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nation to another Utiles9 explained
anil limited, it conreys the right of
sovereignty. Thus, in cessions of
small portions of land to the General
Government, for Navy Yards, &c.
the several Slates are in the practice
of reserving certain rights; audit as
the right of entering to apprehend
• ’to?
CHEROKElS PHOENIX AND INDIANS’ ADVOCATE.
‘. r'/-v
■IV
‘
m
criminals, &c. implying that the word
cede would, ex ti termini, convey to
the General Government all the
rights of sovereignty. But no party
can convey what it does not possess;
and it would have been absurd for the
United States to ask and accept a
Cession without admitting that the
Cherokees had power to make one.—
This artiple expressly declares that
the agreement was entered into, the
cessions made, and the compensation
given “to extinguish forever all
claims of the Cherokee'nation” to the
lands thus ceded. The Cherokees
are acknowledged, then, ;to have
had claims, not cancelled by War, not
•wept a way by the superior force of
the Uuited States, never before sur
rendered: claims which the solemn
•auction of treaties was deemed neces
sary to extinguish.
“Art. 5. It is stipulated and a-
greed that the citizens and inhabit
ants of the United States shall have a
free and unmolested use of a road
from Washington district to Mero dis
trict, and the navigation of the Ten
nessee river.”
This is another very curious pro
vision, if wo arc to believe that the
Chorokees are merely tenants at will,
and the people of the United Stntes
the rightful owners. But upon the
only tenable ground, viz. that the
Cherokees had a perfect title to the
•oil, with undoubted sovereignty over
it, the article is intelligible and rea
sonable. The people of the United
States wanted a free passage through
. * particular part of the Cherokee
territory; and, as the parties now sus
tained amicable relations, such a
passage was granted by a treaty stip
ulation.
“Art. 6. It is agreed on the part
of the Cherokees, (bat the United
States shall have the sole and exclu
sive right of regulating their trade.”
By the Constitution of the United
uiale commerce “with the Indian
tubes.” This policy had been pur
sued in the treaty of Hopewell, and
was doubtless chosen wisely, and
with a view to benefit the Indians.—
It was not binding upon them, how
ever, till they voluntarily consented
to it.
“Art. 7. The United States sol
emnly guarantee to the Cherokee na
tion all their lands not hereby ceded.”
This is the most important article
»n the treaty. The Cherokees had
yielded some important rights. They
had agreed not to treat with any for
eign Powerj They had committed
the regulation of their trade to the
United States. They had admitted
the United States to participate in
the navigation of the Tennessee; and
had granted a free passage through a
certain part of their country to the
citizens of Jhe United Stales. They
had ceded a portion, though not a ve
ry important one, of their territory.
• Pie other hand, the United
States engaged to protect the Chero
kees, to promote theif civilization,
as will hereafter be seem, and espe
cially to guaranty the integrity and in
violability of their territory. Jo a
world lull of outrage, fraud, and vio
lence, it it a good advantage for a
Weak State to obtain a solemn guar
anty of a powerful neighbor, that its
rights and sovereignty shall be safe.
All this is implied by guaranty. The
Uuited States solemnly engaged to
preserve and defend tbe Cherokees
against all foreign Powers, (a colony
of Spain being then in the neighbor
hood) against the States of Georgia
and North Carolina, against the Uni
ted States iu their confederate ca
pacity, and against all whites who
should commit aggressions upon the
Cherokees. ‘ • ' -
The word guaranty can mean no
less, unless limited by the subject or
context. ^ If Bonaparte guarantees
Me integrity of Switterland, he enga
ges to defend & preserve Switzerland
from aggression & invasion, whether the
danger arises from Austria, Prussia,
or even France itself. It is
word to
States the Cherokees have relied,
With unshaken constancy, since the
year 1791. Within a few months
their confidence hap boen shaken; artd
they are now in a state cS great Soli
citude and anxiety. It vemsms to he
seen whether a treaty will bind the
United States to a weak and depend
ent ally, or whether force is to be^tBe
only arbiter in the case.
WILLIAM PENN.
NO. VII.
In the article of guaranty, which
was the subject of discussion in mj
last number, the country of tne Chon-
•okee nation is called “th~ir lands ”
an expression utterly at variance with
the notion, that the lands belonged to
tbe whites. Indeed, the recent inter-
r relation of our compacts with the
ndians, does great violence to the or
dinary rules of language. The sev
enth article is short, and will bear re
peating. It reads thus. “The Uni
ted States SOLEMNLY GUAR
ANTY TO THE ChEROKEE/NaTION,
ALL THEIR LANDS no? hereby
ceded.” This seems to be, upon
the face of it, a plain sentence. A
man of moderate information would at
least suppose himself to understand it.
He would not suspect that there wiu
a secret, recondite meaning, altogeth
er incompatible with the apparent
one. But it seems that there was
such a meaning. How it was discov
ered, or by whom, (he public are not
informed. The present Secretary of
War, however, has lately adopted it,
and urged it upon the Cherokees as
decisive of the whole question at is
sue. The true meaning of the article,
then, as explained by a public func
tionary thirty-eight years afletf it Was
made, would have been accurately
expressed as follows: “TAe United
States solemnly declare that the Chero
kee Indians have no right nor title to any
lands within the territory of the United
States, as fixed by the treaty of 1783;
but the United States permit the Chtro-
kces to remain on the lands of North
Carolina, South Carolina, aild Geor
gia, (South and West of the above de
scribed boundary) until the said States
shall take possession of the same.”
This is the guaranty of the Chero
kee country! It is certainly the intCF.*
pretation of the Secretary of War.
How would other treaties bear a simi-
lar explanation? The netvspapets
tell us, that Russia, Great Britain,
and r i nnce, have engaged to guaranty
the territory of Greece within certain
limits. Docs this mean that tbe
creeks are to be„permitted to live,
tor the present, on lands which belon-
to the lurks; but that the Turks?
whenever they please, may lake pos
session of their own lands, and massa
cre the Greeks?
/A 1 ? e „r Federal Constitution mys
^u r n V ’ Sec ‘ 4 ') “ Thft United State
shall guaranty to every State in this
Union, a Republican form of govern
ment; the true meaning of which may
. a I , P ear t0 ^e ns follows:
The United States shall permit each
State to have a Rehuhlican form of
government for the present; and until
a monarchical form of government shall
bejmppsed upon the people there-
The true meaning of an instrument
is that which was in the minds of the
parties, at the lime of signing
Can the Secretary of War prove
that General Washington understood
the treaty of Holston, according to the
explaoatjon now given? Can he prove
that the Cherokee chiefs and war
riors understood it in the same man
ner? Surely he would not have it
signed and ratified in one sense, and
carried into effect in a totally differ
ent and opposite sense. He must
therefore suppose, that the Cherokees
intended to admit that they had no
th?v f ° ,i th * ? 0VVn Iandi ’’ and that
they stood ready to remove whenever
requested. But he must allow, that
ir this were the meaning of the par-
" 08 v © r 7 strangely expressed;
and however sincerely be may entcr-
■ Not to dwell longer on the words of
the article, is it credible that the
Cherokees would have signed a treaty
in the year 1791, if they had been
plainly told that the United Stales did
not acknowledge them as a seperate
people; that they had no rights, nor
any lands; that they lived upon their
ancient hunting grounds by tbe per
mission of the whitoe; and that, when
ever the whites-required it, they must
remove beyond the Mississippi? At
that very moment the Cherokees felt
strong. They and the neighboring
tribes could collect a formidable force.
They had an illimitable forest in ivhich
to range, with many parts of which
they were perfectly acquainted.
They could have driven in the white
settlers, on a line of more than 500
miles in extent. Many a Braddock’s
field, many a St. Clair’s defeat, many
bottle of Tippacanoe, would have
I • J «i«*T CIULT*
tain the newly discovered opinion as
io tne meaning, he mav mill u
-~W' , ho s,in fin< l
wrin^i ? , d, ® cu . lt t t0 convince the
world that lie is right.
Wil! the Secretary of War guaran.
ty his country against any loss of char
acter, as a consequence of adopting
1,8 interpretation? Whom will he
?” [ or *Pon*ors and compurgators?
Can he engage that impartial end dU-
interesied men will be satisfied?
And if they will not, or if there is
* t |i ey. will not. could he
been witnessed, before they could
have been expelled from their swamps
and their mountains, their open woods
and their impervious cane brakes,
and fairly dislodged from the wide
regions on this side of the Mississip
pi.
The people of the United States
wanted a peace. We invited the
Cherokees to lay down their arms.
We spoke kindly to them; called
them our brothers, at tho beginning of
every sentence; treated them as e-
quals; spoke largely of our future
kindness and friendship; and shall we
now—(I speak to the People of the
United States at large)—shall we
now hesitate to acknowledge the full
force of the obligations by which we
hound ourselves? • Having, in the
days of our weakness, and at our own
instance, obtained a peace for our
own benefit, shall we now, merely be
cause ho human powor can oppose an
array of bayonets, sot aside the fun
damental article without which no
treaty could have been made?
But I must proceed with other parts
of tbe compact.
Art. 8. If any person, not an In
dian, shall settle on any of the Chero
kees' lands, he shall forfeit the pro
tection of the United States, and the
Cherokees may punish him.
Art. 9. No citizen of the United
States shall attempt to hunt on the
lands of the Cherokees; nor shall
an r , such citizen go into t' ‘V,: * 1 /
* • -K‘"»e Cherokee
country wihiout 'a ;\'<ssport from the
Governor ot. Slale, or Territory, „r
such other person as the President of
the United States may authorize to
grant the same.
Arts. 10 II. Reciprocal engage
ments, in regard to the dcliveiy and
punishment of criminals.
Art. 12. No retaliation or repri-
JWfPf injury, till after satis-
refused ‘ “ ‘ aVe been dema '>ded and
Art, 1$. The Cherokees to give
notice of any hostile designs.
Art. 14. That the Cherokee
Nation inay be led to a greater degree
of Civilization, and to become herds-
men and cultivators, instead of re
maining in a state of hunters, the
United States will from time to time,
H? ,sb ’ ^atuilously, the said Nation
'?*, ‘mplements of husbandry;
and further to assist the nation in so
desirab'e a pursuit, and at the same
tune to establish a certain mode of
communication, the United State,
vull send such and so many persons to
reside in said nation as they may judge
proper, notexceding four in number!
who shall qualify themselves toact as
interpreters. These persons shall
have i a „d ? assigned by the Cherokee,
or cultivation for themselves nnd
their succfcssors in-office; but they
shall he piecluded from exercising any
kind of traffic.” gaD "
„ } 5 * AI1 ani mosities to cease,
faith ^ ,rea y 10 bcexeculed in good
Art. 16. The treaty to take ef
fect, as soon as ratified, by the P, e ,|.
ft* t 1 ’®, United State., with
late dV,0e and C ° nSent ** tbe Se *
ofTh w^-^if
l p n,tcd by William
& ’r^ Ver r?ff the territory
Sonlh of the Ohio, and by forty-one
a?** | - «o r Lr.
half of the Cherokee Nation; and was
afterwards duly ratified by the Presi
dent and Senate.
A few remarks seem to he demand-
f d Z 8 ® ver «l of these articles. In
lie Cth the cuuqtiy of the Cherokee
is again called * L ” ■ -
■
pie even enter the country without a
passport.
The tenth Article, which is barely
mentioned in the preceding abstract,
provides, that “if any Cherokee In
dian, nr Indians, or person residing
among them, or who shall take refuge
in their nation, shall steal a horse
from, or commit a robbery, or mur
der, or other capital crime on any
citizens or inhabitants of the United
States, the Cherokee Nation shall be
bound tS deliver him or 'them dpi, to be
punished according to the laws of the
United States.”
Thus it appears, that if a party of
Cherokees should commit murder in
the white settlements, upon citizens
of the United States, the murderers
could not be pursued on foot within the
Cherokee boundary. Nay, more, if
one of our own people should.commit
murder, or any other cOpitoUcriine,
and should take refuge in the Chero
kee Nation, he could not be pursued,
however flagrant the case might be,
and however well known the criminal.
The Clierbkees must arrest him in
their own way, and by their own au
thority, and they were bound by this
treaty to do, (what by the laws of
Nations they would not have been
bound to do,) that is, to deliver up
criminals for punishment. Neither
the United States, nor any particular
State, had any jurisdiction over the
Cherokee country. But the next ar
ticle, which my argument makes it
necesary to quote at large, is, if pos
sible.still more decisive or the matter.
Art. 1J If any citizen or inhabi
tant of the United States, or of either
of the territoi ini districts of the Uni
ted States, shall go into any town,
settlement, or territory belonging to
the Cherokees, and shall there com
mit any crime upon, trespass against
the person or property of any peacea
ble and friendly Indian or Indians,
which, if committed within the juris
diction of any State, or within the juris
diction of either of the said districts, a-
gainst a citizen or ony white inhabi
tant thereof, would be punishable by
the laws of such state or district, such
offender or offenders shall bo subject
to the’ same punishment, and shall be
proceeded against in the same man
ner as if the offence had been com
mitted within the jurisdiction of the State
™ ;71 ' M ° which he or they may be-
inn„ „ • . "or white mha-
long, against a citize*. ;
bitant thereof.
If there is any meaning in language,
G,!* h t' eirre8,8l,b ^ that the
^ r ® k ®f co «ntry, or “territory” i*
not within the jurisdiction of any
htate, or within the jurisdiction of
f/‘ he I r I .® f territorial Districts of
be United States.” Within what
S d,C T 1S , ,t ’- tben? Doubtless
u ithin Cherokee jurisdiction; for this
territory is described as “belonging to
the Cherokeesof the most for
cible idiomatic expressions of our
language to designate absolute pro
perty. What then becomes 0 f the
assumption of jurisdiction over the
Cherokee, by ttie State of Gcoi
1 his question will be easily decide
the man who can tell which is th^
strongest a treaty of the United States
or an act of the Legislature of a State.
The treaty says, that the Cherokee
territory i, inviolable; and that even
white renegadocs cannot be pursued
thither. A recent law of Georgia
declares the greater part of the Cher
okee county.to be under the jurisdic-
tion of that 'State; and that the laws
l G ® 0rgia “ball take full effect upon
the Cherokees within less than a year
from the present time. TheConsti-
ih. lhe jjgj
Cherokees have been ltd toft greater]
degree of civilization that) any otlr"“
tribe of Indians. So undeniable ...
this fact, that C^orgia had repeatediyl
complained of itpand the Government
has been blamed for doitlg those thing*
which the United States wire bound,
to da by the most sedemn treety sti- [
In a word, the treaty of Holston if
a plain document, having a direct ob
ject. It f» consistent with itself.
It does not pontain the mest distant
Implication, that any portion of the
human race, except the Cherokee*
themselves, had even the shadow of it
claim upon the Cherokee territory.
It guaranties that territory to .it#
possessors as their own absolute
property; accepts some small grant*
from them; and engages that tbe Uni
ted States shall befriend them,
their future effiorTrl!
That the Ch'erokees haVe never for- l
feited the benefit of these stipulation#I
will appear in subsequent numbers.
WILLIAM PENNr
at some
tomethir
1 f
State shall be bound thereby?'any
■ All’s Alt ■ ^ AMaS toA. • _ V _ r
th , e J aw * or Constirution’of
any State to th» contrary notwtifatand-
!X«r T,,e jurisdiction is,
therefore eauly settled.
But the full acknowledgment of the
“,7 al oflbeCb.rolca., and
of the sacreduefs of their territ
14ih i ?V * h ® ‘ r / a1 ^ c6fltai ° 8 - -
14th article was framed expressly Tor
Jvr P?JP° 8e of preserving and perpetu-
ating the national existence of ihe
Cherokees. That thfev might
led to a greater degree of civilisation”
appears to have been a favorite de-
^‘e American
With a vimv to th‘ *
they might
that
been twi
»>
the
:o :o :o :o :o .*o :o .*
THE HIGH-MINDED SUVBf.
The following anecdote, which
copy from .the London Tract Ma
zine for Juno, is a fine example
noble feeling in an African slave.
N. Y. Obs.
A purchaser of slaves in Charleston,
S. C. who intended to sell them again,
observed a fine looking mao amoqst
them, superior to the re»t, and felt
disposed to retain him as his own ser
vant. He was a little surprised
soon after by tbe conduct of the negro,
who said, “Massa! you no sell me.’ 1
“Not sell you, why not?”—“Me
make good servant, massa!” Having
before intended to keep him, this res'
olutionVas now strengthened, andb
told the negro if he behaved
he would not sell him. The
gro replied “Me make good sCrTant
massa, you no tribe me.” Net strik
you, scoundrel! but I will strike yo
if you deserve it.” The rfcply i
gain was, “Me* make good ter van
massa, you no trike me!” /
He behaved well until i
casion his master took up
to strike him wftiit
backwards, and
the posture of
cried put lo jbis i
him. His mast* |
to refrain from f
• execution, f
%
citement of the. i
doubt was entertain* e
unto death the h, S
Uhe master soon forgoi n,
stance but the slave" dk K
ILi,, degradaUon °fbv
to a blow operated on hi, bjk h*
league, froml ao j, hee.LeV 1%
c "Pt«« He l„M the
that ho iva. a Chief in hi. mvn conn’
Si ri*” 10 ”* lli * <m ” people; an<
which it w'ns applied was in'
K, him S? f or W ?> 18 Woeo
^ ,}Zi W **** lo»a of his servic
Christian! if then readest thiae
evening, aAer the toil of the day'
aftnded, and when thou art sitting
be^on n the hin s
pe on the Sabbath, when ahnni i,
i" tiding, of aalvatioo; 01
if stretched on thy sick bed *
friend should bagu.Ip the weary*
by rB0d ' n * It to thee, put UP
prayer for i * .
diXr-nf/ h #t 8laV6 ^ tb® 1
dealer, that tbe word of Oed
the influence of the W
teach the one to endure
and incline the other t
and than both may be i
the bondage of sin, and
glorious liberty of the
to mind thy peaceful ,
means of grace; and tby
ry; snd while thou
these invaluable b
they m
ilave, a
may
If
l DO