(Editor’s note: First of three parts)
Dr. James Livingood, distinguished UTC professor, discussed the removal of the Cherokee from this area in excerpts from his “Chattanooga: Illustrated History:”
“The cultural advancement and invigorating education of the Cherokee showed exceptional gains but [came] at a time when the muttering of a coming storm threatened to sweep the Indians forever from their ancestral lands. Under [John] Ross’ leadership the great majority of Cherokee determined to resist all schemes and demands for their removal west of the Mississippi River. This resolve and firmness of purpose was no less than those of Dragging Canoe a generation earlier but took an entirely different course of action. Instead of using brawn, the Cherokee now chose to abide by the law and to rely on passive resistance to achieve success. For a decade they mounted a determined legal defense against removal until the national government rounded them up by the sword in one of the darkest chapters in American history.
“In the first years of the 19th century the pressure of frontier settlement for Cherokee lands was an ever present issue. It grew more intense as gold was discovered in a corner of north Georgia and as that state voiced vigorous complaints that the federal government had reneged on a pledge to invalidate Indian land claims. Then the election of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency placed a vigorous proponent of Indian removal in the executive office. And finally there was the Cherokee written constitution which focused attention on a basic Question: Who actually possessed sovereign power in the area — the state, the federal government, or the Cherokee Nation? This question enraged the Georgians.
“A small number of Indians had moved west voluntarily, but Georgia officials grew dissatisfied with the lack of federal initiative for removal. In December of 1828 the state legislative took action; no longer would they wait for federal dabbling. A law to take effect of June 1, 1830, along with supplementary acts, annexed that part of the Cherokee country within the state and extended jurisdiction over it. Cherokee law and custom became null and void; no Indian could be a court witness where a white was defendant. All whites in the area were obligated to take an oath of allegiance to the state — a measure aimed at the Brainerd missionaries. The land, surveyed and mapped, was to go to Georgian white citizens in a public lottery in which each resident got a ticket.