Immigrants were arriving daily from Europe, and all the states had seen increases in population. In just 40 years, the population of Georgia tripled twice.
In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French for $15 million dollars. The purchase greatly increased U. S. holdings of land west of the Mississippi. In fact, the United States doubled in territory size. The Louisiana Purchase included parts of 14 states, almost
(ABOVE) The Louisiana Purchase.
A quarter of the land area of the United States today. The Louisiana Purchase not only affected Native American nations living within its boundaries, but also was the beginning of opening up the West to white settlers.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs began talcing a more aggressive stance toward the Native American population, particularly when settlers, who were ignoring land boundaries, complained about the native population. The Bureau of Indian Affairs oversaw the various agencies that dealt with Native Americans, from those who made the decisions in the nation’s capitol down to individual Indian agents who worked directly with the tribes.
By 1828, only 125,000 Native Americans remained east of the Mississippi River. Almost half of that number lived in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, where they owned millions of acres of land. But the white farmers and plantation owners saw the potential for growing
Cotton on that land. Then, when gold was discovered on Cherokee land in the North Georgia mountains, large numbers of squatters invaded that area. The Georgia state government’s solution was to remove the Cherokee from Georgia entirely.
Indian Removal
The state of Georgia and white settlers throughout the South found what they were looking for in the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson. A self-taught attorney and politician from Tennessee, Jackson identified with the white settlers, even though he had adopted an orphaned Muscogee (Creek) boy 15 years before he assumed the office of the presidency. His troops most likely killed the boy’s family during the Creek Wars.
When Jackson took office in 1829, he introduced the Indian Removal Act, which allowed southeastern tribes to exchange their land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the Mississippi. While some Native Americans went peacefully, many resisted the relocation policy because they did not want to leave their homes. Indian Removal was also opposed by other Americans, including leading statesman and speaker Daniel Webster and frontiersman and congressman Davy Crockett. Regardless, Con-
THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
In the early years of U. S. history, commissioners from the War Department were appointed for Indian Affairs. Their main duty was to negotiate treaties between the U. S. government and various nations. Early commissioners included Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry.
Secretary of War John C. Calhoun established the Bureauof Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1824 as an office within the War Department. It was often called the Office of Indian Affairs. In the beginning, the BIA was led by military men, but Congress transferred control to the new Department of the Interior in 1849.
During Indian Removal, the BIA's role centered on getting food and supplies to Native American nations that had treaties with the government. Yet the BIA was only as good as the agents who dealt directly with Native Americans, and many were dishonest. In 1868, President Grant attempted to reorganize the Office of Indian Affairs by appointing missionaries and Ouakers as Indian agents, instead of political appointees. A year later. Grant appointed the first Native American—a Seneca—to head the organization: Brigadier General Ely Parker (Donehogawa).
When the government focused on placing many Native Americans in the West on reservations, the BIA continued to distribute supplies but also operated schools and oversaw tribal operations. As laws passed that allowed Native American nations to govern themselves, the BIA’s role shifted to an advisory role.
Today, the BIA is the oldest department within the Department of the Interior. Before the 1930S, most BIA employees were nonnative. Today, approximately 95 percent are Native Americans who provide services to approximately 1.7 million Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. Duties include managing 66 million acres of land held in trust for these populations.
Gress passed the Indian Removal bill in 1830. Disgusted by politics that forced people off their land, Crockett left political office and headed to Texas, where he joined the fight at the Alamo.
Davy Crockett, who left Congress in protest of the Indian Removal Act.
Five nations were most affected by this bill: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole. These nations had assimilated to life among the white Americans. They wore European clothing and adopted many of the European customs. They built homes, schools, churches, and roads. They had governments in which elected officials represented the larger population. These nations
Became known as the Eive Civilized Tribes due to their knowledge and use of Euro-American items and customs.
World History
