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VOL. 11.
TIIE CABIXE T
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“oongmessT
* In the Senate or tiie U. S.
April, 1830.
SPEECH OF MR. FORSYTH,
or GEORGIA,
( C OJYITJYUE D,)
On the bill providing for an ex
change of lands with the In
dians, and for their removal
west of the Mississippi; the
amendment proposed by
Mr. Frelinghuyscn being un
der consideration.
In common with ail who have ad
dressed the Senate, I feel and have
ever felt the strongest anxiety to do
justice to the Indian tribes. 1 have
reflected much on the subject since
the project of congregating them be
yond the Mississippi and establishing
a great Indian Government was first
suggested during Mr. Munroe*s ad
ministration. 1 looked on that pro
ject as wild, visionary, and imprac
ticable. Anticipating its discussion
in 1823, l contemplated proposing a
scheme of my own; fixed the outlire
and arranged some of its details.
This scheme would have embraced
these nrovisions;
..t the land occupied by the In
dians in all the States and Territories,
should be taken possession of as tin
property of the Government in the
new States, and of the States in the
old; each tribe to be credited on the
hooks of the Treasury with per
acre, beari g an interest of 5 percent
for the land occupied by them.
This debt to be called the Indian
Fund; the interest to be paid seini an
nually to defray the expenses of gov
erning and civilizing the Indians un
til they are incorporated as citizens of
the United Statcg; after that event
the debt to be considered as extin
guished.
A grant in fee simple to be made
to each Indian family of acres
for each member of it; not alienable
before the year 1900, and on leases
beyond one year to be valid. This
land to be surveyed in a body, and
good soil carefully selected.
Twelve hundred and eighty acres to
be set apart in the centre of the gran
ted lands for public use as the seat of
Indian government*
Government to be organized for the
Indians by Congress. AG< vernor to
be appointed by the President of the
United States of white, or Indian, or
mixed blood. Three Counsellors to
be chosen by the Chiefs of the tribes.
Representatives (according to the
number of Indians) but never less
than ten to be chosen by the Indians
annually.
The Governor and Council to pro
pose laws to the Representatives, the
Governor having a veto on the pro
ceedings of the Representatives.
The Counsellors and Represents
fives to be of Indiatr pr mixed blood;
their compensation and that ot all thi
officers to be fixed by Congress.
Judges to be nominated by Govcr-
not* and Council, and proved by
Representatives, removable cvtly u fl
years. Judgesto be white men for
twenty years. Jury trials to prevail,
tfie Jurors to boos Indian or mixed
blood.
Criminal and Civil Laws subject to
the revision of Congress.
System of education to be devised
by Congress; all the Indian childreni
under ten, to be embraced in the pro
vision to be made, and their education
not to be considered complete until
they are 21.
All Indians to become citizens in
1900. i
Indians not willing to submit to
these regulations, to be lemoved be
yond the Mississippi; hunting lands
to be provided for them there, and a
just indemnity made for the expense
and trouble of removal.
Full of the idea of conferring impor
tant benefits on this hapless race, 1
was on the point of proposing a bill to
be presented to the consideration of
Congress. But, Mr. President. 1
was led by the frequent occurrence of
constitutional objections, to this pre
vious inquiry. Has the Government
of the United States the constitutional
power necessary to execute such a
scheme? It involved the exercise of
these two important powers to appro
priate to the exclusive use of the Indi
ans, land, the jurisdiction over which,
with the soil itself, was claimed by
the states, and without the consent of
the states, and the power to establish
exclusive municipal regulations for;
lie government of a class of persons!
within the state sovereignty. Con- J
vinced, on a short examination, that!
neither power was conferred by any
grant of authority in the constitution,
and neither fairly incidental to any
specific grant in that instrument, l
was reluctantly compelled to abandon
my project.
Although not reconciled to the pro
ject of Mr. Munuoe‘s administration,
I was convinced that the basis of that
project, the removal of the Indians be
yond the states and territories, was
the only nnx-lo by which the power of
• lie General Government could be
properly and exclusively exercised
for their benefit. I do not believe
that this removal will accelerate the
civilization of the tribes. You might
as reasonably expect that wild ani
mals, incapable ot being tauieu in a
park, would be domesticated by turn
ing them loose in the forest. Thisde
sirable end cannot be obtained with
out-destroying the tribal character,
and subjecting the Indians, as indi
viduals, to the regular action of well
digested laws. Wild nature never
was yet tamed, but by coercive disci
pline. The recent experiment made
on the Arkansas, has somew hat shak
en my faith. It is understood that
Cherokees, who removed to that
country in 1817—18, with a view to
continue the hunter's life, have ad
vanced more rapidly than those who
remain on this side ol the Mississippi,
in the arts of civilized life. Yet,
doubting as I do, the effect of this
measure as a incans of civilization, I
shall vote for it with a hope of reliev
ing tlye states from a population use
less and burdensome, and from a con
viction that the physical condition of
the Indians wi*l be greatly improved
by the change; a change not intended
to be forced upon them, but to be the
result of their own judgment under the
persuasion of those who ore quite as
anxious for their prosperity and
quility, as the seif constituted guar
dians of theii rights, who have filled
his Hall with essays and pamphlets
in their favor. That all the Indians
n the Unit and States would be bene
fitted by their removal beyond the
• v ni roo-p-!. J ‘ite 10, 1830.
atatrsto a (.o mi try appropriated for
(hi ii tiii lusive residouce, cannot be
doubt and by any dispassionate man
who knows their condition. With
;nnc or two remarkable exceptions, ail
the tribes are rapidly diminishing in
number, from the operation of causes,
j the strtte governments either will not,
<*r do not choose, to remove. Tin
•report made in 1820 to the War Do
partment, by the Agent Morse, ap
pointed to collect information on this
subject, shows that there were then
in New England, 2526 Indians; in
New York, 5184; iu Virginia, North,
and South Carolina, 497; in Georgia,
5,000 Clier kees: making an aggri
gate of 13,107 in the old states. All
these Indians, with the exception of
the Cherokecs in Georgia, arc in a
state of voluntary minority. Their
property is in the hands of trustees or
agents, not (iiosen by themselves, but
appointed for them, with hut a nomi
ual responsibility for their faithful
performance of their duty. As indi
viduals; they are responsible for
crimes, and punishable in the courts
of justice of states. Rut they can nei
ther sue or be sued, contract or be
be contracted with, without the inter
vention of their trustee. Without in
dustry and without incentives to im
provement, with the mark ofdegrada
lion fixed upon them by state laws,
without the control of their own re
sources, depending upon a precarious,
because ill directed agriculture, they
arc little better than the wandering]
gypsies of the old world, living by
beggary or plunder.
Os the new states, Ohio contains
2407; Indiana and Illinois, 17,000:
Alabama, 20,000; Creek*—Alabama,
Tennessee, and North Carolina, 8000
Chcrokees; Mississippi, 28,625 Choc
taws and Chickasaws. In the terri
tory of Florida, there are 5000, in
Michigan, 28,380; total 109,418.
In some of these states the laws have
been, and in others th*y probably will
soon be, extended to the Indians as in
dividuals: These Ind.ans are partial
ly regulated by their own usages yet
subject to the operation of the crimi
nal law in the courts of the United
States. In no part of the country
have the Indians and admitted right
to the soil upon wl ich they live.
They are looked npon as temporary
occupants, who have not, and are not
intended to have a fee simple title to
the land. They are hunters, whose
game is every day diminishing; and
who must change their place of rcsi
dance, or their mode of procuring sub
sistence.
In the removal of the Indians from
the States, for which provision should
be made from motives of humanity,
the U. S. have no interest. Should
those residing in N. England, N
York, Pennsylvania, North and South
Carolina be disposed to try their for
tunes in the West, the States from
which they remove or the owners ol
the land upon which they now n side,
(in many cases the land occupied by
them has been granted to white per
sons,) should be required to pay all
the expenses of their transportation to
the country allotted for them. Geor
gia, of the old States, stands on dis
tinct ground. The U. States are
bound by compact to pay all the cost
of extinguishing the Indian claim to
lands lying within her limits. In the
new States from the removal of the
Indians is this. fond* occupied
by them will he immediacy subject
to survey, sale, and settlement. (>r
, the old and for the new States tin*
important object will be gained; a
race nut admitted to be equal to the
rest of the community not governed a*
completely dependent; treated some
what like human beings, but not A&-
mi tied to be freemen; not yet entitled,
and probably never lo be entitled to
equal civil and political rights, will
be humanely provided for.
I should he happy, Mr. President,
if a sense of public duty permitted
me to dismiss this subject with these
brief remarks. The Senator from
New Jersey has imposed upon me tho
no-easity of occupying much of tho
time of the Senate in the examination
of the charges made against the State
of Georgia, llis amendment sterna
to have been manufactured fi,r the
purpose of assailing and villihing the
State, 1 mean not to excuse; nor de
fend the State—neither is it necessa
ry. A fair exposition of facts is suffi
cient for the triumphant vindication.
She stands at present on the vantage
ground. All the public functionaries,
to whom the Constitution gives the
power to decide upon our pretensions,
have admitted them to be just. Tho
gentleman indeed, censures the Pre
sident of the United States for decid
ing an important question, which
ought to have been submitted to Con
gress. With w hat justice is this cen
sure bestowed? Is it not the duty of
the President to execute the laws and
observe the obligations of the United
States? The Cherokees demanded
the intervention of the President, al
leging an infraction of a compact
made with them. Was the President
to interfere because the Cherokees
complained? Was the President to de
cide against the pretensions of a State
without examination to the merits of
the question presented? It was his
duty under the high sanctions of bis
oath office, to decide. lie could not
escape a derision had he a mind to
evade it. This decision has been
made, and if error has been commit
ed, it is in favor of the Cherokees.
The President considers the obligation
of the United States to guarantee to
the Indians the enjoyment of the lands
as paramount to the claims of the
State. A decision which cannot be
sustained. The land and the Indians
are, according to the same principles,
subject to the exclusive control of the
State sovereignty, and such will be
the decision should the question ever
be judicially determined. I trust and
believe that the question will never
be agitated. It will not be unless the
Senator of New Jersey should suc
ceed in filling the minds of the Cher*
okces with vain hopes and tempting
them to acts fatal to their security.
The President has, in conformity with
his constitutional opinions, stated to
the Indians with their true position.
They must remove, or remain and bo
subjected to tho state laws, whenever
tin States choose to exercise their
power. The gentleman assumes that
this is a violation of a treaty stipula
tion with an independent tribe, and on
this assumption he rests bis condem
nation of the Executive. Now, Sir,
the gentleman must perceive that the
President puts a different construction
upon these compacts; that he construes
them as made under the Constitution
of the United States, w hich gives to
the General Government no power by
the instrumentality of an Indian com
pact to the jurisdiction, or narrow the
sovereignty of one of the States. |
will not now inquire who is right, the
gentleman or the Executive. It is
now my purpose to defend the Presi
dent; he has done what he believes his
duty required, and is not justly
chargeable with any attempt to fore
stall opinion, or shut the door to inqui
ry. What prevents the Senator, if
he'wishes a decision of Congress, from
presenting fairly and openly the ques
tion on the construction of tbe9e in
struments? I should bo glad to meet
him on fair ground. I invite him to
No. 51.