Native Americans: From Before First Contact to the

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Native Americans From Before First Contact to
the Trail of Tears
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Human Population of the Americas in 1491

• How many people? We dont know, but estimates
  have changed dramatically.
• James Mooney estimated 1 million in North America
  (published 1928)
• Alfred Kroeber estimated 8.4 million in the
  Americas (published in 1930s)
• By 1950s, some estimates much higher

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Human Population of the Americas in 1491 (2)

• Cook and Boorah estimate population of central
  Mexican plateau was 25 million
• Dobyns estimates population of hemisphere was
  between 90 and 112 million
• More than in Europe in same period
• Numbers remain controversial, but higher
  estimates gaining support

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Human Population of the Americas in 1491 (3)

• If so many people, where did they go?
• Disease (population believed to have fallen by
  90 within century of first contact)
• (From 1491 New Revelations of the Americas
  Before Columbus, by Charles Mann, 2005)

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Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• Act of Congress of the Confederation
• Created Northwest Territory as the 1st organized
  territory of the U.S.
• America would expand by adding new states, not by
  expanding existing states
• Population of 60,000 needed to propose statehood

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Early Political Parties

• Federalist
• Favored strong national govt
• Expansion of industrial economy and national bank
• Stronger ties with Great Britain
• Democratic-Republican
• Favored states' rights
• Strict adherence to the Constitution
• Opposed national bank and wealthy, moneyed
  interests.
• Favored agriculture
• Stronger ties with France

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(First Presidents)

• George Washington 1789-1797
• NO PARTY
• (John Adams VP)
• John Adams 1797- 1801
• FEDERALIST
• (Thomas Jefferson VP)
• Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809
• DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN
• (Aaron Burr/George Clinton VP)

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Presidents cont.

• James Madison 1809-1817
• (DEM-REP)
• James Monroe 1817-1825
• (DEM-REP)
• John Quincy Adams 1825-1829
• (DEM-REP)
• Andrew Jackson 1829-1837
• (DEMOCRATIC)

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Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson opposed development of a strong
  national government
• However, he used power and of national
  government boldly to expand west of the
  Appalachians
• 1803, sent James Monroe to Paris to buy city of
  New Orleans from France
• Napoleon sold all of Louisiana for 15 mil

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• About ¼ of the U.S. territory today
• 1803 currency less than 3 cents/acre
• (58 cents/acre in todays currency)
• Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the
  agreement, stated, "This accession of territory
  affirms forever the power of the United States,
  and I have given England a maritime rival who
  sooner or later will humble her pride."

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Manifest Destiny

• Term first used by journalist and political
  commentator John O'Sullivan in 1839.
• "And that claim to territory is by right of our
  manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the
  whole of the continent which Providence has given
  us for the development of the great experiment of
  liberty and federated self-government entrusted
  to us."
• In 1846, Representative Robert Winthrop spoke
  against the concept "I suppose the right of a
  manifest destiny to spread will not be admitted
  to exist in any nation except the universal
  Yankee nation."

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U.S. Government and Native Americans

• Thomas Jefferson (U.S. President 1801-09)
• Viewed Natives as noble savages
• Gives them choice Become farmers and assimilate
  or move beyond Mississippi River
• Andrew Jackson (U.S. President 1829-37)
• Viewed natives as hostile, inferior
• No choice (wanted Native Americans expelled
  beyond Mississippi)

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• G. Washington 1789-1797
• J. Adams 1797-1801
• T. Jefferson 1801-1809
• J. Madison 1809-1817
• J. Monroe 1817-1825
• J. Q. Adams 1825-1829
• A. Jackson 1829-1837

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Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

• Old Hickory
• War of 1812
• 1st common man to become president
• Hero of Seminole Wars

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Jacksonian Democracy

• Democratic Republicans split into two camps
• Jacksonian Democrats
• Enhance power of the executive branch
• Limited federal govt. Jackson used his veto
  more than all 6 previous presidents combined
• More power to common people
• Natl. Republicans, then Whig Party (1830s-50s)
• Modernization and economic protectionism
• Referred to Jackson as King Andrew I

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• Supreme Court upholds right of discovery (1823)
• Congress passes Indian Removal Act (1830)
• Provided funds and land to negotiate treaties

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Indian Removal Act of 1830

• Supreme Court upheld right of discovery (1823)
• Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole
  lived on fertile land in SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, and
  TN
• Congress gave Jackson authority to offer Indians
  Louisiana Purchase land and money in return for
  their own land
• 100,000 Indians were forcibly relocated
• For their 100 million acres of fertile land, they
  received 32 million acres of prairie in OK

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Indian Removal Act of 1830

• Jackson argued it was not only liberal, but
  generous
• Arguments based on rights of states to govern
  within their own borders
• 1831 He ordered troops to forcibly remove the
  Sauk and Fox from IL and MS
• 1832 Forced Chickasaw to leave their lands in
  AL and MS

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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

• Georgia moves to expel Native Americans
• Disbanded tribal legislatures and court
• Cherokee appealed to U.S. Supreme Court
• Tribe argued the Supreme Court should have
  jurisdiction because they were foreign nations
• Court refused to hear the case, but
• Ruled that tribes were domestic dependant
  nations

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Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

• 1832, Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme
  Court through a missionary from Vermont, Samuel
  Worcester
• Needed a Georgia State permit to enter the rez.
• Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia
  had no authority over Cherokee territory
• Distinct Political Community, a Sovereign Nation
  of people independent of the State
• (Like a state)

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• Georgia ignored the ruling
• President Jackson refused to abide by the Supreme
  Court decision, saying
• John Marshall has made his decision now let
  him enforce it.

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U.S. Government and Native Americans

• Worcester v. Georgia (1832) Marshall court
  ruled only federal govt (not states) had
  jurisdiction over tribes and also had obligation
  to protect their welfare
• U.S. govt negotiates treaty (1835) with minority
  faction of Cherokee who ceded lands for 5
  million and land in West
• Most Cherokee refuse deal, but army sent to expel
  them, resulting in Trail of Tears

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Trail of Tears

• In 1838, under President Martin Van Buren, the
  U.S. Army rounded up more than 15,000 Cherokee
• Men, women, and children, mostly on foot,
  traveled for 116 days to Indian Territory
• 800 mile trip
• Each family issued 1 blanket
• ¼ Cherokees died of cold or disease

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James K. Polk and Manifest Destiny Realized
(1845-1849)

• Polk won the Democratic Party nomination for
  president in 1844 because of his support for
  expansion.
• Partys platform stated the re-occupation of
  Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas at the
  earliest practical period are great American
  measures.

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James Polk and Manifest Destiny
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Pride and Shame?
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Alexander Hamilton