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was fell in relation to those numer- ‘
<>9 and powerful tribe*, and, al-
all. except the Creeks, re
gained at peanr, it is believed there
“'•.•*9 a strong tendency towards hns
trlitv amnntj some of the other tribes.
The Creeks enmtnenced hostility at
:• erifieal period of the war, and
treated a powerful diversion of our
• esourees, both of men anti money;
hut, hr a vigorous prosecution of
the war, they were reduced,
inanvand severe losses. The trea
ty of Jtt kson followed. They
v* ere a conquered people, an<l treat
ed as such; arid sueh term* were
imposed as considerations of public
policy dictated.
The advantage that would remit
jy separating those powerful south
er) tribes from one another, and
Tiim the territory of Florida, at
hat time a foreign province, were
jinong the most obvious dictates of
p li.*y, as it would effectually guard
pgainst the possible future eombina-
Ji.ni of those tribes, and prevent the
:i hility to hostility, which almost
“invariably results from the inter
course of Indian tribes with a for
eign territory. The Cheek Indians
\cre required to make the cession
* f lands to the 11. States, in sue Is
manner as to effect those import
., t objects; and, accordingly, (he
United States acquired a large reg
ion in what is now the s*ate of Al
abama, which separated the (’reeks
:v and Cherokees from (he Chickasaws
and Choctaws; nod a cession, in the
a til hern part of Georgia, which
separated the Creeks from the pro
vince of Florida.
It was nut conceived that there
was any thing in the s ipulation of
the convention with Georgia, which
prevented the United States from
pursuing those views of national
policy, The obligation of the Uni
ted States extends only to purchase
of lands within the limits of Geor
gin, so sw*fl as it oou'd he and me up
on *‘pe ,cpaM’ & reasonable terms ”
The. hods we e acquired by con
q esf, and not by purchase, which
left the nati n at liberty to pursue
?bo*e views of poll y which have
beens'a'ed, and which, it is believ
ed, has tended strongly to give se
curity and strength to the most vul
nerable portion of the country.
I nothing i,e treaties of 117
and 1819, it may be proper to pre
mine, that, as far back as the year
480*, a delegation from the ( hero
kee nation, then at the sent of Gov
ernment, were informed by Mr.
Jefferson, if the Cherokees, or any
portion of them, thought proper to
emigrate to the Arkansas, they
should receive as much land as they
wereenlitied to inproportiontotheir
numbers, on the east of the Missis
sippi. Under the sanction of this
premise, and tempted by the abun
dance of game, emigration oontinu
cd from the Cherokee nation, in
small parfie*. to the * ckansas, un
lit 1817. The number being then
considerable, a commission was con
stituted to teat will) the Cherokee
nation, on the basis of the arraign
siient made by Mr. J> fferson, which
Was followed by the treaty of the
stli July, IBJ7, which, among oth
er things, stipulated that a . eusus
of the lieci kee nation should he
taken in June following. anti Mi t a
po ioo of the country should he ee
th dto the United Slates. <qual to
that which those who emigrated to
the Arkansas were entitled to; that
is to say, it it was found that one
third had emigrated, one-third of
the territory should he ceded, and
so in any other proportion, accord
ing to the number that should emi
grate.- To carry the treaty into ef
fect, Congress appropriated, by the
act of the 20- h Ap* if, 1818, the sum
of 880,000, in order to defray the
expenses (hat might be attendant oo
the emigration of the Cherokees to
the Arkansas; and Joseph MMion,
Ksq. llieo Governor of Tennessee,
Was appointed agent to carry the
lain efFatit. Ii wuj
however, impossible to lake the
census as proposed by the treaty, in
June, and various causes delayed
its final execution till the beginning
©f the year 4819. In (lie mean
time, the emigration of the Chero
kees Was incessantly urged by ail
the iu possession of the. gov
ernment.
It was (lie desire of the Govern
ment that the whole nation sStouid
emigrate, under the belief that it
W ould he better for the lrulinns, as
well r.s orselves; and nt effort, on
the part of the Government, was
l.!t untried, tt it-duee them to em
igrate. \ large portion of the na
tiiWf however, were so dtviuetiJy
opposed to it, that it was found irti- )
possible to earry this policy of the
Government into effecl.
The appropriation being fi ally
exhausted, a delegation of the Cher
okee nation was permitted to visit \
the seat of government, in 1819. in \
order to close the trea'y of 1817. 1
It was ascertained that about one
third part of the nation had emigra
ted, or enrolled to emigrate, to the
Arkansas; and the delegation pro
posed to treat upon that basis, which
was acceded to. It o?.ly remained
to fix on the portion of territory to
he ceded. With the view of throw
ing the land to be ceded within the
I limits of Georgia, and to separate
the Creek and Cherokee nations,
the government pm posed, that ail
the lands lying south and east of
Ffowah, one of the main branches
of the Coosa river, should he ced
ed by *he Cherokees; but it was
found impossible to induce the dele
gation to yield to that proposition,
or to any other, more favorable to
Georgia, than that which was adop
ted. They were fixed in theis* de
termination, particularly, not to he
separated from the Creek nation,
by an intervening white population,
and to cover their northern bou t- j
dary by the Tennessee river, which
necessarily threw the cession, made j
by the treaty, into Alabama, Ten- 1
nessec, and North Carolina, as well !
as Georgia. Since the treaty of
1819, two attempts have been made, ■
under appropriations of Congress,
toopen a negoeiation with (he Cher
okee nation, for further cession,
both of which have proved abortive.
During the present winter, a de- ;
legation, of ?he principal chiefs of :
the Cherokee nation, v si:ed thes a !
of government, and the ppoc(uni
ty was seized <o tidke known to
them the sentiments of the Govern
ment, upon the subject of addition
al cessions, i*t order to fulfil the
stipulation of the convention with
Georgia.
It cannot he doubted, that much
of the difficulty of acquiring addi
tional cessions from the Cherokee
nation, and the other Southern
tribes, rebel's from their growing
civilization and knowledge, by which
they have learned to plae :j higher
value upen their lands than more
rude and savage tribes. Mary can
ses have contributed to place them
higher in the scale of civilization
than other Indians within our limit*.
Lying in large masses, they do not
fee! that depression, whi* h is inva
riahly fell by small isn<l detached
tribes it) the neighborhood of (he
whites. In addition to which, we
may add the genial nature of their
climate, w hich enables them to pass
mare readily from the Hunter to
the Herdsman stale; and the fertil
ity of their soil, and the value of
their staple articles, particularly
cotton. To these, however, must
he added the humane and benevo
lent policy of the government, which
has ever directed a fostering care
to the Indians within our limits.
This policy is a* old as the govern
ment itself; and ha been habitually
and strongly extended to the Cher
okee nation,
Bv the. 1 Mil article f ?be treaty
of'Holston. in the yen’- 1791, it j*
stipulated, “that the Ciicr kee na
tion may he led to a greater degree
of civilization, ad to become bet ds
men and cuitivalors, instead of re
maining in a state of hunters, the
United States will, from time to
time, furnish, gratuitously, the said
nation with useful implements of
husbandry; a-J, further to assist
1 the said nation in so desirable a
pursuit, and, at the same time, to
establish a certain mode of C'limuu-
Di alion, the U. S. will send such
and so many persons to reside in
said nation, as they nay judge pro
per, not exceeding four in number,
who shall qualify themselves to act
as interpreters. These persons shall
have lands assigned by the Chero
koes, for euitivaiioi), for them
selves, and their successors in of
fice; bui they shall be precluded ex
ercising a-y kind of traffic.”
In conformity 10 the provisions of
this article, the various utensils of
husbandry have been abundantly and
constantly distributed to the Chero
kee nation, whi h has resulted in
creating a taste for farming, and
the comforts of civilized life, Phis
humane policy of the government, (
since the termination of the late war,
has taken, in some degree, anew !
direction. Certain benevolent so- !
eieties, in the year 1816, applied
for perniissiiO to make establish
ments among the Cherokees, and
other Souiheru tribes, for the pur-
pose of educating and instructing
them in the arts of civilized life.
The experiment proved so favora
ble that Congress, by the act of 3d
March, 1819. appropriaed 19,000
dollars, annually, as a Civilization
Fund, which has'been applied in
such a manner as very considerably
to increase the ex'eni and useful
nei of the efforts of benevolent in
dividuals, and to advance the work
of Indian civilization.
In performing the high duties of
humanity to the wretched aborig
ines of our country, it has never
been conceived, that the stipulation
of the convention with Georgia, to
extinguish the Indian title within
her limits, was contravened. The
Government has been actuated by a
desire to perform the obligation,
which considerations of humanity
imposed on us, in relation to these
unfortunate people. Their situa
tion, at best, is wretched, and can
only he rendered tolerable, by the
perpetual exercise of that humanity,
kindness, and justice, which has e
ver characterized Mm acta of the
goverunie it, towards them.
I have she U mor to he, very re
spectfully, sir, your obedient serv’t.
J. C. CALHOUN.
) To the President of the U, Staten,
j [ Vccocnpinving’ this Report, are nearly a
j hundred patfes of documentary nutter, from
1 which die following is selected as pre-enung
1 the vien of the subject which is errertained
by :he Represent* ives of ihe S.aieof Geou
( Gl 4 j
To iha President of {he United States.’
The Secretary of War has addres
sed to the gentlemen composing the
Georgia delegation to Cos - gross, co
! pies of the extraordinary documents
; furnished by persons who are called
the f'herokee Delegation, As this is
believed t > he the fir*l instance iu
which a diplomatic correspondence
has been held with Indian t'hiifs,
and in which they have been ad
dressed by the Department of War
in the game terms wi ll those u*ed
to the Representation of a State, it
beenines a subject of i* qmry in what
lijji'f tlie Cherokees are at present
viewed by the Government of the
United States, If as an indepe and
cot nation, <0 be treated with fiy ail
the forms of diplomatic respect, the
negoeiation with them should be
transferred to the Department of
Slate, and will, no doubt, he pre
ceded hv a proper examioa'ion into
their authority to speak for the
Cherokee tribe, on matters affect
ing its prosperity and existence. If
to te viewed as other Indians ; as
persons suffered to reside within the
territorial limits of the U. States,
and subject to every restraint which
the policy and power of (he general
governme it require to be imposed
upon them, t*or the interest <if the
Uuion, the interest of a particular
state, and their own preservation,
it is necessary that these misguided
met* should be taught by the gener
al government that there is no alter
native he?ween their removal be
| yo id the limits of the state of Ge>r
gia and hcir extinction. The gov
elMment of the U. S. will deceive
them g” sly if they are led to be
lieve that, at this day, their con
sent is necessary to the fulfiment of
its obligations to the sate of Geor
gh*. Their will must yield to the
paramount duties of the general go
vernment to itself and to each mem
bev of the confederacy. The Ctier
| okees allege (if, indeed, the repre
stnfation made is made with their
! authority) that they are resolved
; neither to leave nor sell the lands on
; which they reside—lands which be
long to the state of Georgia; over
which Georgia did elaioi sovereign
ty until the adoption of the federal
constitution, and over which she
will exercise her powers whenever
any administration of the general
government resolves to fix perma
nently upon them any persons who
are not , and whom she will never
suffer to become, her citizens. The
1 doctrines of the general government,
sanctioned by the highest tribunals,
vindicate the claim of Georgia to
the ownership of the soil. ‘The In
| dians are simply occupants —tenants
; at will—incapable of transferring
even their naked possession, except
through the instrumentality of the
;U. S. t > the state of Georgia. A
-1 w ire of the tenure by which their
temporary possession is held, their
head men have sought, in many in
i stances, to secure from the U S. a
title to the soil itself. Stipulations
have been entered into by the general
! government equal y contradictory to
the rights of Georgia, and the ob iga
tions of the U S ; stipulations, how
ever, which thew that the genera!
government, have the acknowledged
right to transfer the possession of the
Cherokee lands to the state of Geor
gia. The power which takes from
the Cherokee tribe a portion of soil
to confer it on a Cherokee chief, un
der a different tenure, can rightfully
take from the Cherokee nation for the
benefit of a tate.
It is with deep concern that the ne
cessity is felt of pressing upon the
general government the considera
tions that are due to its character for
good fath in its contracts with a mem
ber of the Union feinee the year
1802, implicit reliance has been pla
ced in the general government; and
the just expectation has been indulg
ed that, in the execution of its high
duties, the Executive administration
would carefully and steadily pursue
the object for which the faith of the
Union was pledged—the peaceable
extinguishment , oh reasonable terms ,
of the Indian title to all the lands
within the territorial limits of Geor
gia. In 1817, the public declaration
of the President to Congress, that an
arrangement had been made,by which,
in e change for lands beyond the
Mississippi, a great park if not the
whole, of the lands posses ed by the
Cherokee tribe eastward cf that river
in the stare> ot North Carolina. Ten
nessee, and Georgia, and in the ter
ritory of Alabama would be soon ac
qj-ied, gave aju t expectation that
tne national p edge g ven to Georgia
would be redeemed Iu the eight
years which have succeeded, these
anticipations of the President have
been realized every where but in Ge
orgia. The successive purchases
made, since that period have crow
ded the Cherokees ou ? of Tennessee,
J North Carolina, and vlabama, al
j most altogether into Georgia: and the
terms upon which they have been
made, have created all the difficulties
now encountered in the peacef ul ac
{ qninitwn, on reasmuble trims, of
| the land - upon which the Cherokees
| are now permitted to remain; diffi
I cultie* which are every hour increas
ing, from the policy pursued by the
j general government
It is with all due respect a subject
j of serious inquiry what produced the
j extraordinary change in the wishes
j of the Cherokee tribe, as espres ed
.in the treaty of 1817? How it hap
pened that the Cherokee* of the up
per towns. mo:tof whom were with
out the limits of Georgia, and who
desired to be permanently fixed on
the lands upon which they then lived,
were ind ;ced> in 1819. to abandon
their design--, and many of them to
become inhabitants of the region be
yond the Missis-ippi, while the Cher
okees of the lower town* (most of
them within the state of Georgia,)
anxiously desiring to remove in 1817,
were, in 1819, tempted to remain,
and filled with the de ire of a perma
nent establi hment there? The same
exertions which produced this, can
effect another change; can induce
the remnant still in the limits of Geor
gia, to follow their brethren to the
West, to a territory which the gene
ral government can rightful 1 } be tow
upon them as a temporary or perma
nent property, without interfering
with the right or encroaching upon
the overeignty of any state. A rgu
rnent is not nece sary to show, that
| a power which interposes obstacle- to
the accomplishment of it* own prom
ise • violates is faith; and that, to
plead the impossibility to perform an
1 engagement, when that impossibility
j is produced by those who engaged to
j perform it, would be equally dUhon
orable and hypocritical. The Presi
dent is probabiy not aware that the U.
States will be iab e to such accu a
tions if the present moment is suffer
ed to pas without a fuk compliance
on their part, with the obligation* of
the tre ty of ces*ion of 1802 What
’ ha created the strong desire of the
I Cherokee Indians to remain wh* re
they are? The policy of the general
government; the pretended guarantees
of their pos e the attempted
changes in the na ure of their tit es to
them; the le on * received from their
master- in the arts of civi ized fife;
the acquisition of property and thede
sire of extending and securing it; a
policy jut and generous to the Indi
an*, but solely a the expense of a
member of the Union, at war, not less
with the rights of that member of the
Union, than with the solemn promis
es of the general govment. The U. 8.
have the same right to colonize a tribe
of Indians from the Columbia or Red
River, in Georgia as they have to
pu sue a system of policy who-e aim
or end shall be the permanency of the
Cherokee? within that state,
j If the Cherokees are unwilling to
. remove the causes of that unwilling,
new are to be traced to the U. ctales.
If a peaceable purchase cannot he
made in the ordinary mode, nothing
remains to be done but to Older their
remova- to a designated territory be
yond the limits of Georgia, and gir
ing an ample for the ter
ritory ie t by (hem, and an ample
support to the territory granted to
them. An order of thi* kind wi ! l
not be di-regarded by the Cherokee
tribe, whose interest will be essenti
ally promoted by a compliance with
it, (whatever may be the effect of it
upon a few chief men, who seem to
consider their own interest as sepa
rate and distinct from that of their
brethren,) as it must be obvious that
a tranquil and undisturbed
of a permanent property can alone en
able them <0 acquire the arts of civil
ized life, and to xecure to them its
benefits.
Our duty is performed by remotL
1 strating against the policy heretofoi?
! pursued, by which the interests of
Georgia have been disregarded, to
the accomplishment of other objects
of general intere t; and a comp iance
with a ,o!err.n promise po-tponed, for
the acquisition of territory for the
genera government; and by insisting ,
as we do, most earnestly, upon an
! immediate fulfilment of the obliga*
• tions of the articles of cession con
cluded in 1802, as the only means by
which justice can be done to the tate
we rept eent, and the character of ths
general government be vindicated. f
J- Flliot, I
Nicholas Ware, J sjocatcri *
Joel Vbbot, \
GeougeUaky, # .
Thom.s W, Uobb 5*3
A. UTHBEIIT, / ® S
Johv FoKsYTH, \ *£■
\\ ilk y Thompson / ‘
The following extract from ak
editorial article iu the Mobile Reg
ister of the 23(J ult. throws tome
light on the affairs of the Cherokee
nation of Indians. ‘This however,
we w ill remark ; —if ever the Chiefu
of that nation intended to present;
the alternative of an acknowledge*
meat of their independent, or a
sale of their territory to the United
States government, thev have at yet
; performed but halftheir duty. They
have urged the acknowledgement of
their independence, but hav* ref used
to sell their lands. It remains to
be explained why they have disre
garded the positive instructions of
Hicks. Geo, Journal,
“ We further learn, that Hicks.
the principal Chief of the Chrro-
Kebs, accompanied by thirteen oth
er Chiefs, started a few weeks since
as commissioners to Washington
City for the purpose of procuring
an acknowledgement of their inde
pendence as a nation, or of selling
their whole territory. Hicks, how
ever, was laboring under the pain
of a while swelliog, and became so
very ill, that he was under the ne
cessity of returning, but gave strict
and positive instructions to the other
Chiefs, either to bring home an ac
j knewledgement of their National
Independence , or to negotiate a trans
! fer ; therefore it is probable (hat a
portion of their country will shortly
be added to this state.”
From the National Advocate,
STATU NOMINATION.
We congratulate the Democratio
party on the following nomination
for Governor and Lieut. Governor.
The number of demooratio members
present, and the unanimity which
prevailed, is the harbinger of safety
to the party, aod cannot but blast
the hopes of its enemies.
We have never contended for mens
The safety of the democratio party,
and its systems are what we havo
endeavoured uniformly to promote.
We therefore give the nomination
of Samuel Young for Governor, aod
Erastus Root for Lient. Governor,
our most cordial support, white at
the same time we beg leave to con
cur fully in the honourable mention
which our friends of the Albany Ar
gus have made of Governor Yates 5
it may emphatically be said “ he is
an honest man,” ever cousistont ia
his democratic principles, and faith
ful to the party.
ALBANY ARGUS—Extra.
Saturday, April 3.
At an adjourned meeting of the
republican members of the Senate
aud Assembly, conveued at the Cap
itol, on Friday the 2d April, 1824,
Hon. WALTER BOWNE, (of the
Senate) Chairman, and JAMES
MULLETT, Esq. (of the Assem
bly) Secretary.
One hundred and six members of
both houses attended, At the first
balloting,