
 eve of that conflict was called to the situation of these tribes, and their 
 dispositions on that interesting subject. Then, Sir, we approached them 
 as independent nations, with the acknowledged power to form alliances 
 with or against us. For, in June, 1775, our Congress resolved," That 
 the Committee for Indian Affairs do prepare proper talks to the several 
 tribes of Indians, for engaging the continuance of their friendship to us, 
 and neutrality in our present unhappy dispute with Great Britain." 
 Again, on the 12th July, 1775 } a report of the Committee was agreed to, 
 with the following clause at its head : " That the securing and preserving 
 the friendship of the Indian nations, appears to be a subject of the ut- 
 most moment to these colonies." And, Sir, the journals of that event- 
 ful period of our history are full of resolutions, all of which indicate the 
 same opinions of those illustrious statesmen, respecting the unquestioned 
 sovereignty of the Indians. I forbear further details. After the revolu- 
 tion, and in the eighth year of our Independence, in the month of Sep- 
 tember, A. D. 1783, the Congress again took up the subject of Indian 
 affairs, and resolved to hold a convention with the Indians residing in the 
 Middle and Northern States, who had taken up arms against us, for the 
 purposes of receiving them into the favor and protection of the United 
 States, and of establishing boundary lines of property, for separating 
 and dividing the settlements of the citizens from the Indian villages and 
 hunting grounds, and thereby extinguishing, as far as possible, all occa- 
 sion for future animosities, disquiet and contention." If, at any point of 
 our existence as a people, a disposition to encroach upon the Indians, 
 and to break down their separate and sovereign character, could have 
 been looked for, or at all excused, this was the time ; when we had just
 
 come out of a long, severe and bloody conflict, often prosecuted by out 
 foes with unnatural barbarity, and to aggravate which, these very tribes 
 had devoted their savage and ferocious customs. And yet, Sir, what do 
 we find ? Instead of the claims of conquest, the rights of war, now so 
 convenient to set up, the American Congress, greatly just, accord to 
 these very Indians the character of foreign nations, and invite them to 
 take shelter under our favor and protection; not only this, but adopt 
 measures to ascertain and establish boundary lines of property between 
 our citizens and their villages and hunting grounds. 
 
 Under the confederation of the old thirteen States, and shortly 
 before the adoption of the Constitution, on the 20th of November, 
 1785, a treaty was made with the Cherokee nation at Hopewell. 
 This treaty, according to its title, was concluded between " Commis- 
 sioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, of the one part, 
 and the Headmen and Warriors of all the Cherokees, of the other." 
 It gives " peace to all the Cherokees," and receives them into the favor 
 and protection of the United States. And, by the first article, the Che- 
 rokees agree to restore all the prisoners, citizens of the United States, 
 or subjects of their allies, to their entire liberty." Here, again, we dis- 
 cover the same magnanimous policy of renouncing any pretended rights 
 of a conqueror in our negotiations with the allies of our enemy. We 
 invite them to peace ; we engage to become their protectors, and in the 
 stipulation for the liberation of prisoners, we trace again the broad line 
 of distinction between citizens uf the United States and the Cherokee 
 people. 
 
 Who, after this, Sir, can retain a single doubt as to the unquestioned 
 political sovereignty of these tribes. It is very true, that they were not 
 absolutely independent. As they had become comparatively feeble, and 
 as they were, in the mass, an uncivilized race, they chose to depend upon 
 us for protection ; but this did not destroy or affect their sovereignty. 
 The rule of public law is clearly stated by Vattel " one community may 
 be bound to another by a very unequal alliance, and still be a sovereign 
 State. Though a weak State, in order to provide for its safely, should 
 place itself under the protection of a more powerful one, yet, if it reserves 
 to itself the right of governing its own body, it ought to be considered as 
 an independent State." If the right of self-government is retained, the 
 State preserves its political existence ; and, permit me to ask, when did 
 the Southern Indians relinquish this right? Sir, they have always exer- 
 cised it, and were never disturbed in the enjoyment of it, until the late 
 Legislation of Georgia and the States of Alabama and Mississippi. 
 
 The treaty next proceeds to establish territorial domains, and to forbid 
 all intrusions upon the Cherokee country, by any of our citizens, on the 
 pains of outlawry. It provides, that if any citizen of the United States 
 shall remain on the lands of the Indians for six months " after the ratifi- 
 cation of the treaty, such person shall forfeit the protection of the United 
 States, and the Indians may punish him or not, as they please." What 
 stronger attribute of sovereignty could have been conceded to this tribe, 
 than to have accorded to them the power of punishing our citizens ac- 
 cording to their own laws and modes; and, Sir, what more satisfactory 
 proof can be furnished to the Senate, of the sincere and inflexible pur- 
 pose of our government to maintain the rights of the Indian nations, 
 than the annexation of such sanctions as the forfeiture of national pro-
 
 13 
 
 tection, and the infliction of any punishment within the range of savage 
 discretion. It is to be recollected, that this treaty was made at a time 
 when all admit the Cherokees to have been, with very rare exceptions, 
 in the rudest state of Pagan darkness. 
 
 Mr. President, it is really a subject of wonder, that after these repeated 
 and solemn recognitions of right of soil, territory and jurisdiction, in 
 these aboriginal nations, it should be gravely asserted that they are mere 
 occupants at our will ; and, what is absolutely marvellous, that they are 
 a part of the Georgia population a district of her territory, and amen- 
 able to her laws, whenever she chooses to extend them. 
 
 After the treaty of Hopewell was made and ratified, and in the year 
 1787, the States of North Carolina and Georgia transmitted their pro- 
 tests to Congress, in which they complained of the course of transactions 
 adopted with respect to the Indians, and asserted a right in the States to 
 treat with these tribes, and to obtain grants of their lands. The Congress 
 referred,the whole matter to a Committee of five, who made an elaborate 
 report, that disclosed the principles upon which the intercourse of the 
 confederacy with these people was founded. It is material to a correct 
 understanding of this branch of the subject, that we should advert to a 
 limitation, subsisting at that time, upon the powers of the old Con- 
 gress. The limitation is contained in the following clause of the articles 
 of confedeiation : "Congress shall have the sole and exclusive right 
 and power of regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the In- 
 dians not members of any other States : provided that the legislative 
 right of any State within its own limits be not infringed or violated." 
 
 Upon this clause and its proviso, the Committee proceed to report : 
 "In framing this clause the parties to the federal compact must have had 
 some definite objects in view; the objects that come into view princi- 
 pally in forming treaties, or managing affairs with the Indians, had been 
 long understood, and pretty well ascertained, in this country. The 
 Committee conceive that it has been long the opinion of the country, 
 supported by justice and humanity, that the Indians have just claims to 
 all lands occupied by, and not fairly purchased from them." " The 
 laws of the State can have no effect upon a tribe of Indians or their lands 
 within a State, so long as that tribe is independent aod not a member of 
 the State. It cannot be supposed tbat the State has the powers mention- 
 ed,'' (those of making war and peace, purchasing lands from them and 
 fixing boundaries,) " without absurdity in theory and practice. For the 
 Indian tribes are justly considered the common friends or enemies of the 
 United States, and no particular State can have an exclusive interest in 
 the management of affairs with any of the tribes, except in uncommon 
 cases." The Senate perceive the estimate that was formed of these 
 State pretensions. The Committee argue with conclusive energy, that 
 to yield such powers to particular States, would not ouly be absurd in 
 theory, but would in fact destroy the whole system of Indian relations 
 that this divided, alternate cognisance of the matter, by the States and by 
 the Congress, coulcl never be enforced, and would result in discordant 
 and fruitless regulations. The grounds assumed in this able report are 
 unanswerable. The Committee regarded the subject as national, con- 
 cerning the whole United States, of whom the Indians xvere the common 
 friends or foes. That such a concern was too general and public in all 
 its bearings, to be subjected to the legislation and management of any
 
 14 
 
 particular State. The Congress, therefore, assumed the entire jurisdiction 
 and control of it. And after this report, we hear no more of State pro- 
 tests. They yielded their claims to a much safer depositary of this inte- 
 resting trust. Sir, I take leave to say, that the sound, sensible principles 
 of this report have lost nothing of their authority by time, and that 
 every year of our history has confirmed their wisdom ; and illustrated the 
 justice and humanity of the Congress of '87. 
 
 The Convention that formed and adopted the Constitution, in their 
 deliberations upon the security of Indian rights, wisely determined to 
 place our relations with the tribes under the absolute superintendence of 
 the General Government, which they were about to establish. The pro- 
 viso under the old compact, that had in ambiguous terms reserved to 
 particular States an undefined management of Indian Affairs, was alto- 
 gether discarded, and the simple, unqualified control of this important 
 branch of public policy, was delegated to Congress, in the following 
 clause of the Constitution : " Congress shall have power to regulate com- 
 merce with foreign nations^ among the several States, and with the In- 
 dian tribes." An incidental argument, in favor of my views, cannot 
 fail to strike the mind on the face of this clause. The plea that is now, 
 for the first time, urged against the Indians, rests upon the allegation, 
 that the tribes are not distinct nations that they compose a portion of 
 the people of the States ; and yet, in this great national charter, the 
 work of as much collected wisdom, virtue and patriotism, as ever adorned 
 the annals, or shed light upon the government of any age or country, the 
 Indian tribes are associated with foreign nations and the several States, 
 as one of the three distinct departments of the human family, with which 
 the General Government was to relugate commerce. Strange company, 
 truly, in which to find those it now seems convenient to denominate a 
 few poor, miserable savages, that were always the peculiar subjects of 
 State sovereignty, mere tenants at will of the soil, and with whom it is 
 "idle" to speak of negotiating treaties. 
 
 There was another subject, closely connected with this, that engaged 
 the anxious deliberations of the great statesmen who composed the me- 
 morable convention and this was the treaty power. To found this 
 well, was a concern worthy of their first and best thoughts. The good 
 faith of a nation was not to be pledged but on grave and great occa- 
 sions : for when plighted, it brought the nation itself under obligations, 
 too sacred to be argued away by the suggestions of policy or convenience, 
 profit or loss. They, therefore, subjected the exercise of this high func- 
 tion to two great departments of the Government the President and 
 Senate of the United States. They required formalities to attend the 
 exercise of the power, that were intended and calculated to guard the 
 trust from rash and inconsiderate administration. But these requisites 
 complied with, and a treaty made and concluded, no retreat from its 
 claims was provided or desired by the convention. No, Sir. To shut 
 up every avenue of escape to compel us to be faithful, " Treaties" are 
 declared, by the charter of our Government, " to be the supreme law cf 
 the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding." How could the inviolate character of a treaty 
 be more effectually preserved ? Let convulsions agitate the common- 
 wealth let the strifes of party skake the pillars of the political edifice 
 around the nation's faith barriers are raised, that may smile at the siorm.
 
 And, Sir, if these guards fail ; if these defences can be assailed and 
 broken down, then may we indeed despair. Truth and honor have no 
 citadel on earth their sanctions are despised and forgotten, and the law 
 of the strongest prevails. 
 
 Mr. President, I fear that I shall oppress the patience of the Senate by 
 these tedious details but the subject is deeply interesting, and each suc- 
 cessive year of our political history brings me fresh and strong proofs of 
 the sacred estimation always accorded to Indian rights. Sir, in the very 
 next year that followed the formation of the Constitution, on the first of 
 September, 1788, the encroachments of the whites upon the Indian ter- 
 ritory, as guarantied to them by the treaty of Hopewell, made with the 
 Cherokees, as we have already stated, in 1785, caused a proclamation to 
 be issued by Congress, of the date first mentioned, affirming in all things 
 the treaty of Hopewell, and distinctly announcing, (I give the literal 
 clause,) " the firm determination of Congress to protect the said Chero- 
 kees in their rights, according to the true intent and meaning of the said 
 treaty." And they further resolve "that the Secretary of War be direct- 
 ed to have a sufficient number of the troops in the service of the United 
 States, in readiness to march from the Ohio, to the protection of the Che- 
 rokees, whenever Congress shall direct the same." 
 
 The next important event in connexion with the Cherokees, is the 
 treaty of Holston, made with them on the 2d July, 179-1. This was the 
 first treaty that was negotiated with the Cherokees after the Constitution. 
 And it is only necessary to consider the import of its preamble to be- 
 come satisfied of the constancy of our policy, in adhering to the first 
 principles of our Indian negotiations. Sir, let it be remembered that this 
 was a crisis when the true spirit of the Constitution would be best under- 
 stood ; most of those who framed it came into the councils of the country 
 in 1788. Let it be well pondered, that this treaty of Holston was the 
 public compact, in which General Washington, as a preparative solemni- 
 ty, asked the advice of the Senate and concerning which he inquired of 
 that venerable body, whether, in the treaty to be made, the United States 
 should solemnly guarantee the new boundary, to be ascertained and fixed 
 Between them and the Cherokees. 
 
 The preamble to this treaty, I will now recite : 
 
 " The parties being desirous of establishing permanent peace and 
 friendship between the United States and the said Cherokee nation and 
 the citizens and members thereof, and to remove the causes of war, by 
 ascertaining their limits and making other necessary, just and friendly 
 arrangements : the President of the United States, by William Blount, 
 Governor of the territory of the United States of America South of the 
 river Ohio, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for (he Southern Dis- 
 trict, who is vested with full powers for these purposes, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate of the United States; and the Chero- 
 kee nation, by the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors representing the said 
 nation, have agreed to the following articles," &c. 
 
 The first article stipulates that there shall be perpetual peace and 
 friendship between the parties a subsequent article provides that the 
 boundary between the United States and Cherokees " shall be ascertained 
 and marked plainly, by three persons appointed on the part of the United 
 States, and three Cherokees on the part of their nation." 
 
 In pursuance of the advice of the Senate, by the 7th article of this
 
 16 
 
 ircaty, " The United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee nation 
 all their lands not hereby ceded." 
 
 And after several material clauses, the concluding article suspends the 
 effect and obligation of the treaty upon its ratification " by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate of 
 the United States." 
 
 Now, Sir, it is a most striking part of this history, that every possible 
 incident, of form, deliberation, advisement and power, attended this com- 
 pact. The Senate was consulted before our plenipotentiary was commis- 
 sioned fell powers were then given to our Commissioner the articles 
 were agreed upon the treaty referred to the Executive and Senate for 
 their ratification, and, with all its provisions, by them solemnly confirmed. 
 
 Mr. President, it requires a fulness of self-respect and s u lf-confidence, 
 the lot of a rare few, after time has added its sanctions to this high pledge 
 of national honor, to attempt to convict the illustrious men of thru Se- 
 nate of gross ignorance of constitutional power; to charge against them 
 that they strangely mistook the charter under which they acted ; and 
 violated almost the proprieties of language, .as some gentlemen contend, 
 by dignifying with the name and fornidlities of a treaty" mere bargains 
 to get Indian lands." Sir, who so well understood Ihe nature and ex- 
 tent of the powers granted in the constitution as the statesmen who aided 
 by their personal counsels to establish it? 
 
 Every Administration of this Government, from President Washing- 
 ton's, have, with like solemnities and stipulations, held treaties with the 
 Cherokees ; treaties, too, by almost all of which we obtained further ac- 
 quisitions of their territory. Yes, Sir, whenever we approached them in 
 the language of friendship and kindness, we touched the chord that wo.n 
 their confidence : and now, when they have nothing left with which to 
 satisfy our cravings, we propose to annul every treaty to gainsay our 
 word and, by violence and perfidy, drive the Indian from his home, 
 ID a subsequent treaty between the United States and the Cherokee na- 
 tion, concluded on the 8th July, A. D. 1817, express reference is made 
 to past negotiations between the parties, on the subject 01 removal to the 
 west of the Mississippi; the same question that n.w agitates the coun- 
 try, and engages our deliberations. And this convention is deserving of 
 particular notice, inasmuch as we shall learn from it, not only what sen- 
 timents were then entertained by our Government towards the Chero- 
 kees, but, also, in what light the different dispositions of the Indians to 
 emigrate to the West, and to remain on their ancient patrimony, were 
 considered. This treaty recites that application had been made to the 
 United States, at a previous period, by a deputation of the Cherokees, 
 [on the 9th January, 1809,] by which they apprised the Government of 
 the wish of a part of their nation to remove west of the Mississippi, and 
 of the residue to abide in their old habitations. That the President of the 
 United States, after maturely considering the subject, answered the peti- 
 tions as follows : " The United States, my children, are the friends of 
 both parties, and, as far as can be reasonably asked, they are willing to 
 satisfy the wishes of both. Those who remain may be assured of our 
 patronage, our aid, and our good neighborhood." " To those who remove, 
 every aid shall be administered, and when established at their new settle- 
 ments, we shall still consider them as our children, and always hold them 
 firmly by the hand." The convention thin establishes new boundaries,
 
 and pledges our faith to respect and defend the Indian territories. Some 
 matters, Mr. President, by universal consent, are taken as grated, 
 without any explicit recognitl -n. Under the influence of this rule of 
 common fairness, how can we ever dispute the sovereign right of the 
 Cherokees to remain east of the Mississippi, when it was in relation to 
 that very location that we promised our patronage, aid and good neigh- 
 borhood ? Sir, is this high-handed encroachment of Georgia to be the 
 commentary upon the national pledge here given, and the obvious im- 
 port of these terms ? How were these people to remain, if not as they 
 then existed, and as we then acknowledged them to be, a distinct and se- 
 parate community, governed by their own peculiar laws and customs? We 
 can never deny these principles, while fair dealing retains any hold of 
 our conduct. Further, Sir, it appears from this treaty, that the Indians 
 who preferred to remain east of the river, expressed c to the President an 
 anxious desire to engage in the pursuits of agriculture and civilized life 
 in the country they then occupied" and we engaged t> encourage those 
 laudable purposes. Indeed, such pursuits had been recommended to the 
 tribes, and patronized by the United States, for many years before this 
 convention. >lr Jefferson, in his message to Congress as early as 1805, 
 and when on the subject of our Indian relations, with his usual enlarged 
 views of public policy, observes, "The aboriginal inhabitants of these 
 countries, I have legardfd with the commiseration their history inspires. 
 Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing an ardent 
 love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country which left 
 them no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing popula- 
 tion from other regions directed itself on these shores. Without power 
 to divert, or habits to contend against it, they have been overwhelmed by 
 the current or driven before it. Now reduced within limits too narrow 
 for the hunter state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and 
 the domestic arts ; to encourage them to that industry which alone can 
 enable them to maintain their place in existence; and to prepare them 
 in time for that society which, to bodily comforts, adds the improvement 
 of the mind and morals. We have, therefore, liberally furnished them 
 with the implements of husbandry, and household use ; we have placed 
 am ing them instructors in the arts of first necessity ; and they are cover- 
 ed with the ccgis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves." 
 These, Sir, are s raiments worthy of an illustrious statesman. Nne can 
 fail to perceive the spirit of justice and humanity which Mr. Jtfferson 
 cherished towards our Indian allies. He was, through his whol^ life, the 
 firm unshrinking advocates of their rights, a patron of all their plans for 
 moral improvement and elevation. 
 
 Mr. President, it will not be necessary to pursue the details of our 
 treaty negotiations further. I beg leave to state, before I leave them, 
 however, that with all the Southwestern tribf-s of Indians we have similar 
 treaties. Not only the Cherokees, but the Creeks, Choctaws and Chick- 
 asaws, in the neighborhood of Georgia, Tennessre, Alabama and Mis- 
 sissippi, hold our faith, repeatedly pledged to them, that we would res- 
 pect their boundaries, repel aggressions, and protect and nourish them 
 as our neighbors and friends : and to all these public and sacred com- 
 pacts, Georgia was a constant party. They were required, by an article 
 never omitted, to be submitted to the Senate of the United States for their 
 advice and consent. They were so submitted : and Georgia, by her 
 3
 
 18 
 
 able representatives in the Senate, united in the ratification of these 
 same treaties, without, in any single instance, raising an exception, or 
 interposing a constitutional difficulty or scruple. 
 
 Other branches of our political history shed abundant light upon this 
 momentous question. When the Congress of the United States directed 
 their cares to the future settlement and government of the vast and noble 
 domains to the Northwest of the River Ohio, ceded by the State of Vir- 
 ginia, among other matters which they deemed to be vitally connected 
 with the welfare of that region, was the condition and preservation of 
 the Indian Nations. The third article of their celebrated ordinance, for 
 the government of the Northwestern Territory, is in the following words : 
 " Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good govern- 
 ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the"means of education 
 shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be 
 observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be 
 taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights 
 and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and 
 lawful wars, authorized by Congress ; but laws founded in justice and 
 humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs be- 
 ing done to them, and for preserving peace aud friendship with them." 
 Sir, the more minutely we look into the proceedings of the Congress of 
 1787, the more deeply shall we venerate the wisdom and virtue, the 
 largeness of views, and the political forecast, that blessed and illustrated 
 the councils of our country. This solitary article would forever stand 
 out, and alone sustain their reputation. We shall presently learn what 
 concern was manifested by the State of Georgia, to spread the whole 
 influence and control of this article over the cession which she made to 
 the Union, of the territory now composing the States of Alabama and 
 Mississippi. 
 
 How can Georgia, after all this, desire or attempt, and how can we 
 quietly permit her, " to invade and disturb the property, rights and liber- 
 ty of the Indians?" And this, not only not " in just and lawful wars au- 
 thorized by Congress," but in a time of profound peace, while the Che- 
 rokee lives in tranquil prosperity by her side. I press on the inquiry 
 How can we tamely suffer these States to make laws, not only not 
 " founded injustice and humanity," "for preventing wrongs being done 
 to the Indians," but for the avowed purpose of inflicting the gross and 
 wanton injustice of breaking up their governments of abrogating their 
 long cherished customs, and of annihilating their existence as a distinct 
 people ? 
 
 The Congress of the United States, in 1799, in an act to regulate trade 
 and intercourse with the Indian tribes ; and again, by a similar act in 
 1802, still in force, distinctly recognised every material stipulation con- 
 tained in the numerous treaties with the Indians. In fact, Sir, these acts 
 of legislation were passed exprbssly to effectuate our treaty stipulations.* 
 
 These statutes refer to " the boundaries, as established by treaties, be- 
 tween the United States and the various Indian tribes ;" they next direct 
 such " lines to be clearly ascertained, and distinctly marked" prohibit 
 any citizen of the United States from crossing these lines, to hunt or set- 
 tle, and authorize the employment of the public and military force of 
 the Government, to prevent intrusion, and to expel trespassers upon In- 
 dian lands. The twelfth section of this important law most wisely guards
 
 19 
 
 the great object of Indian title from all public and private imposition, by 
 enacting " that no purchase, grant, lease or other conveyance of lands, 
 or of any title or claim thereto, from any Indian or nation, or tribe of 
 Indians, within the bounds of the United States, shall be of any validity 
 in law or equity, unless the same be made by treaty or convention, en- 
 tered into pursuant to the Constitution" 
 
 I trust, Sir, that this brief exposition of our policy, in relation to Indian 
 affairs, establishes, beyond all controversy, the obligation of the United 
 States to protect these tribes, in the exercise and enjoyment of their civil 
 and political rights. Sir, the question has ceased to be What are our 
 duties 1 An inquiry much more embarrassing is forced upon us : How- 
 shall we most plausibly, and with the least possible violence, break our 
 faith? Sir, we repel the inquiry we reject such an issue and point 
 the guardians of public honor to the broad, plain faith of faithful per- 
 formance, and to which they are equally urged by duty and by interest. 
 
 Here I might properly rest as the United States are the only party 
 that the Indians are bound to regard. But if further proofs be wanting 
 to convince us of the unwarrantable pretensions of Georgia, in her late 
 violent legislation, they are at hand, cogent, clear and overwhelming. 
 This State, Sir, was not only a party to all these conventions with the 
 General Government ; she made as solemn treaties with the Creeks and 
 Cherokees for herself, when a colony, and after she became a State. 
 These form a part of her title and are bound up with her public laws. 
 On the first of June, A. D. 1773, she negotiated a treaty with these In- 
 dian nations, by the joint agency of the Governor of the Colony and the 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs; in which boundaries are established 
 and cessions of land agreed upon. Again, on the 31st May, A. D. If 83, 
 after her Independence as a State, another treaty was concluded between 
 the Governor of Georgia and five of her most distinguished citizens duly 
 appointed by the Legislature of the State of the one part, and the Chiefs, 
 Headmen and Warriors of the hordes or tribes of the Cherokee Indians, 
 " in behalf of the said nation, on the other part." And in the first arti- 
 cle of this convention, the distinct, independent existence of the Chero- 
 kees is acknowledged : For it provides," that all differences between the 
 said parties, heretofore subsisting, shall cease and be forgotten." Is it 
 not utterly fallacious to contend, in the face of this treaty, that the Che- 
 rokees are under the jurisdiction of a State, that finds it necessary to ne- 
 gotiate for peace with them by all the forms of a regular treaty ? But 
 more than this by the last article of this treaty, the Cherokees agree to 
 cede, grant, release and quit claim to Georgia, all the lands tip to a cer- 
 tain boundary line defined in the" said document : And until since the 
 extraordinary usurpation of this State, in extending her laws over this 
 Dation, these treaty lines were respected, and never disputed. 
 
 In the year 1777, the States of Georgia and South Carolina met the 
 Creek and Cherokee nations at Dewitt's Corner, for the avowed purpose 
 of making a treaty of peace with them. Sir, if the greatest potentate of 
 Europe had been a party, the preliminaries could not have been more 
 formal or solemn. First, are produced what are denominated " the 
 Georgia full powers" delegated to her commissioners, to meet" the In- 
 dian Congress" to be held at Dewitt's Corner next appear " the South 
 Carolina full powers," for the like purpose and lastly, the Creek and 
 Cherokee " full powers." These powers are opened and excitanged at
 
 this Congress, and a treaty is agreed upon by the plenipotentiaries, es- 
 tablishing peace, and the future boundaries between then respective ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 In many of the treaties made by the United States with the Cherckees 
 and Creeks, laige sections of land were relinquished to us, which by our 
 compact with the State ot Georgia, we received fer her use. She never 
 tjtistioned,at those times, our right to treat for those lands, nor the In- 
 dian's right of granting in* m ; but gladly availed hersell ot such rich ac- 
 cessions to her domains, and proceeded very promptly to distribute them 
 amongst her citizens. JNo\v, it is a fundamental maxim in ali codes of 
 law which acknowledge the obligations of equity and good conscience, 
 that if a party is silent when these old fashioned rules of upright dealing 
 require him to speak, he shall forever thereafter hold his peace. The 
 application of this sound and wliol'some rule will instantly strike the 
 moral apprehensions of every member of the Senate. 
 
 I am indebted to the State of Georgia fcr a clear and very satisfactory 
 exposition of the nature of Indian treaties, and the obligations that arise 
 from them. Jt is an authority for positions, which 1 have had the honor 
 to maintain, of the greater weight, as it proceeds from the highest func- 
 tionary of her Government. In Ffbruary, 1825, the Creeks, by a treaty 
 made with the United States, ceded all their lands to us within the geo- 
 graphical limits of Georgia, for the use of that State. By an article in 
 the treaty, it was provided that the United Slates should protect the In- 
 dians against the encroachments, hostilities and impositions of the whites, 
 &c. &c. until the removal of the Indians should have been accomplished 
 according to the terms _of the treaty. The Governor of Georgia, on the 
 22d day of March, of the same year, issued his proclamation, as " Go- 
 vernr and Commander in Chief of the Aimy and INavy of the said 
 State, and of the Militia thereof," in which, afer stating the conclusion 
 of the treaty alieady mentioned, and the article in it for the protection 
 of the Creeks, the Governor proceeds : " I have, therefore, thought pro- 
 per to issue this, my proclamation, warning all persons, citizens of Geor- 
 gia, or others, against trespassing or intruding upon lands occupied by 
 thf Indians within the limits of this State, either tor the purpose of set- 
 tlement cr otherwise, as every such act will be in direct violation of the 
 provisions of the treaty aforesaid, and will expose the aggressors to the 
 roost certain and summary punishment by the authorities of the State, 
 and of the United States. All good citizens, therefore, pursuing the dic- 
 tates of good faith, will unite in enforcing the obligations of the treaty 
 as the supreme law," &c. [See Proclamation in Appendix.] 
 
 The Senate perceive that this Executive injunction founds its require- 
 ments, explicitly, upon ihe faith and authority of the treaty, as the su- 
 preme law ; and this a treaty made with Indians. Yes, Sir, a treaty 
 with a part of the very Indians now asserted by Georgia to be below the 
 reach of treaties poor abjects! with whom it is declared to be ridiculous 
 and idle to speak of treating ! 
 
 Sir, she cannot recall her proclamation. Give these sacred doctrines 
 their full operation here ; let their influence prevail in the eventful issue 
 now opened for our decision ; and the Indians, who are involved in it, 
 will be satisfied. They have approached us with no other plea ; they 
 urge no oiber or higher considerations. They point us to the faith of
 
 21 
 
 treaties, and implore us by the constitutional obligation of these national 
 compacts, to laise around our ancient allies the effective defences which 
 we have so often promised to maintain. Carry out these rules of public 
 duty, and the Cherokee delegation, who have been waiting at your 
 doors with anxious interest, will return to their home relieved from the 
 burden that now sinks their spirits, and with the grateful conviction that 
 the successors of Washington are still true to his memory. 
 
 Mr. President: What could have wrought this entire revolution in 
 opinions, and in three short years ? Our relations with the Indians have 
 not changed. Condition and circumstance, claim and obligation, remain 
 pr-cis'-ly the same. And yet, now we hear that these Indians have 
 been f.>r all the time, since Georgia had existence, a component part of 
 her population; within the full sc-'pe of her jurisdiction and sovereignty, 
 and subject t< th^ control of her laws! 
 
 The Peopl^ of this country will never acquiesce in such violent con- 
 striKtious. They .will read for themselves; and when they shall learn 
 the. history of all our intercourse with these nations; when they shall 
 pe reive the guaranties so often renewed to them, and under what so- 
 lemn sanctions, the American community will not seek the aids of arti- 
 ficial speculations on the requisite formalities to a technical treaty. No, 
 Sir. I repeat it : They will judge for themselves, and proclaim, in lan- 
 gua_e that the remotest limit of this Republic will understand "call 
 th^se sacred pledges of a nation's faiih by what name you please our 
 word has been gioen, and we should live and die by our word. n 
 
 If the State of Georgia is concluded, aud morally bound to stay her 
 hand from invading the lands or the government of the Indians, the 
 Stales of Mississippi and Alabama are equally and more strongly oblig- 
 ed. They came into the Union after most of the treaties had been made. 
 The former in 1816; and the latter in 1819. These obligations were 
 liens upon the confederacy, and they must take the benefits with the 
 burdens of the Union. They canaot complain of concealment or sur- 
 prise. These conventions were all public and notorious; and the In- 
 dians under their daily view, in actual separate possessiony*exercising 
 the rights of sovereignty and property. 
 
 Moreover, we hav^ heard much of constitutional powers and disabili- 
 ties in this debate. Sir, I proceed to demonstrate that both Mississippi 
 and Alabama are, by a fundamental inhibition in the constitution of their 
 government, prevented from extending their laws orer the Indians. 
 When Georgh, in 1802, granted to the United States the territory that 
 composes the greater part of these two States, she made it an express 
 condition of the cession, that the States to be formed of it should conform 
 to all the articles <>f "the ordinance for the government of the territory 
 n >rthwest of the Ohi >,*' excepting one single article prohibiting involun- 
 tary servitude. When these States applied to the General Government 
 to be forni^d into Territories, this eventful condition of the Georgia ces- 
 sion was remembered by all parties. Mississippi and Alabama in the 
 most deliberate manner agreed to the condition, and assumed the articles 
 of th- ordinance as an integral part of their political condition. When 
 they afterwards proposed to us to be received into the Federal UrrK-n, 
 acts of Congress were duly passed authorizing them respectively to form 
 a constitution and State government for the people within their territo- 
 ries, with this proviso (t That the same, when formed, shall be repub-
 
 an investigation of this pretence. It will be found as void of support 
 i0 fait, as the other assumptions are of principle. 
 
 It is alleged that the Indians cannot flourish in the neighborhood of a 
 white population that whole tribes have disappeared under the influ- 
 ence of this propinquity. As an abstract proposition, it implies reproach 
 somewhere. Our virtues certainly have not such deadly and depopulnt- 
 ing power. It must, then, be our vices that possess these destructive 
 energies- and shall we commit injustice, and put in, as our plea fm it) 
 that our intercourse with the Indians has been so demoralizing that we 
 must drive them from it, to save them? True, Sir, many tribes have 
 melted away they have sunk lower and lower and what people could 
 rise from a condition to which policy, selfishness, and cupidity, conspired 
 to depress them ? 
 
 Sir, had we devoted the same care to elevate their moral condition, 
 that we have to degrade them, the removal of the Indians would not now 
 seek for an apology in the suggestions of humanity. But I waive this, 
 and, as to the matter of fact, how stands the account ? Wherever a fair 
 experiment has been made, the Indians have readily yielded to the influ- 
 ences of moral cultivation. Yes, Sir, they flourish under this culture, 
 and rise in the scale of being. They have shown themselves to be 
 highly susceptible of improvement, and the ferocious feelings and habits 
 of the savage are soothed and reformed by the mild charities of religion. 
 They can very soon be taught to understand and appreciate the blessings 
 of civilization and regular government. And I have the opinions of 
 some .of our most enlightened statesmen to sustain me. Mr. Jefferson, 
 nearly thirty years ago, congratulates his fellow citizens upon the hopeful 
 indications furnished by the laudable efforts of the government to melior- 
 ate the condition of those he was pleased to denominate " our In- 
 dian neighbors." In his message to Congress on the 8th of December, 
 1801, he states, " among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace 
 and friendship generally prevails ; and I am happy to inform you that 
 the continued efforts to introduce among them the implements and the 
 practice of husbandry, and of the household arts, have not been without 
 success. That they are becoming more and more sensible of the supe- 
 riority of this dependence for clothing and subsistence over the precari- 
 ous resources of hunting and fishing. And already are we able to an- 
 nounce that, instead of that constant diminution of numbers produced 
 by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an in- 
 crease of population." Upon the authority of this great statesman, I 
 can direct our Government to a much more effective, as well as more 
 just and honorable remedy for the evils that afflict these tribes, than their 
 proposed removal into the wild uncultivated regions of the western for- 
 ests. In a message to Congress on the I7ih October, 1803, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son remarks, " with many of the other Indian tribes, improvements in 
 agriculture and household manufacture are advancing, and with all our 
 peace and friendship are established on grounds much firmer than hereto- 
 fore." In his message of the 2d December, 1806, there is a paragraph 
 devoted to this subject deserving of our most respectful consideration. 
 The friends of Indian rights could not desire the aid of better sentiments 
 than Mr. Jefferson inculcated in that part of the message where he says 
 " we continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of our Indian 
 neighbors; and of their disposition, to place all their interests under the
 
 patronage of the United States. These dispositions are iiispiied by t'kti; 
 confidence in our justice, and in the sincere concern we feel for their 
 welfare. And as long as we discharge these high and honorable func- 
 tions with the integrity and good faith which alone can entitle us to their 
 continuance, we may expect to reap the just reward in their peace and 
 friendship." Again, in November, 1808, he informs the Congress thai 
 *' with our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintain- 
 ed ; and generally, from a conviction that we consider them as a part of 
 ourselves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and imerests, the attach- 
 ment of the Indian tribes is gaining strength daily, is extending from the 
 nearer to the more remote, and will amply requite us for the justice and 
 friendship practised towards them. Husbandry and household manu- 
 facture are advancing among them more rapidly with the Southern than 
 Northern tr'rbes, from circumstances of soil and climate." 
 
 Mr. Madison, in his message of November, 1809, likewise bears his 
 public testimony to the gradual improvement of the Indians. " With our 
 Indian neighbors," he remarks, " the just and benevolent s\ - stem con- 
 tinued toward them, has a^so preserved peace, and is more and more ad- 
 vancing habits favorable to their civilization and happiness." I will 
 detain the Senate with but one more testimonial, from another venera- 
 ble Chief Magistrate. Mr. Monroe, as lately as 1824, in his message, 
 with great satisfaction informed the Congress that the Indians were 
 " making steady advances in civilization and the improvement of their 
 condition." " Many of the tribes," he continues, " have already made 
 great progress in the arts of civilized life. This desirable result has 
 been brought about by the humane and persevering policy of the Gov- 
 ernment, and particularly by means of the appropriation for the civiliza- 
 tion of the Indians. There have been established, under the provisions 
 of this act, thirty two schools containing nine hundred and sixteen scho- 
 lars, who are well instructed in several branches of literature, and like- 
 wise in agriculture and the ordinary arts of life." 
 
 Now, Sir, when we consider the large space which these illustrious 
 men have filled in our councils, and the perfect confidence that is due to 
 their official statements, is it not astonishing to hear it gravely maintained 
 that the Indians are retrograding in their condition and character that 
 all our public anxieties and cares bestowed upon them have been utterly 
 fruitless, and that for very pity's sake we must get rid of them, or they 
 will perish on our hands? Sir, I believe that the confidence of the Sen- 
 ate has been abused by some of the letter writers who give us such sad 
 accounts of Indian wretchedness. I rejoice that we may safely repose 
 upon the statements contained in the letters of Messis. J. L. Allen, R. 
 M. Livingston, Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, and the Rev. Samuel A. Worces- 
 ter. [See their letters in the Appendix.] The character of these wit- 
 nesses is without repioach,and their satisfactory certificates of the im- 
 provement of the tribes continue and confirm the history furnished to u 
 in the several messages from which I have just read extracts. 
 
 It is further maintained " that one of the greatest evils to which tho 
 Indians are exposed, is that incessant pressure of population, that forces 
 them from seat to seat, without allowing time for moral and intellectual 
 improvement." Sir, this is the very reason the deep, cogent reason, 
 which I present to the Senate, now to taise the barrier against the prr\- 
 >urc of population, and with all the authority of this nation, command. 
 4
 
 an investigation of this pretence. It will be found as void of support 
 in fart, as the other assumptions are of principle. 
 
 It is alleged that the Indians cannot flourish in the neighborhood of a 
 white population that whole tribes have disappeared under the influ- 
 ence of this propinquity. As an abstract proposition, it implies reproach 
 somewhere. Our virtues certainly have not such deadly and depopulat- 
 ing power. It must, then, be our vices that possess these destructive 
 energies-^and shall we commit injustice, and put in, as our plea fm it, 
 that our intercourse with the Indians has been so demoralizing that we 
 must drive them from it, to save them? True, Sir, many tribes have 
 melted away they have sunk lower and lower and what people could 
 rise from a condition to which policy, selfishness, and cupidity, conspired 
 to depress them ? 
 
 Sir, had we devoted the same care to elevate their moral condition, 
 that we have to degrade them, the removal of the Indians would not now 
 seek for an apology in the suggestions of humanity. But I waive this, 
 and, as to the matter of fact, how stands the account ? Wherever a fair 
 experiment has been made, the Indians have readily yielded to the influ- 
 ences of moral cultivation. Yes, Sir, they flourish under this culture, 
 and rise in the scale of being. They have shown themselves to be 
 highly susceptible of improvement, and the ferocious feelings and habits 
 of the savage are soothed and reformed by the mild charities of religion. 
 They can very soon be taught to understand and appreciate the blessings 
 of civilization and regular government. And I have the opinions of 
 some .of our most enlightened statesmen to sustain me. Mr. Jefferson, 
 nearly thirty years ago, congratulates his fellow citizens upon the hopeful 
 indications furnished by the laudable efforts of the government to melior- 
 ate the condition of those he was pleased to denominate " our In- 
 dian neighbors." In his message to Congress on the 8th of December, 
 1801, he states, " among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace 
 and friendship generally prevails ; and I ana happy to inform you that 
 the continued efforts to introduce among them the implements and the 
 practice of husbandry, and of the household arts, have not been without 
 success. That they are becoming more and more sensible of the supe- 
 riority of this dependence for clothing and subsistence over the precari- 
 ous resources of hunting and fishing. And already are we able to an- 
 nounce that, instead of that constant diminution of numbers produced 
 by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an in- 
 crease of population." Upon the authority of this great statesman, I 
 can direct our Government to a much more effective, as well as more 
 just and honorable remedy for the evils that afflict these tribes, than their 
 proposed removal into the wild uncultivated regions of the western for- 
 ests. In a message to Congress on the 17th October, 1803, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son remarks, "with many of the other Indian tribes, improvements in 
 agriculture and household manufacture are advancing, and with all our 
 peace and friendship are established on grounds much firmer than hereto- 
 fore." In his message of the 2d December, 1806, there is a paragraph 
 devoted to this subject deserving of our most respectful consideration. 
 The friends of Indian rights could not desire the aid of better sentiments 
 than Mr. Jefferson inculcated in that part of the message where he sa^s 
 " we continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of our Indian 
 neighbors; and of their disposition, to place all their interests under the
 
 patronage of tlie United States. These dispositions are iuspiied by thti: 
 confidence in our justice, and in the sincere concern we feel for their 
 welfare. And as long as we discharge these high and honorable func- 
 tions with the integrity and good failh which alone can entitle us to their 
 continuance, we may expect to reap the just reward in their peace and 
 friendship." Again, in November, 1808, he informs the Congress that 
 *' with our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintain- 
 ed ; and generally, from a conviction that we consider them a? a part of 
 ourselves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and interests, the attach- 
 ment of the Indian tribes is gaining strength daily, is extending from the 
 nearer to the more remote, and will amply requite us for the justice and 
 friendship practised towards them. Husbandry and household manu- 
 facture are advancing among them more rapidly with the Southern than 
 Northern tribes, from circumstances of soil and climate." 
 
 Mr. Madison, in his message of November, 1809, likewise bears his 
 public testimony to the gradual improvement of the Indians. " With our 
 Indian neighbors," he remarks, " the just and benevolent system con- 
 tinued toward them, has a j iso preserved peace, and is more and more ad- 
 vancing habits favorable to their civilization and happiness." I will 
 detain the Senate with but one more testimonial, from another venera- 
 ble Chief Magistrate. Mr. Monroe, as lately as 1824, in his message, 
 with great satisfaction informed the Congress that the Indians were 
 " making steady advances in civilization and the improvement of their 
 condition." " Many of the tribes," he continues, " have already made 
 great progress in the arts of civilized life. This desirable result has 
 been brought about by the humane and persevering policy of the Gov- 
 ernment, and particularly by means of the appropriation for the civiliza- 
 tion of the Indians. There have been established, under the provisions 
 of this act, thirty two schools containing nine hundred and sixteen scho- 
 lars, who are well instructed in several branches of literature, and like- 
 wise in agriculture and the ordinary arts of life." 
 
 Now, Sir, when we consider the large space which these illustrious 
 men have filled in our councils, and the perfect confidence that is due to 
 their official statements, is it not astonishing to hear it gravely maintained 
 that the Indians are retrograding in their condition and character that 
 all our public anxieties and cares bestowed upon them have been utterly 
 fruitless, and that for very pity's sake we must get rid of them, or they 
 will perish on our hands? Sir, I believe that the confidence of the Sen- 
 ate has been abused by some of the letter writers who give us such sad 
 accounts of Indian wretchedness. I rejoice that we may safely repose 
 upon the statements contained in the letters of Messrs. J. L. Allen, R. 
 M. Livingston, Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, and the Rev. Samuel A. VY 7 orces- 
 ter. [See their letters in the Appendix.] The character of these wit- 
 nesses is without reptoach, and their satisfactory certificates of the im- 
 provement of the tribes continue and confirm the history furnished to us 
 in the several messages from which I have just read extracts. 
 
 it is further maintained " that one of the greatest evils to which tho 
 Indians are exposed, is that incessant pressure of population, that forces 
 them from seat to seat, without allowing time for moral and intellectual 
 improvement." Sir, this is the very reason the deep, cogent reason, 
 which I present to the Senate, now to laise the barrier against the pres- 
 sure of population, and with all the authority of this nation, command, 
 4
 
 jiie urging tide "thus far and no farther." Let us save them now, of 
 we never shall. For is it not clear as the sunbeam, Sir, that a removal 
 will aggravate their woes ? If the tide is nearly irresistible at this time; 
 when a few more years shall fill the regions beyond the Arkansas with 
 many more millions of enterprising white men, will not an increased im- 
 pulse be given, that shall sweep the red men away into the barren prai- 
 ries, ur the Pacific of the West ? Such, I fear, will be their doom. 
 
 If these constant removals are so afflictive, and allow no time for 
 moral improvement if this be the cause why the attempts at Indian re- 
 formation are alleged to have been so unavailing do not the dictates of 
 experience then plead most powerfully with us, to drive them no further 
 ; to grant them an abiding place, when these moral causes may have a 
 fair and Uninterrupted operation in moulding and refining the Indian 
 character? And, Sir, weigh a moment the considerations that address 
 us on behalf of the Cherokees, especially. Prompted and encouraged by 
 bur counsels, they huve in good earnest resolved to become men, ration- 
 al, educated, Christian men ; and they have succeeded beyond our most 
 sanguine hnprs. They have established a regular constitution of civil 
 government, republican in us principles. Wise and beneficent laws are 
 enacted. The pe plf> ;ickn!>w'edee their authority, and feel their obliga- 
 tion. A print ng pre-s, conducted by one of the nation, circulates a 
 weekly newspaper, printed partly in English, and partly in the Chero- 
 kee language. Schools flourish in many of their settlements. Christian 
 temples, to the God of the Bible, are frequented by respectful, devout, 
 and many sincere worshippers. God, as we believe, has many people 
 among them, wh<>m he regards as the " apple of his eye." They have 
 become better neighbors to Georgia. She made ho complaints during 
 the lapse of fifty years, when the tribes were a horde of ruthless, licen- 
 tious and drunken savages; when no law controlled them, when the 
 only judge was their will, and their avenger the tomahawk. 
 
 Then Georgia could make treaties with therti, and acknowledge 
 them as nations ; and in conventions trace boundary lines, and respect 
 the land-marks of her neighbor : and now, when they begin to reap 
 the fruits of all the paternal instructions, so repeatedly and earnestly 
 delivered to them by the Presidents when the Cherokee has learned to 
 respect the rights of (he white man, and sacredly to regard the obliga- 
 tions of tiuth and conscience is this the time, Sir, to break up this 
 peaceful community, to put out their council fires, to annul their laws 
 and customs, to crush the rising hopes of their youth, and to drive the 
 desponding and discouraged Indian to despair ? Let it be called a sick- 
 ly humanity every freeman in the land, that has one spark of the spirit 
 of his fathers, will feel and denounce it to be an unparalleled stretch of 
 cruel injustice. And if the deed be done, Sir, how it is regarded in 
 Heaven will, sooner or later, be known on Earth ; for this is the judg- 
 ment place of public sins. And all these ties are to be broken asunder, 
 for a State that was silent and acquiesced in the relations of the Indians 
 to our present government that pretended to no right of direct inter- 
 ference whilst these tribes were really dangerous ; when their ferocious 
 incursions justly disturbed the tranquillity of the fireside, and waked the 
 " sleep of the cradle ;" for a State that seeks it now against an unof- 
 fending neighbor, which implores her by all that is dear in the graves 
 rf her fathers; in the traditions of by gone ages j that beseeches her by
 
 ihe ties of nature, of home, and of country, to let her live unmolested; 
 and die near the dust of her kindred ! 
 
 Sir, our fears have been addressed in behalf of those States whose Ie- 
 gislation we resist : and it is enquired with solicitude, would you urge us 
 to arms with Georgia ? No, Sir. This tremendous alternative will not 
 be necessary. Let the General Government come out, as it should; 
 with decided and temperate firmness, and officially announce to Geor- 
 gia, and the other States, that if the Indian tribes choose to remain, they 
 will be protected against all interference and encroachment ; and such 
 is my confidence in the sense of justice, in the respect for law, prevailing 
 in the great body of this portion of our fellow citizens, that I believe 
 they would submit to the authority of the nation. I can expect no other 
 issue. But if the General Government be urged to the crisis, never to 
 be anticipated, of appealing to the last resort of her powers ; and when 
 reason, argument, and persuasion fail, to raise her strong arm to repress 
 the violations of the supreme law of the land, I ask, is it not in her bond, 
 Sir? Is her guaranty a rope of sand ? This effective weapon has of- 
 ten been employed to chastise the poor Indies, sometimes with dreadful 
 vengeance I fear, and shall not their protection avail to draw it from the 
 scabbard ? Permit me to refer the Senate to the views of Mr. Jefferson, 
 directly connected with this delicate, yet sacred duty of prelection. In 
 1791, when he was Secretary of StJte, there were s~me symptoms of 
 collision on the Indian subject. This induced the letter from him to 
 General Knox, then our Secretary of War, a part of which I will read : 
 " I am of opinion, that Government should firmly maintain this ground; 
 that the Indians h ive a right to the occupation of their lands, independ- 
 ent of the States within whose chartered limits they happen to be ; that 
 until they cedeth^m by treaty, or other transaction equivalent to a trea- 
 ty, no act of a State can give a right to such lands; that neither under 
 the present constitution, nor the ancient confederation, had any State or 
 persons a right to treat with the Indians, without the consent of the Gene- 
 ral Government; that that consent has never been given by any treaty 
 for the cession of the lands in question ; that the Government is deter- 
 mined to exert all its energy for the patronage and protection of the 
 rights of the Indians, and the preservation of peace between the United 
 States and them ; and that if any settlements are made on lands not ceded 
 by them, without the previous consent of the United Stales, the Govern- 
 ment will think itself bound, not only to declare to the Indians that 
 such settlements are without the authority or protection of the United 
 States, but to remove them also by public force." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson seems to have been disturbed by no morbid sensibilities. 
 He speaks out as became a determined statesman. We can trace in 
 this document the same spirit which shed its influence on a more event- 
 ful paper the declaration of our rights, and of our purpose to maintain 
 aed defend them. He looked right onward, in the broad path of public 
 duty ; and if, in his way, he met the terrors of State collision and con- 
 flict, he was in no degree intimidated. The faith of treaties was his 
 guide ; and he would not flinch in his purposes, nor surrender the Indians 
 to State encroachments. Let such decided policy go forth in the majes- 
 ty of our laws now, and, Sir, Georgia will yield. She will never en- 
 counter the responsibilities or the horrors of a civil war. But if she 
 should, no stains of blood will be on our skirts on herself the guilt wijl 
 abide forever.
 
 28 
 
 Mr. President, if we abandon these aboriginal proprietors of our sou 
 these early allies and adopted children of our forefathers, how shall 
 we justify it to our country ? to all the glory of the past, and the pro- 
 mise of the future ? Her good name is worth all else besides that contri- 
 butes to her greatness. And, as I regard this crisis in her history, 
 the time has come when this unbought treasure shall be plucked from 
 dishonor, or abandoned to reproach. 
 
 How shall we justify this trespass to ourselves? Sir, we may deride 
 it, and laugh it to scorn now ; but the occasion will meet every man, 
 when he must look inward, and make honest inquisition there. Let us 
 beware how, by oppressive encroachments upon the sacred privileges of 
 our Indian neighbors, we minister to the agonies of future remorse. 
 
 I have, in my humble measure, attempted to discharge a public and 
 most solemn duty towards an interesting portion of my fellow men. 
 Should it prove to have been as fruitless as I know it to be below the 
 weight of their claims, yet even then, Sir, it will have its consolations. 
 Defeat in such a cause is far above the triumphs of unrighteous power 
 and in the language of an eloquent writer " I had rather receive the 
 blessing of one poor Cherokee, as he casts his last look back upon his 
 country, for having, though in vain, attempted to prevent his banish- 
 ment, than to sleep beneath the marble of all the Caesars."
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 GORGIA. By His Excellency George M. Troup, Governor and Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of this State, and of the Mi- 
 litia thereof. 
 
 Whereas, by a treaty concluded with the Creeks at the Indian Springs, 
 on the 12th day of February last, their claims to the whole territory 
 within the limits of Georgia were ceded to the United States, and the 
 ratification of the same, by the President and Senate, having been made 
 known to me ; by which act the territory aforesaid, according to the sti- 
 pulations of the treaty and of the articles of agreement and cession in the 
 year 1802, will, on or before the first day of September, 1826, pass into 
 actual possession of the State of Georgia : 
 
 And whereas, it is provided in said treaty, that the United States shall 
 protect the Indians against the encroachments, hostilities, and imposi- 
 tions of the whites, so that they suffer no interruption, molestation or 
 injury, in their persons, goods, effects, their dwellings or the lands they 
 occupy, until their removal shall have been accomplished, according to 
 the terms of the treaty. 
 
 I have, therefore, thought proper to issue this my Proclamation, warn 
 ing all persons, citizens of Georgia, or others, against trespassing or in- 
 truding upon the lands occupied by the Indians within the limits of this 
 State, either for the purpose of settlement or otherwise, as every such 
 act will be in direct violation of the provisions of the treaty aforesaid, 
 and will expose the aggressors to the most certain and summary punish- 
 ment by the authorities of the State and of the United States. 
 
 All good citizens, therefore, pursuing the dictates of good faith, will 
 unite in enforcing the obligations of the treaty as the supreme law, aid- 
 ing and assisting the magistracy in repressing and punishing any disorder 
 or violence which may infringe its provisions; and all officers, civil and 
 military, are commanded to be vigilant in preventing offences under it, 
 and in detecting and punishing offender?. 
 
 Given under my hand, and the great seal of the State, at the State 
 House, in Miliedgeville, this twenty-first day of March, in the year of 
 our Lord eighteen hundred and twenty-five, and of the forty-ninth year 
 of the Independence of the United States of America. 
 
 G. M. TROUP. 
 
 By the Governor : 
 
 E. HAMILTON, 
 
 of
 
 1830. 
 
 ]L,aw of Georgia, taken from the" Georgia Journal" printed at Mil- 
 ledgaville, of Saturday, January C 23d, 1830. 
 
 An act to add the Territory lying within the chartered limits of Georgia, 
 and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee Indians, to the counties 
 of Carroll, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Hall and Habersham, and to extend 
 the laws of this State over the same, and to annul all laws and ordin- 
 ances made by the Cherokee nation of Indians, and to provide for the 
 compensation of officers serving legal process in said Territory, and 
 to regulate the testimony of Indians, and to repeal the ninth section of 
 the act of eighteen hundred and twenty eight upon this subject. 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State 
 of Georgia in General asspmbly met, and it is hereby enacted by the au- 
 thority of the same, That, from and after the passing of this act, all that 
 part of the unlocat^d territory within the limits of this State, and which 
 lies between the Alabama line and the old path leading from the Buzzard 
 Roost on the Chattahoochie to Sally Hughes' on the Hightower River, 
 thence to Thomas Petet's, on the old Federal road, thence with said 
 road to the Alabama line, be, and the sarre is hereby, added to, and 
 shall become a part of, the county of Carroll. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all that part of said territory 
 lying and being North of (he last mentioned line, and South of the road 
 running from Charles Gates' ferry on the Chattahochie river to Dick 
 Roe's, to where it intersects with ihe path aforesaid, be, and the s-ime is 
 hereby added to, and shall become a part of, the county of DtKalb. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all that part of said territory 
 lying north of the last mentioned line, and south of a line commencing 
 0t the mouth of Baldridge's Creek; thence up said Creek to its source j 
 from thence to where the Federal road crosses .the Hightower ; thence 
 with said road to the Tennessee line, be ; and the same is hereby added 
 to, and shall become a part of, the county of Gwiqnett. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all that part of paid territory 
 lying north of said last mentioned line, and south of aline to commence 
 on the Ghestatee river at the mouth of Yoholo cretk ; thence up said 
 creek to the ton of the Blue Ridge; thence to the head waters of Notley 
 river; thence down said river to the boundary line of Georgia, be, and 
 the same is hereby added to, and shall become a part of, the county of 
 Hall. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all that part of said territory 
 lying north of said hst mentioned line, within the limits of this State, be, 
 and the same is hereby added to, and that become a part of, the county 
 of Habersham. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the laws, both civil and crim- 
 inal, of this State, be, and the same are hereby, extended over said portions 
 of territory, respectively; and all persons whatever residing within the 
 same, shall, after the first day of June next, be subject and liable to the 
 operation of said laws, in the same manner as other citizens of this State 
 or the citizens of said counties, respectively; and all writs and processes 
 whatever, issued by the courts, or officers of said courts, shall extend
 
 31 
 
 over, and operate on, the portions of territory hereby added to ttje same 5 
 respectively. 
 
 Sec. 7- And be it further enacted, That, after the first day of June 
 next, all laws, ordinances, orders and regulations, of any kind whatever, 
 made, passed or enacted, by the Cherokee Indians, either in general 
 council or in any other way whatever, or by any authority whatever, of 
 said tribe, be, and the same are hereby declared to be null and void, and 
 of no effect, as if the same had never existed; and in all cases of indict- 
 ment, or civil suits, it shall not be lawful for the defendant to justify un- 
 der any of said laws, ordinances, orders or regulations; nor shall the 
 courts of this State permit the same to be given in evidence on the trial 
 of any suit whatever. 
 
 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any 
 person or body of persons, by arbitrary power or by virtue of any pre- 
 tended rule, ordinance, law or custom, of said Cherokee nation, to pre- 
 vent, by threats, menaces, or other means, to endeavor to prevent any 
 Indian of said nation, residing within the chartered limits of this State, 
 from enrolling as an emigrant, or actually emigrating, or removing from 
 said nation ; nor shall it be lawful for any person or body of persons, by 
 arbitrary power, or by virtue of any pretended rule, ordinance, law or 
 custom, of said nation, to punish in any manner, or to molest either the 
 person or property, or to abridge the rights or privileges of any Indian 
 for enrolling his or her name as an emigrant, or for emigrating, or in- 
 tending to emigrate, fr.m said nation. 
 
 Sec. 9- And be it further enacted, That any person or body of per- 
 sons offending against the provisions of the foregoing section, shall be 
 guilty of a high misdemeanor, subject to indictment, and, on conviction, 
 shall be punished by confinement in the common gaol of any county of 
 tliis State, or by confinement at hard labor in the penitentiary, for a term 
 not exceedingybwr years, at the discretion of the court. 
 
 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any 
 person or body of persons, by arbitrary power, or under color of any 
 pretended rule, ordinance, law, or custom, of said nation, to prevent, or 
 offer to prevent or deter any Indian, head man, chief, or warrior, of 
 said nation, residing within the chartered limits of this State, from selling 
 or ceding to the United States, for the use of the State of Georgia, the 
 whole or any part of said territory, or to prevent, or offer to prevent, 
 any Indian, head man, chief or warrior, of said nation, residing as afore- 
 said, from meeting in council, or treaty, any commissioner or commis- 
 sioners on the part of the United States, for any purpose whatever. 
 
 Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That any person or body of 
 persons offending against the provisions of the foregoing section, shall 
 be guilty of a high misdemeanor, subject to indictment, and, on convic- 
 tion, shall be confined at hard labor in the penitentiary, for not less than 
 four, nor longer than six years, at the discretion of the court. 
 
 Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful fur any 
 person or body of persons, by arbitrary force, or under color of any pre- 
 tended rules, ordinances, law or custom, of said nation, to take the life 
 of any Indian residing as aforesaid, for enlisting as an emigrant, attempt- 
 ing to emigrate, ceding, or attempting to cede, as aforesaid, the whole or 
 any part of said territory, or meeting, or attempting lo meet, in treaty rr 
 in council, as aforesaid, any commissioner or commissioners as af resaid ;
 
 and any person or body of persons offending against the provisions of 
 this section, shall be guilty of murder, subject to indictment, and, on 
 conviction, shall suffer death by hanging. 
 
 Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That, should any of the foregoing 
 offences be committed under color of any pretended rules, ordinance^ 
 custoai or law, of said nation, all persons acting therein, either as indi- 
 viduals or as pretended executive, ministerial, or judicial officers, shall 
 be deemed and considered as principals, and subject to the pains and 
 penalties hereinbefore prescribed. 
 
 Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That, for all demands which may 
 come within the jurisdiction of a magistrate's court, suit may be brought 
 for the same in the nearest district of the county to which the territory 
 is hereby annexed ; and all officers serving any legal process on any 
 person living on any portion of the territory herein named, shall be en- 
 titled to receive the sum of five cents for every mil? he may ride to serve 
 the same, after crossing the present limits of said counties, in addition 
 to the fees already allowed by law; and in case any of said officers 
 should be resisted in the execution of any legal process issued by any 
 court or magistrate, justice of the Inferior Court, or Judge of the Supe- 
 rior Court of any of said counties, he is hereby authorized to call out a 
 sufficient number of the militia of said counties to aid and protect him in 
 the execution of his duty. 
 
 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That no Indian or descendant of 
 any Indian, residing within the Creek or Cherokee nations of Indians, 
 shall be deemed a competent witness in any court of this State, to which 
 a white person may be a party, except such white person resides within 
 the said nation. 
 
 WARREN JOURDAN, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 THOMAS STOCKS, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 
 Assented to, Dec. 19, 1829. 
 
 GEORGE R. GILMER, Governor, 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 AN ACT to extend the jurisdiction of the State of Alabama over the Creek Nation 
 
 [1829.] 
 
 SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate find House of Representa- 
 tives of the State of Alabama in General Assembly convened, That 
 vil! the territory within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning on 
 the bank of Coosa river, at the mouth of Kiamulga creek, and running 
 thence with Mclntosh's road to the Georgia line; thence, with the said 
 line, northwardly to the boundary line between the Creek and Cherokee 
 nations ; thence, vvestwardly, with the said last named boundary, to the 
 mouth of Will's creek, on Cosa ; thence, down Coosa, to the beginning, 
 shall be added to, and form a part of the county of St. Clair. And all 
 '.he territory in the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning at the nmith
 
 33 
 
 of Kiapmlga, and running thence down the Coosa river to Fort Wil- 
 liam* ; thence, in a direct line, to Miller's bend, on the Chattahoochie ; 
 Uience, with the boundary line between Alabama and Georgia, to where 
 it crosses Mcln tosh's road ; thence, with said road, to the beginning, 
 shall be added to, and form a part of, the county of Shelby. And ail 
 the territory within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning at Fort 
 Williams, and running down Coosa river to Wetumpka Falls ; thence, 
 along the Indian boundary line, to the road leading from Pensacola to 
 Kendall Lewis's old stand, on the Federal road ; thence, along said road, 
 to the Chattahoochie river ; and all territory north of the aforesaid line, 
 and not attached to any other county, shall belong to, and form a part 
 of, the county of Montgomery ; and all Indian territory lying south of 
 the before described line, shall belong to, and form part of, the county 
 of Pike. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the jurisdiction of the Circuit 
 Courts of the above named counties be, and the same is hereby, extend- 
 ed over their respective limits, as established in the preceding section. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the jurisdiction of the Or- 
 phans' courts and courts of revenue of the above named Counties, shall, 
 after the first day of March, 1830, be extended over so much of their 
 respective limits as now constitutes a part of the Creek nation. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the 
 court of roads and revenue in the above counties, on the first Monday of 
 July next, or shortly thereafter, to appoint a suitable person, whose duty 
 it shall be to make an accurate census of the Indian population residing 
 in his county, classing them into separate classes, to wit : Those under 
 ten years, over ten and under twenty one, over twenty one and under 
 forty five, and those over forty five, the males and females into separate 
 columns, noting the number of mixed blood, and also the number of 
 slaves owned by the Indian population, and make return thereof to the 
 clerk of the county court of the county, respectively, and to the Secreta- 
 ry of State, as soon ts practicable. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the person so appointed 
 shall be entitled to three dollars a day, for the length of time that the 
 court of revenue shall certify as necessary to perform said service ; and 
 that the same be a charge upon the State Treasury, subject to be reim- 
 bursed by such new counties as may hereafter be established out of the 
 Creek Indian territory. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 [1830.] 
 
 AN ACT to extend the laws of (he Stale of Mississippi over the persons and pro- 
 perty of the Indians resident within its limits. 
 
 SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 
 tives of the State of Mississippi in General Assembly convened, That, 
 from and after the passage of this act, all the rights, privileges, immuni- 
 ties and franchises held, claimed or enjoyed, by those persons called In- 
 dians, and their descendants, and which are held by virtue of any form 
 5
 
 34 
 
 of policy, usage, or custom, existing among said persons, not particular- 
 ly recognised and established by the common law, or statutes if the 
 State of Mississippi, be, and the same are hereby, wholly abolished ax\d 
 taken away. 
 
 Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That all the rights, privileges, immuni- 
 ties and franchises, held and enjoyed by free white persons, inhabitants 
 of the said State, be, and the same are hereby, given, granted and extend- 
 ed to the said persons called Indians, and their descendants, in as full and 
 ample a manner as the same can be done by act of the General Assem- 
 bly. 
 
 Sec. 3. Beit further enacted, That all the laws, statutes and ordinan- 
 ces, no\v in force in the said State of Mississippi, be, and the same are 
 hereby, declared to have full force, power, and operation, over the per- 
 sons and property of and within the territory now occupied by the said 
 Indians. 
 
 Sec. 4. Be it farther enacted. That all marriages, matrimonial 
 connexions or associations, entered into by virtue of any usage or custom 
 of the said Indians, and by them deemed valid, be, and the same are 
 hereby, declared to be as binding and obligatory as if the same had been 
 solemnized according to the laws of this State. 
 
 Sec. 5 Be it further enacted, That any person or persons who shall 
 assume on him or themselves, and exercise in any manner whatever, the 
 office of Chief, Mirrgo, Head man, or other post of power established by 
 the tribal statutes, ordinances, or customs of Uie said Indians, and not 
 particularly recognised by the laws of this State, shall, on conviction 
 upon indictment or presentment before a court of competent jurisdiction, 
 be fined in any sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be impri- 
 soned any time not exceeding twelve months, at the discretion of the 
 court before whom conviction may be had. 
 
 Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That the boundaries specified in an 
 act entitled "An act to extend legal process into that part of the State 
 now occupied by the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes of Indians," pas- 
 sed February 4, 1829, shall be so construed as to make all legal process 
 returnable as by that act required. 
 
 Extracts of a Letter from Mr. John L. Allen, Sub-Agent for Chickasaws, dated 7th 
 February, 1830. 
 
 " In conformity with yours of the 2Qth January, to give the Depart- 
 ment of War the information of which I may be in possession, touching 
 the condition of the Indians within the Chickasaw agency. 
 
 They (the Chickasaws) have a plenty of horses of a superior quality, 
 or at least well adapted to the use of Indians ; thy use them on their 
 farms with much less food than is generally given those animals that are 
 raised and used by the whites; and, when travelling through their coun- 
 try, they travel from thirty to fifty miles per day ; never feed them, but 
 let them subsist entirely upon what grass or cane they can procure for 
 themselves when hobbled out at night. 
 
 They have large herds of cattle, swine, sheep, and goats, and poultry 
 of every description that are in use generally, in that section of country.
 
 35 
 
 The country is well watered, and is well adapted to the culture of cot- 
 ion, corn, wheat, oats, peas, potatoes, beans, &c. 
 
 Cotton, beef, and pork, are the principal articles for exportation. 
 There will be cotton exported from the nation this year, probably to the 
 amount of 1,000 bales ; beef and pork to no inconsiderable amount. 
 
 The proceeds from the sales of cotton, horses", beef, cattle, hogs, &c. 
 after retaining a sufficiency for their home consumption, is generally ap- 
 plied to the purchase of necessaries and luxuries of life ; to wit : slaves, 
 sugar and coffee, as well as dry goods of various descriptions, which are 
 calculated to render them comfortable, and ornament their persons. 
 
 The time has come when they no longer depend on the rifle for sup- 
 port, but it is used more for their recreation and amusement, than for the 
 means of sustenance. 
 
 Every family cultivates the earth more or less, as his thirst for gain, or 
 his imaginary or real wants increase. 
 
 Much to the honor of the Chickasaws, for the last eight years the 
 practice of the men, requiring the women to perform all the labor in the 
 fields, is much changed; the men now (with a few exceptions) cultivate 
 the earth themselves, while the female part of the family is engaged in 
 their household affairs. They spin, weave, make their own clothing, 
 milk cows, make butter, cheese, &c. They keep themselves decent and 
 clean, and, in many instances, particular attention is paid to fashions 
 that are in use by the whites. 
 
 It is their constant practice to appear in their best apparel at their 
 public meetings ; also, when ihey visit the country villages in the white 
 settlements. 
 
 Many of the Chickasaws profess Christianity. I attended a camp 
 meeting in November last, at the missionaries ; divine worship was per- 
 formed alternately by white and red men, in the English and Indian lan- 
 guages ; and, for the first time, I saw the sacrament taken by the In- 
 dians. Every thing was conducted with the utmost good order and de- 
 corum. 
 
 As a nation, the men are brave and honest. The women, (the half 
 breeds in particular,) are beautiful and virtuous ; and, I am of the opinion 
 that there has been greater advancements in civilization, in the last eight 
 years, than there was in twenty previous. 
 
 I think the present state of education does not meet the wishes or ex- 
 pectations of the chiefs and head men of the nation. 
 
 Education is confined generally to the half breeds and youths general- 
 ly of the first promise. There are, at this time, several white men that 
 have identified themselves with the Indians, by marriage, and several 
 half breeds that have sufficient education to enable them to transact a 
 considerable portion of the business for the nation. 
 
 The municipal laws of the Chickasaws consist in written laws or re 
 solutions, commanding that which is right, and prohibiting that which 
 they conceive to be wrong. Their laws are few, easily understood, and 
 rigidly enforced, and are highly calculated to promote peace and good 
 order among themselves. 
 
 As I have already mentioned the state of agriculture, I have only now 
 to say something on the subject of the mechanic arts, the knowledge of 
 which is generally confined to white men that have identified themselves 
 with the Indians, particularly of th? highest grade proposed among them :
 
 36 
 
 to wit : house carpenters, wheelwrights, millwrights, blacksmiths, &c. 
 All the arts necessary for farming use, stocking ploughs, helving axes, 
 hoes, making slides, truck wheels, draw bars, gates, &c. are generally con- 
 fined to the common Indians and slaves. 
 
 The Chickasaws being surrounded by the white inhabitants, I have found 
 it a difficult matter to restrain the whites from violating the intercourse 
 law, by driving their stock over the line upon the Indian land, making set- 
 tlements, trading with the Indians in a manner that is prohibited bylaw, 
 as well as stealing their negroes, horses, cattle, &c. ; but I am proud to 
 have it in my power to say that those white persons who are so trouble- 
 some to the Indians, are generally men of the lowest grade and dregs of 
 society. Such men as are always unwilling to conform to the laws that 
 govern the civilized world. 
 
 They (the principal chiefs) stated that if the laws were extended over 
 them, they had no belief that they would be placed upon an equal foot- 
 ing with the whites ; and, if they were made so by law, all the officers 
 of the law would be composed of white men ; and, as they were unskil- 
 led in law suits, and the whites would be partial to each other, they had 
 no belief that they would be able to withstand the encroachments of the 
 whites upon them ; and, if they did attempt it, that in a few years they 
 would not have a vestige of property left, consequently they would ex- 
 change their country for any they could get, rather than, as they con- 
 ceive, lose their native freedom." 
 
 Extract of the Report of R. M. Livingston, Commissioner, of the 28th 
 December, 1828, to the Secretary of War. 
 
 (C I proceed to conclude this report by submitting a few observations 
 as to * their (the New York Indians) condition as a people, and whether 
 advancing or deteriorating.' Deprived of the advantage of a previ- 
 ous acquaintance with the tribe, or the state of their reservations, I am 
 not enabled, from personal observation alone, to compare their condition, 
 at this time, with any former period of their history. Information de- 
 rived from sources entitled to credit, enable me to say that their popula- 
 tion has not materially changed in the laft fifteen years. Their females 
 bear as many children as ours, but lose more of them in infancy ; sel- 
 dom* rearing to maturity more than two or three to a family. This ex- 
 cessive mortality, in comparison with human life in the purely savage or 
 civilized state, is attributable to the middle station which those natives 
 occupy on the scale of civilization ; to their having lost the hardihood 
 and animation of the hunter state without having attained the ability to 
 provide the comforts essential to health in their present more quiescent 
 and supine condition. An uninterrupted supply of food, raiment, and 
 bedding, medical aid, and indispensable comforts for mother and child, 
 are, in too many instances, wanting. Their dwellings are substantial, 
 but the interior (with some exceptions) present the appearances of pover- 
 ty and uncleanliness. . Their advances in husbandry exceeded my ex- 
 pectations ; but they are illy supplied with indispensable farming uten- 
 sils, and are deficient in both theory and practice ; their lands exhibiting 
 that degree of cultivation which our people would term poor and sloven-
 
 37 
 
 !y. Their cultivated fields do not produce sufficient to sustain their 
 population; the deficiency is supplied by annuities, fish, and horses aad 
 cattle that browse the commons. A spirit of agricultural improvement, 
 however, is pervading the nation, and may, in my opinion, be so excited 
 and directed as to make that employment yield them a surplus ; estab- 
 lishing at the same time wholesome habits, and elevating them to a higher 
 grade of being. A spirit of emulation was manifested by the chiefs ot 
 the Tonnawanta reserve, courting a compaiison of their advances in 
 civilization with those of their opponents of the Buffalo reserve. I visit- 
 ed the Tonnawanta village, and (waiving the expression of preference 
 as to buildings and agricultural improvements generally) observed, that 
 Tonnawanta far exceeded Buffalo in the number,size, and condition of their 
 cattle, but fell as far behind in another essential branch of civilization, 
 the education of their children ; the school at Buffalo containing fr JOT 
 sixty to eighty scholars, that at Tonnawanta, by rrjason that Christianity had 
 been not taught in the school, had dwindled to about ten or fifteen scho- 
 lars, and they were obliged to obtain their instruction without th? bounds 
 of the reserve. As well at Tonnawanta as at Buffalo, the deistical party 
 expressed a desire that the Quakers might instruct them and their chil- 
 dren in husbandry, in learning, and in good habits. Of the moral feel- 
 ing of the nation, their genius and mental powers, (he flexibility and 
 comprehension of their language, and of their diversified style in orato- 
 ry, some estimate may be formed by their reported speeches and narra- 
 tions translated by the assistance of several interpreters. I have scarce- 
 ly firmness to suppress the expression of feelings excited by an exami- 
 nation of the school at Buffalo, and by witnessing, in the united religious 
 exercise of a hundred and fifty of all ages and sexes, a germ of hope 
 rising among the trodden down children of the forest. I leave the sub- 
 ject to be conceived by the hearts, and portrayed by the pens of the 
 worthy patrons of the establishment. Of the school, I would merely 
 observe, that 1 know of none in which children of equal age and oppor- 
 tunity possess greater aptitude to learning, or exhibit higher attainments ; 
 and if equal care shall be bestowed in translating for the adult, and in 
 forwarding by judicious means every branch of civilization as essential 
 to guard against a relapse, the succeeding generation will, in my opinion, 
 appear as a new race of beings." 
 
 From the Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury to Thomas L. McKenney. 
 
 MAVHEW, 8th February, 1830. 
 THOMAS L. MCKENNEY, ESQ. 
 
 Office of Indian Affairs : 
 
 Sir: I take the liberty of transmitting to the War Department a few 
 remarks and statements designed to show the progress which has beeo 
 made by the Choctaws towards a state of civilization. 
 
 Such a statement will, 1 hope, be acceptable to the Government, and 
 it is certainly due to the Choctaws, who have made such commendable 
 exertions for their own improvement. In turning their attention to the 
 arts of civilized life, to the education of their children, and to the pre- 
 cepts of the GospeJ,they feel the satisfaction of having followed the ad- 
 vice of their great Father, the President, and of the Secretary of War
 
 as 
 
 : ;;e repeated both iu written communications and by those who have 
 spoken HI their names. 
 
 I am aware that very different views are entertained of the improve- 
 ments reported to have been made by some of the Indian tribes. Those 
 wbx> are not intimately acquainted with the Indians, and who form their 
 estimate by comparing them with the citizens of our own highly favored 
 country,, will regard them as still in a very degraded and wretched con- 
 dition. 
 
 Those who are better acquainted with them, and who are able to com- 
 pare their present state with what it formerly was, must admit that a 
 great advance has been made. Comparing the present condition of the 
 Choctaws in those parts of the nation which have enjoyed the advanta- 
 ge* of instruction, with what it was eight, or even five years ago, it may 
 be doubted whether any considerable portions of the civilized world 
 present specimens of equal improvement accomplished within the same 
 apace of time. In the statements which follow, I shall confine myself 
 principally to facts, that the Department may be able to judge for 
 themselves as to the correctness of the above remark. Eight years ago 
 intemperance prevailed from one end of the land to the other. In the 
 space of two months, ten Indians in this district alone lost their lives by 
 whisky. At this time intemperance within the nation is hardly known. 
 
 In Jiily, 1828, 1 attended the distribution of the annuity to two dis- 
 *rkts, on wnich occasion there were present from 4,000 to 5,000 Indians 
 men, women and children. They were together four days, and not 
 an intoxicated one was seen, until after the business was closed. Some 
 whisky had been secreted at a distance from the place, and, as the law 
 prohibiting the introduction of it into that part of the nation was not to 
 go into effect until fifteen days from that time, some, after leaving the 
 place, obtained it, and became intoxicated. Since that time, I am not 
 aware that whisky has been used at any council or collection of Indians, 
 held by order of the chiefs for the transaction of business. 
 
 The Choctaws, however, have not all lost their appetite for whisky, 
 nor is it supposed that a majority of them are restrained from intem- 
 perance by the force of moral principle ; but so sensible had they be- 
 come of the destructive effects of this vice, that a law prohibiting en- 
 tirely the introduction of whisky into the nation, as an article of traffic, 
 was proposed by the chiefs, and obtained an almost universal support in 
 a general council of the warriors. There cannot be a question, that less 
 ardent spirit is now used in the Choctaw nation, whether we consider 
 the extent of territory, or the amount of population r than in any other 
 part of the United States. It is only when we go to the borders of the 
 surrounding settlements that we see Indians intoxicated. There, a few 
 unprincipled white men, equally regardless of the laws of God and of 
 their country, continue, for filthy lucre's sake, to sell the deadly poison 
 to those Indians who resort thither. 
 
 Other evidences of improvement we have in the increase of industry, 
 and a consequent advance in dress, furniture, and all the comforts and 
 conveniences of civilized life. It has been remarked by many, that the 
 fields of the Indians have never been kept in so good order, and man- 
 aged with so much industry, as for the two past years. At councils and 
 other large meetings, the Indians, especially in the Northern and West- 
 esn districts, appear comfortably and decently, and some of them richly
 
 39 
 
 dad. A great desire is manifested to obtain furniture for their houses ; 
 and some are already supplied in a manner not interior to that of new 
 settlers in our own country. 
 
 The result of a census taken in 1828, in the Northeast district, was 
 as follows, viz : population, 5,627, ; nett caltle, 11,661; horses, 3,974 ; 
 oxen, 112; hogs, 22,047 ; sheep, 136; spinning wheels, 530; looms, 
 124; ploughs, 360; wagons, 32 ; blacksmiths' shops, 7; coopers' 
 shops, 2 ; carpenters' shops, 2 ; white men with Choctaw families, 22 ; 
 schools, 5 ; scholars in a course of instruction, about 150. In one clan, 
 with a population of 313, who eight years ago were almost entirely 
 destitute of property, grossly intemperate, and roaming from place to 
 place, there are now 188 horses, 511 cattle, 853 hogs, 7 looms, 68 
 spinning wheels, 35 ploughs, 6 oxen, 1 school, and 20 or 25 scholars. 
 
 Some of their mechanical shops, and many of their tools, bear a poor 
 comparison with what we find in civilized lands, and would be consider- 
 ed of little use by those who have good oties; yet to these people they 
 are of great value. And it must excite pity in every one who looks 
 into their circumstances, to see them laboring to cultivate the soil, build 
 houses, manufacture cloth, and struggling to rise from their deep pover. 
 ty, by the aid of such miserable tools as many of them are obliged to 
 use. 
 
 The Northeast district, in 1828, appropriated $1,500 of their annuity 
 for the establishment and support of blacksmiths' shops. In 1829, they 
 appropriated their whole annuity to similar objects. As an evidence 
 of industry and public spirit^ I would mention that in one neighborhood 
 the natives have built a smiths' shop, chopped wood for a lurge coal 
 pit, and carried it on their backs to the place of setting ; have built a 
 house for their blacksmith, and cleared for him a field of twelve acres, 
 all with their own hands ; they have purchased with their annuity a set 
 of tools, and iron and steel to the amount of $200, and have engaged 
 to pay their smith $300 more annually for three years. Similar provi- 
 sion has been made for shops in other places. 
 
 Another evidence of the progress of improvement among the Choc- 
 taws, is the organization of a civil government. In 182fi a genera! 
 council was convened, at which a constitution was adopted, a,ud legisla- 
 tive powers were delegated to a national committee and council, whose 
 acts, when approved by the chiefs, became the supreme laws of the 
 land. I have now before me a manuscript code, containing 22 laws, 
 which have been enacted by the constituted authorities, an-3, so far as I 
 know, carried into complete execution. Among the subjects embraced 
 by these laws, are theft, murder, infanticide, marriage, polygamy, the 
 making of wills, and settling of estates, trespass, false testimony, what 
 shall be considered lawful enclosures around fields, &c. &c. 
 
 Another evidence of improvement we have in the abolishing of an- 
 cient and injurious customs: The erection of poles in honor of the 
 dead ; crying at these poles morning, noon and night, for weeks 
 and months ; large meetings for feasting, dancing, and intemperance, 
 when the poles are pulled down, have been fruitful sources of poverty 
 and licentiousness to the Choctaws. These practices, interwoven as 
 they were with the strongest prejudices and superstitions oi' the people, 
 have been abolished by an unanimous vote in a general council of the 
 Western district ; and they are fast going out of practice,-, or becoming
 
 40 
 
 greatly modified in the other parts of the nation. The killing of per- 
 sons for witchcraft, by which innocent blood has been shed, is now 
 hardly known. 
 
 A great desire for the education of their children furnishes another 
 proof of the advancement of the Choctaws Petitions are frequently made, 
 requesting the establishment of new schools. Numbers more have ap- 
 plied for admission to the boarding schools than could be received. 
 Nothing is now wanting but suitable persons and adequate; means to ex- 
 tend the advantages of education to all parts of the Choctaw nation. 
 
 The preaching of the Gospel has, within the two past years, been 
 attended with very happy effects. To its influence must be ascribed 
 much of that impulse which has recently been given to the progress of 
 civilization in the more favored parts of the nation. The light which 
 the Gospel has diffused, and the moral principles it has imparted to adult 
 Choctaws, have laid a foundation for stability and permanency in their 
 improvements. In this district, eighty-two natives, principally heads of 
 families, are members of the church. All these, with one exception, 
 have maintained a consistent Christian character, and would do honor to 
 any Christian community. 
 
 So far as relates to the suppression of intemperance, and the salutary 
 effects of the laws generally, the preceding remarks will apply, with few 
 exceptions, to the whole nation. The direct influence of the Gospel 
 and of schools is more limited in its effects, and, as yet, is principally 
 confined to those parts of the nation which have enjoyed the means of 
 instruction. But what has been effected in some parts of the nation, 
 proves what may be effected in all parts of it, by an application of the 
 same means. 
 
 I would not have it understood that there is no opposition among the 
 Choctaws to these measures of reform and civilization. In all commu- 
 nities, many are found, who, from ignorance, prejudice, or natural de- 
 pravity, are opposed to all effurts to reform or improve society. This 
 is especially to be looked for among a heathen people. All who are 
 slaves to whisky, and those who have lost their influence and authority 
 by intemperance, are ready on every occasion to encourage disturban- 
 ces, and, if possible, to bring about a revolution favorable to their wishes. 
 
 There is, however, little doubt, if the Choctaws are permitted to carry 
 on their plans of civilization and self-government, that the change, so 
 auspiciously commenced, will, in due time, and as fast as the means can 
 be furnished, be extended over the nation, and they at length become a 
 happy and enlightened people. 
 
 We look with trembling solicitude to the measures now in contempla- 
 tion, as in our apprehension the annihilation or salvation of the Choc- 
 taws will be involved in the issue. It is our earnest prayer, that, as a 
 nation, we may never forget our high and peculiar responsibility to the 
 Sovereign of the Universe, how we discharge the trust committed to us, 
 as the guardians of the Indians ; and that by our acts we may declare 
 to the world, in the language of the political Father of our Country, 
 that it is " worthy of a free, enlightened, and great nation, to give to 
 mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always 
 guided by an exalted justice and benevolence." 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 C. KJNGSBURY.
 
 41 
 
 P. S. The principal part of the preceding communication was prepay 
 ed some time since for publication. I now regret that a copy had not, 
 at that time, been forwarded to the War Department. I see no reason, 
 after the lapse of nearly a year, to make any material alteration in the 
 statements. I ought, however, to state, that an unprincipled white man, 
 anticipating what he supposed would soon be the unprotected state of 
 the Indian country, has recently introduced whisky into the nation, and 
 some mischief has been done by it. I am happy to learn that the agent 
 'fs determined to put a stop to such iniquitous proceedings. 
 
 Letter from Samuel A. Worcester, relating to the condition and 
 tion of the Indians. 
 
 NEW ECHOTA, CHEROKEE NATION, 
 
 March 15, 1830. 
 Mr. WM. S. GOODEY, Washington City. 
 
 Dear Sir: I cheerfully comply with your request, that I would for- 
 ward to you a statement respecting the progress of improvement among 
 your people, the Cherokees. Whatever might be said of the propriety 
 or impropriety of Missionaries discussing the question of the removal of 
 the Indians, it can hardly be doubted that it is proper for any one to 
 give a statement of what passes under his observation, in regard to the 
 present condition of the tribes interested in that question. I shall not 
 say any thing in this communication which I shall be unwilling to have 
 come before the public, accompanied with my proper signature, if occa- 
 sion require. 
 
 Whatever deficiencies there may be in my statements, I shall use my 
 utmost endeavor that nothing colored nothing which will not bear the 
 strictest scrutiny may find a place. 
 
 It may not be amiss to state, briefly, what opportunities I have en- 
 joyed of forming a judgment respecting the state of the Cherokee peo- 
 ple. It was four years last October since I came to the nation, during 
 which time I have made it my home, having resided two years at Brai- 
 nerd, and the remainder of the time at this place. Though I have not 
 spent very much of the time in travelling, yet I have visited almost 
 every part of the nation, except a section on the Northeast. Two an- 
 nual sessions of the General Council have passed while I have been re- 
 siding at the Seat of Government, at which times a great number of the 
 people of all classes and from all parts are to be seen. 
 
 The statistical information which has been published respecting this 
 nation I hope you have en hand, or will receive from some other source ; 
 it goes far towards giving a correct view of the state of the people. I 
 have only to say, that, judging from what I see around me, I believe that 
 a similar enumeration made the present year would show, by the com- 
 parison, a rapid improvement since the census was taken. 
 
 The printed constitution and laws of your nation, also, you doubtless 
 have. They show your progress in civil polity. As far as my know- 
 ledge extends they are executed with a good degree of efficiency, and 
 their execution meets with not the least hindrance from any thing like a 
 spirit of insubordination among the people. Oaths are constantly ad- 
 6
 
 42 
 
 ministered in the courts of justice, and I believe I have never heard of 
 an instance of perjury* 
 
 It has been well observed by others, that the progress of a people in 
 civilization is to be determined by comparing the present with the past. 
 1 c-ui only compare what 1 see with what I am told has been. 
 
 The present principal chief is about forty years of age. When he 
 he was a b'y, his father procured him a good suit of clothes, in the 
 fashion of the sons of civilized people ; but he was so ridiculed by his 
 mates as a white boy, that he took o(F his n?w suit, and refused to wear 
 it. The editor of the Cherokee Phoenix is twenty-seven years old. He 
 well remembers that he felt awkward and ashamed of his singularity, 
 when he began to wear the dress of a white boy. Note every boy is 
 proud of a civilized suit, and those feel awkward and ashamed of their 
 singularity who are destitute of it. At the last session of the General 
 Council, I scarcely recollect having seen any members who were not 
 clothed in the same manner as the white inhabitants of the neighboring 
 States ; and those very few (I am informed that the precise number was 
 four) who were partially clothed in Indian style were, nevertheless, very 
 decently attired. The dress of civilized people is general throughout 
 the nation. I have seen, I believe, only one Cherokee woman, and she 
 an aged woman, away from her home, who was not clothed in at least 
 a decent long gown. At home, only one, a very aged woman, who ap- 
 peared willing to be seen in original native dress ; three or four, only, 
 who had at their own IIOUSPS dressed themselves in Indian style, but hid 
 themselves with sluime at the approach of a stranger. I am thus parti- 
 cular, because particularity gives more accurate ideas than general state- 
 ments. Among the elderly men there is yet a considerable portion, I 
 dare not say whether a majority or a minority, who retain the Indian 
 dress in part. The younger men almost all dress like the whites around 
 them, except that the greater number wear a turban instead of a hat, 
 find in cold weather a blanket frequently serves for a cloak. -Cloaks, 
 however, are becoming common. There yet remains room for im- 
 provement in dress, but that improvement is making with surprising ra- 
 pid ity 
 
 The arts of spinning and weaving, the Cherokee women, generally, 
 put in practice. Most of their garments are of their own spinning and 
 weaving, from cotton, the produce of their own fields ; though conside- 
 rable Northern domestic, and much calicoe is worn, nor is silk uncom- 
 mon. Numbers of the men wear imported cloths, broadcloths, &c. and 
 many wear mixed cotton and wool, the manufacture of their wives; but 
 tbe greater part are clothed principally in cotton. 
 
 Except in the arts of spinning and weaving, but little progress has 
 been made in manufactures. A few Cherokees, however, are mechanics. 
 
 Agriculture is the principal employment and support of the people. It 
 is the dependence of almost every family. As to the wandering part of 
 the people, who live by the chase, if they are to be found in the nation, 
 1 certainly have not found them, nor even heard of them, except from 
 the floor of Congress, and other distant sources of information. I do 
 not know of a single family who depend, in any considerable degree, on 
 game for a support. It is true that deer and turkeys are frequently kil- 
 led, but not in sufficient numbers to form any dependence as the 
 means of subsistence. The land is cultivated with very different de-t
 
 43 
 
 grees of industry ; but I believe that few fail of an adequate supply of 
 food. The ground is uniformly cultivated by means of the plough, and 
 not, as formerly, by the hoe only. 
 
 The houses of the Cherokees are of all sorts ; from an elegant paint- 
 ed or brick mansion, down to a very mean log cabin. If we speak, 
 however, of the mass of the people, they live in comfortable log houses, 
 generally one story high, but frequently two ; sometimes of hewn logs, 
 and sometimes unhewn ; commonly with a wooden chimney, and a 
 floor of puncheons, or what a New England man would call slabs. 
 Their houses are not generally well furnished ; many have scarcely 
 any furniture, though a few are furnished even elegantly, and many 
 decently. Improvement in ihe furniture of their houses appears to 
 follow after improvement in dress, but at present is making rapid pro- 
 gress. 
 
 As to education, the number who can read and write English is con 
 siderable, though it bears but a moderate proportion to the whole popu- 
 lation. Among sucb, the degree of improvement and intelligence is 
 various. The Cherokee language, as far as I can judge, is read and 
 written by a large majority of those between childhood and middle age. 
 Only a few who are much beyond middle age have learned. 
 
 lu regard to the progress of religion, I cannot, I suppose, do better 
 than to state, as nearly as I am able, the number of members in the 
 churches of the several denominations. The whole number of native 
 members of the Presbyterian churcrues is not far from 180. In the 
 churches of the United Brethren are about 54. In the Baptist churches 
 I do not know the number ; probably as many as 50. The Metho- 
 dists, I believe, reckon in society more than 800; of whom I suppose 
 the greater part are natives. Many of the heathenish Customs of the 
 people have gone entirely, or almost entirely, into disuse, and others 
 arc fast following their steps. I believe the greater part of the people 
 acknowledge the Christian religion to be the true religion, although 
 many who make this acknowledgment know very little of that religion ; 
 and many others do not feel its power. Through the blessing of our 
 God, however, religion is steadily gaining ground. 
 
 But it will be asked, is the improvement which has been described 
 general among the people, and are the full blooded Indians civilized, or only 
 the half breeds ? I answer, that in the description which I have given, I 
 have spoken of the mass of the people without distinction. If it be ask- 
 ed, however, what class are most advanced I answer, as a general 
 thing, those of mixed blood. They have taken the lead, although some 
 of the fall blood are as refined as any. But though those of mixed 
 blood are generally in the van, as might naturally be expected, yet the 
 whole mass of the people is on the march. 
 
 There is one other subject, on which I think it due to justice to give 
 my testimony, whatever it may be worth. Whether the Cherokees are 
 wise in desiring to remain here or not, I express no opinion. But 
 it is certainly just, that it should be known whether or not they do, as a 
 body, wish to remain. It is not possible for a person to dwell among 
 them without hearing much on the subject. I have heard much, It is 
 said abroad, that the common people would gladly remove, but are de- 
 terred by the chiefs, and a few other influential men. It is not so. 1 
 eay, with the utmosl assurance, it is not so. Nothing is plainer than thaf
 
 44 
 
 it is the earnest xvish-'of the whole body of ihe people to remain where 
 they are. Thffy are not ov'-rawed by the chiefs. Individuals may be 
 overaw. d by popular opinion, but not by the chiefs. On the oiher 
 han'l, if there were a chief in favor of removal, he would be overawed 
 by the people. He would know that he could not open his mouth in fa- 
 vor of such a proposition, but on pain, not only of the failure of his re- 
 flection, but of popular odium and scorn.. The whole tide of national 
 feeling sets, in one strong and unbroken current, against a removal to 
 the West. 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 SAMUEL A, WORCESTER.
 
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