Thars Gold in Them Thar Hills AKS: Analyze the events that led to the removal of Creeks and Cherokees; include the roles of Alexander McGillivray, William McIntosh, Sequoyah, John Ross, Dahlonega Gold Rush, Worcester v. Georgia, Andrew Jackson, John Marshall, and the Trail of Tears.
Essential Questions 1. Analyze the events that led to the removal of Creeks and Cherokee. 2. Describe the role of Sequoyah, John Ross, and the cause and effect of the Dahlonega Gold Rush. 3. Evaluate the result of the Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia.
The U.S. Government Turns its Eyes to Cherokee Lands At the same time that the Creek were being moved, Georgia was also making plans to get rid of the Cherokee.
Dahlonega Gold Rush Gold was discovered in Dahlonega in the summer of 1829. In a matter of months, gold fever swept through the North Georgia mountain region. Although the Cherokee knew there was gold in the hills, gold was not a valuable resource the land offered. The Cherokee did not believe in riches or gold and felt the Earth provided you with everything you needed. To take more than what was necessary was to disrespect Mother Earth and the land would stop supplying your needs.
Thars Gold in Them Thar Hills The person given credit for the discovery was a farmer named Benjamin Parks. Parks found the valuable yellow metal while deer hunting in what was then Habersham (now White) County. The town of Auraria, in nearby Lumpkin County, became the first gold mining center in the United States. It did not take long for over ten thousand miners with gold pans, picks, and shovels to moved onto Cherokee land violating all treaties between natives and the United States federal government. Although these settlers were defiantly trespassing on native lands they did not seem to care. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yprgyprq8sk
Gold Fever Spreads through the North Georgia Mountains
Georgia Responds to the Cherokee Call for help by 1. The Georgia legislature passed a law that placed part of the Cherokee land under state control. 2. It declared Cherokee laws null and void and would not let the Cherokee speak against white men in a court of law. This meant any white person could hurt or even kill a Cherokee without much fear of punishment. 3. On December 19,1829, refused the Cherokee any right to gold mined in the Dahlonega area. Result: Slowly the Cherokee were losing their homes, lands, and legal rights.
Natives Last Hope come by an answered prayer! Most Georgians did not care what happened to the Indians, but a group of white missionaries living in Cherokee territory did. They began to speak out against the treatment of Cherokee Indians and rally support to protect them. Result Georgia legislature passed a law on December 22, 1830, which said a white person could not live on Cherokee land without taking an oath of allegiance to the governor. They knew that the missionaries would not take this oath so legally they could be removed from Cherokee lands ending the protests.
Missionaries Get Arrested Eleven people, including the Reverend Samuel Worchester, refused to sign the oath and were jailed in March 1831. They were set free but arrested again in July. This time they were chained and made to walk from the North Georgia mountains to Lawrenceville. At their trial in September, the jury took only fifteen minutes to return a verdict of guilty. Gwinnett County Judge Augustin Clayton sentenced the group to four years at the state jail in Milledgeville. Governor George Gilmer agreed to pardon anyone who would take an oath of loyalty to the state, and all but two agreed.
Cause for a Supreme Court Case Cherokee territory was not subject to state law thus the missionaries living on Cherokee land could not be punished according to state rules as Cherokee rules were not broken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysaixmykktu&feature=relmfu
Worchester v. Georgia Missionaries Worchester and Elizur Butler took their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. They won their case and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Ruling Chief Justice Marshall ordered Butler and Worchester were to be set free immediately. The decision of the Lawrenceville court could not stand because Cherokee territory was not subject to state law. The Cherokee thought the ruling meant they could keep their land and government.
Result of the Worchester v. Georgia 1. Judge Clayton refused to acknowledge the Supreme Court ruling. 2. Georgia s newly elected governor, Wilson Lumpkin, would not take a stand against the judge. 3. President Andrew Jackson refused to honor the Supreme Court order. Jackson thought that state governments should be in charge of Indian territories. He reportedly said, John Marshall has rendered his decision ; now let him enforce it.
1. Cherokee lands were divided into lots of 40 and 160 acres and in 1832 2. The Federal government held a state lottery to give the Cherokee lands to white men. 3. The Cherokee refused to leave their home.
Cherokee Indians Receive NO Help! More and more, the Cherokee were run off their lands, whipped, and even killed. Chief John Ross made several trips to Washington to ask Congress for help. He wanted the Cherokee protected and the terms of past treaties honored. No help was given. Time was running out for the Cherokee Nation.
In December 1835, the Cherokee were told to come to their capital, New Echota. There they were to sign a treaty giving up all Cherokee land that remained in the Southeast. A Meeting is called. Any member of the tribe who did not come was considered to have agreed with the treaty. The treaty said the Cherokee would move west, and Georgia would give them a little money and food for the trip.
The Cherokee Natives Refuse to Sign the Treaty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qalhdklrweq