The history of north Georgia, from pre-revolutionay days until the middle 1830s, is, in some ways, a prescient recital of the fate of Indian cultures all across the United States. The elements of this clash of cultures between Euro-Americans and Native Americans includes overt racism, ravenous greed, administrative bungling, corrupt politics, and heinous crimes perpetrated by individuals on both sides of the conflict. Analysis of this regional history reveals the depth of divisiveness over states' rights in a federalist nation and depicts a battle of titans between the executive and judicial branches of government. Running concurrently with these stories are epic tales of righteous individuals struggling to give voice to oppressed people, and to champion reason as the basis for both law and the socially humane treatment of all human beings in observance of our founding declaration that ..."all men are created equal". Our recital ends with the tragic relocation of the Cherokee people from their traditional homelands to the arid vastness of Oklahoma Territory during the brutal winter of 1838-'39. This forced march, known now as the "Trail of Tears", and overseen by an army of 7000 men under the command of General Winfield Scott, resulted in the deaths of over 4000 Cherokee men, women and children, before the survivors finally arrived at their destination. In addition to General Scott, this history is replete with characters often idolized in the retelling of American history. Luminaries such as John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster all lent their voices to the struggle. Lesser-known, but equally dedicated advocates for justice, including Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge, Chief John Ross, Sequoyah, and Samuel Worcester, spoke eloquently and courageously on behalf of the native people, often realizing great personal tradgedy as a consequence.
A very informative review of the North Georgia web site provides a glimpse into the fascinating history of this region. Students in the treaty rights course are strongly encouraged to visit this site for further information about this time and place in American history. The point-form encapsulation below identifies some of the principal characters and events in this history.
1540-'41 Hernando deSoto and Spanish conquistadors travel through what is now Georgia in quest of gold.
1650 Cherokee nation well-established on its southern boundary with the Creeks following a southern expansion that resulted in occupancy of about 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
1733 James Oglethorpe founds Savannah with 116 colonists.
1738 and 1753 Smallpox epidemics, the first of which eradicated 25% of the Cherokee population.
1763 Royal Proclamation--At the close of the French and Indian War, the proclamation was intended to consolidate British holdings in the new world and to stabilize relations with Native Americans. Further, the proclamation guaranteed that the territories "... lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West..." (Basically, the line is the Appalachian crest) could be acquired from the Indians only by the Crown.
1776 Sequoyah, also known as George Gist, born near Tuskeegee, Tennessee, to the daughter of a Cherokee Chief and a Virginia fur trader, Nathanial Gist. In 1809, Sequoyah began to invent the Cherokee syllabary and writing system. Adopted by the Cherokee Nation as their own alphabet in 1821, thousands of Cherokee became literate in only a few months' time.
Date created: January 23, 2002
Last modified: April, 2007
Copyright © 2007, 2008 George R. Spangler
