The Treaty of Echota, signed by a minority faction of the Cherokee (who did not have the authority to do so) and the United States government, led to the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia to a reservation west of the Mississippi. This relocation was known as the Trail of Tears and resulted in the deaths of about 4,000 Cherokee's during the march.
After much haggling over the Indian Removal Act, the Cherokee nation was removed forcibly from their legal home in New Echota, Georgia to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-1839.
The Treaty of [new] Echota was signed on December 29th 1835, between the United States and The State of Georgia (purporting to represent the Cherokee Nation - Cherokee Nation VS Georgia, US Supreme court (findings))
The government law that led us to the Trail of Tears was known as the Treaty of New Echota. This treaty was illegal because it was never signed by a Cherokee leader, and the Cherokee Nation's pleas and petitions against it were ignored.
The Cherokee felt the Indian Removal Act did not apply to them since they were an organized nation and won that in the Supreme Court. Therefore the treaty of New Echota was passed by Congress to "officially" have the right to remove them.they were madThe viewed it and still view it as illegal and wrong. They viewed it as theft and attempted genocide. With Andrew Jackson ignoring the Supreme Court they had little recourse.
Many tribes signed the removal treaties. However, the Cherokee Nation refused and fought the government in courts.
New Echota
After much haggling over the Indian Removal Act, the Cherokee nation was removed forcibly from their legal home in New Echota, Georgia to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-1839.
The Treaty of [new] Echota was signed on December 29th 1835, between the United States and The State of Georgia (purporting to represent the Cherokee Nation - Cherokee Nation VS Georgia, US Supreme court (findings))
The government law that led us to the Trail of Tears was known as the Treaty of New Echota. This treaty was illegal because it was never signed by a Cherokee leader, and the Cherokee Nation's pleas and petitions against it were ignored.
The Cherokee felt the Indian Removal Act did not apply to them since they were an organized nation and won that in the Supreme Court. Therefore the treaty of New Echota was passed by Congress to "officially" have the right to remove them.they were madThe viewed it and still view it as illegal and wrong. They viewed it as theft and attempted genocide. With Andrew Jackson ignoring the Supreme Court they had little recourse.
Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 US 1 (1831)Cherokee Chief John Ross fought the removal of native Americans through the US Supreme Court, and petitions to congress.For more information, see Related Questions, below.
Many tribes signed the removal treaties. However, the Cherokee Nation refused and fought the government in courts.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief John Ross took a petition to Congress in 1838 protesting the U.S. government's planned removal of the Cherokees from their homelands in the southeast. He was accompanied by Whitepath and other officials. The petition bore the signatures of nearly 16,000 Cherokee Nation citizens, many written in the Cherokee syllabary, the Cherokee's own written language. The petition fell on deaf ears and the tribe's forcible removal began later that year.
He is one of the people who pretended to represent the Cherokee people and signed the Treaty of New Echota. He was assassinated for this in June 1839 under Cherokee law; the Law of the Snake.Because of his actions the Cherokee People refused to sign anything or deal with the US Government for almost 100 years.NOTE: The US Supreme Court ruled that Elias Boudinot did not represent the Cherokee, nor have the authority to bind them by treaty.
Reservations. The Trail of Tears was the Cherokee nation walking from Georgia to Oklahoma because of the removal to the reservation in Oklahoma.
Louis Filler has written: 'The President speaks, from William McKinley to Lyndon B. Johnson' -- subject(s): Presidents, History, Sources 'The removal of the Cherokee Nation, manifest destiny or national dishonor?' -- subject(s): Cherokee Removal, 1838