Question

23/30

Using evidence from primary sources, explain why the Cherokee were forced to leave Georgia during the 1830s.

The discovery of gold and
the Indian Removal Act led
to their forced removal.

The Cherokee wanted to
move west for better land.

The Cherokee were not
affected by westward
expansion.

The Cherokee voluntarily
sold their land to settlers.

Answer 1

Correct answer: The discovery of gold and the Indian Removal Act led to their forced removal.

Evidence from primary sources:

- Indian Removal Act (Congress, 1830): the law authorized the President “to conclude treaties for the removal of the Indian tribes… to lands west of the Mississippi.” This federal statute gave legal authority and funding for negotiating (and pressuring) removal of southeastern tribes, including the Cherokee.

- Treaty of New Echota (signed by a minority, 1835): this treaty ceded all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi to Georgia and the United States in exchange for land in Indian Territory and money. It was used by the U.S. government as the legal basis for removal even though it was not approved by the Cherokee National Council or Principal Chief John Ross.

- Worcester v. Georgia (U.S. Supreme Court, 1832): Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that “the Cherokee Nation… is a distinct community, occupying its own territory… in which the laws of Georgia can have no force.” The decision shows the Cherokee legal claim to their land was recognized by the Court, but Georgia and the federal executive failed to enforce it.

- Cherokee petitions and protests (primary documents published by the Cherokee Nation, 1829–1836): Principal Chief John Ross and the Cherokee National Council submitted memorials and petitions to Congress and the President protesting removal and denying any voluntary cession of land. These documents show the Cherokee consistently rejected giving up their lands.

- Contemporary reports of the Dahlonega gold discovery (1828) and Georgia state acts (early 1830s): the 1828 discovery of gold in northern Georgia triggered a flood of miners and settlers and led the Georgia legislature to pass laws extending state jurisdiction over Cherokee lands and to push for removal/land openings (e.g., land lotteries). Newspaper accounts and state legislative records document settler pressure and state actions that made removal more urgent and inevitable.

Together these primary sources show both the immediate economic pressure (gold discovery and settler demand) and the federal legal/political mechanism (Indian Removal Act and the disputed Treaty of New Echota) that produced the forced removal of the Cherokee (the Trail of Tears) despite Cherokee legal protests and a favorable Supreme Court decision.