The act called for the removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from their home in the southeastern United States to land in the West, in present-day Oklahoma. Jackson’s anti-Indian stance struck a chord with a majority of White citizens, many of whom shared a hatred of nonwhites that spurred Congress to pass the 1830 Indian Removal Act. Paradoxically, Whites insisted the Cherokee and other Native peoples could never be good citizens and harmoniously integrated neighbors because of their savage ways, even as the Cherokee and other tribes adopted the practices and appearances of White culture. The impulse to remove the Cherokee only increased when gold was discovered on their lands. Whites especially resented the Cherokee in Georgia, coveting the tribe’s rich agricultural lands in the northern part of the state. By most standards and measures, the Cherokee had acculturated to an American way of life instead of ensuring the survival of the group, however, it intensified the desire of White settlers for this improved Indian land. Like their American counterparts, the group developed and improved the land, building grist mills, saw mills, blacksmith shops, and tanning yards.

The wealthiest Cherokee owned plantations and slaves and grew cotton. Most Cherokee, moreover, became literate after the development of a written Cherokee syllabary the nation published their own newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix (ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᏅᎯ). Most Cherokee lived and dressed like the average American, and some converted to Christianity. They adopted a written constitution that outlined a three-branch system of government including a principal chief, a two-house legislature, and an independent judiciary with a Supreme Court.

In 1827, the Cherokee adopted a government modeled on the American system. The Cherokee provide an excellent example of the ways in which the nations acculturated in the interests of survival. Some held slaves like their White counterparts. These groups were known as the Five Civilized Tribes, because they had largely adopted Anglo-American culture, speaking English and practicing Christianity. This message referred directly to the situation in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, where the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Cherokee peoples stood as obstacles to White settlement. In his first message to Congress, Jackson had proclaimed that Native American groups living independently within states, as sovereign entities, presented a major problem for state sovereignty. The paper was published in both English and the Cherokee language. This image depicts the front page of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper from May 21, 1828.

John marshall indian removal act