An important piece of Indian Removal is the understanding of the context of Andrew Jackson on the frontier. Ultimately, his arguments for removal are constitutional, but the vigor with which he follows through with removal can be traced to his context in the frontier of Tennessee.
The formation of the opinions of Native Americans by white frontier settlers can be seen in the constant perceived threat that was posed by Indian attack. Before, moving on, it is important to note that this explanation will not address the origins of strained relationship between the two groups - that's for another time.
Conflict with the Cherokee in late 18th Century Tennessee Region:
“Jun2nd, 1791, the Indians killed John Thompson in his own cornfield within five miles of Nashville. June 14th, they killed John Gibson and wounded McCoon in Gibson’s field, eight miles from Nashville. They killed Benjamin Kirdendall in his own house in Summer County, and plundered his house of everything the Indians could use. In June, 1791 three travelers from Natchez to Nashville were found dead on the trace near the mouth of the Duck River; there were eight in company, and only two came in. On the 3rd of July, 1791, Thomas Fletcher and two other men were killed on the north side of the Cumberland; their heads were entirely skinned. In the same month, a man was killed within a hundred and fifty yards of Major Wilson’s, on the public road, as he was riding up to his house. On the 12th Thomas White was killed in the Cumberland mountains.”
I've created a graphic to help emphasize the passage above. It's important to note that this is simply a 1-month span during 1791.
The fear caused by the attacks above can be seen below:
1793 - the conflict escalates.
John Sevier leads an attack against the Indians of eastern Tennessee. Below is an attempted justification by Jackson for what seems to be an overstep of Sevier's authority in the region.
The formation of the opinions of Native Americans by white frontier settlers can be seen in the constant perceived threat that was posed by Indian attack. Before, moving on, it is important to note that this explanation will not address the origins of strained relationship between the two groups - that's for another time.
Conflict with the Cherokee in late 18th Century Tennessee Region:
· Cumberland area lost a man, woman, or child every ten days...
I've created a graphic to help emphasize the passage above. It's important to note that this is simply a 1-month span during 1791.
The fear caused by the attacks above can be seen below:
- · No man traveled unarmed – even when tending to his field
- · Children didn’t fetch water or hunt berries without an escort
- · Widows competed for lodgers or second husbands for protection
- · As attacks increased, fields went unharvested or unplowed
“Until the settlers cleared the fields, every canebreak, every oak copse, every riverbank put them on guard. They lived in a state of siege and acted like a people under assault…Their heroes were the men who could protect them. All males were expected to join the militia, whose members chose their own leaders. This made the election of militia officers the closest thing to democracy that existed in the West…Westerners could tolerate incompetence in judges, prosecutors, and other officials…but incompetence in militia officers meant that lives – perhaps many lives …would be lost”
- HW Brands
1793 - the conflict escalates.
John Sevier leads an attack against the Indians of eastern Tennessee. Below is an attempted justification by Jackson for what seems to be an overstep of Sevier's authority in the region.
"[the measures against the Cherokees were] Just and necessary. When it was seen that war was waged upon the state, that the knife and the tomahawk were held over the heads of women and children, that peaceable citizens were murdered, it was time to make resistance…I trust it will not be assuming too much if I say that, being an inhabitant of the country, I have some knowledge of this business. From June to the end of October [in 1793] the militia acted entirely on the defensive, when twelve hundred Indians came upon them, carried their station and threatened to attack the seat of government itself – Knoxville.”
- Andrew Jackson, responding to John Servier’s attack on Cherokee
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