Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About The Washington news. (Washington, Ga.) 1821-183? | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1824)
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,
