Jacksonland: A Great American Land Grab (42 page)

“We . . . hope yet to have a full account”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, June 5, 1830, vol. 38, p. 268.

“Those who were friends of the administration”
Ibid.

102 votes in favor and 97 against
American State Papers,
Journal of the House of Representatives 1829–30
, May 26, 1830, p. 730.

“After the passage of the Indian bill”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, June 5, 1830, vol. 38, p. 268.

Chapter Twenty-four: Judicial

“laborious, highly intelligent, Judicious”
Evarts to Ross, September 17, 1825, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1,
p. 107.

“It is the first Cherokee book ever published”
Elias Boudinot to Herman and Flora Gold Vaill, January 23, 1829, collected in Gaul,
To Marry an Indian,
pp. 161–62.

Their lives began to change on
March 13, 1831
White, “Memorial of Rev. Samuel Austin Worcester,” p. 281.

He was also a U.S. official . . . postmaster at New Echota
Berutti, “Cherokee Cases,” p. 303.

accuse them of
“criminal” conduct
So Gilmer said to Rev. John Thompson, May 16, 1831. Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick,
New Echota Letters,
p. 106.

“punishment which will certainly follow your further residence”
Ibid.

His wife was ill
Ibid., p. 107.

“I cheerfully acknowledge” . . . no “consciousness of guilt”
Worcester to Gilmer, June 10, 1831, reprinted in
Cherokee Phoenix
, ibid.
,
p. 109.

“that freedom in the expression of opinion . . . until I am forcibly removed”
Ibid.
,
p. 111.

So the Georgia Guard . . . arrested him on July 15, 1831
Worcester to
Cherokee Phoenix
, July 25, 1831, ibid.
,
p. 101. Also, Marshall et al.,
Worcester v. Georgia,
p. 4.

“only two or three individuals offered us any insult”
Worcester to
Cherokee Phoenix
, July 25, 1831, Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick
New Echota Letters,
p. 101.

Theodore Frelinghuysen and . . . Daniel Webster
Wirt to Judge Carr, June 21, 1830, as reproduced in Kennedy,
Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt
, vol. 2
,
p. 254.

“I received your speech on the removal of the Indians”
Marshall to Frelinghuysen, May 27, 1830, Johnson et al.,
Papers of John Marshall
, vol. 11,
p. 374.

“insist upon its distribution among the Indians at large”
Berrien to Jackson, June 25, 1830, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 8,
p. 392.

spreading a few cents to each individual Cherokee
John Howard Payne believed the payment to each Cherokee would be “less than half a dollar” per year. Anderson et al.,
Payne-Butrick Papers
, vol. 2,
p. 159.

Ross sent it directly to his underpaid defense team
One example is in Ross to Wirt, May 10, 1831, Papers of Chief John Ross, vol. 1, p. 220.

“Give me liberty or give me death”
A persuasive argument that Wirt invented this and other phrases and attributed them to Henry without evidence is contained in Raphael,
Founding Myths,
pp. 145–56.

“I have used all the persuasive means in my power”
Jackson to William B. Lewis, August 25, 1830, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 8,
p. 501.

“personally had strong doubts”
Wirt to Ross, September 22, 1830. A summary is in Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
p. 199.

Georgia made the case
moot by having Tassel hanged
Berutti, “Cherokee Cases,” p. 299.

“Mr. Lavender and myself are threatened”
Ross to Wirt, January 1, 1831, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
,
vol. 1,
pp. 209–10.

repugnant to the constitution . . . leave the issue to Providence”
Peters, ed., The Case of the Cherokee Nation against the State of Georgia, p. 66.

Marshall felt that he could not push the issue too far
Berutti, “Cherokee Cases,” p. 300.

“The denial of the injunction . . . claims of the President”
Ross to the Cherokees, April 14, 1831, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
,
vol. 1, p. 217.

“tattlers and intriguers”
Ibid.

Accompanied by Cherokee leader George Lowrey and . . . Major Ridge
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
pp. 217–18.

“experiment” of Marshall’s strategy
Wirt to Ross, July 18, 1831. A summary of the letter is contained in Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
pp. 221–22.

four years
“at hard labor”
Marshall et al.,
Worcester v. Georgia,
p. 6.

making cabinets at the state prison at Milledgeville
Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision,” p. 526.

“studiously avoided calling on us to assist in that work”
Worcester to
Cherokee Phoenix
, October 29, 1832, Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick,
New Echota Letters,
p. 115.

“Should the legislature of Georgia repeal”
Ross to William Wirt, October 7, 1831, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
p. 224.

William Wirt appealed . . . February 20, 1832
Marshall et al.,
Worcester v. Georgia
, p. 6.

“This duty, however unpleasant, cannot be avoided”
Ibid.
,
p. 9.

“America, separated from Europe”
Ibid.
,
p. 10.

“who could not write, and most probably could not read”
Ibid., p. 15.

“the actual state of things”
Ibid.
,
p. 10.

“these powerful considerations . . . We think they will”
Ibid.
,
p. 20.

Chapter Twenty-five: Executive

“every Indian knows now that he stands upon a solid foundation”
Elijah Hicks to Cherokee delegation, March 24, 1832, reprinted in
Niles’ Weekly Register
, May 12, 1832, vol. 42, March–August 1832, p. 201.

“Our adversaries . . . enemies are seeking places where to hide their heads”
Ross to Cherokee delegates, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1, p. 241.

“Georgia . . . has commenced her survey”
Cherokee Phoenix
, April 21, 1832; reprinted in
Niles’ Weekly Register
, May 12, 1832, vol. 42, March–August 1832, p. 201.

“It was [McLean’s] firm belief . . . unburden itself by a removal”
Ross to Wirt, June 8, 1832, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
,
vol. 1, p. 245.

Only after the Georgia courts failed would Marshall be in a position
Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision,”
pp. 528–29, 537.

“and the President refuses to enforce”
Meacham, American Lion, p. 204.

“Justice Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it”
The claim is found in Greeley,
American Conflict,
p. 106.

“would not aid” “sportively said in private conversation”
Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision,” pp. 528–29, 537.

“The decision of the Supreme Court has fell still born”
Jackson to Coffee, April 7, 1832, Bassett, ed.,
Correspondence of Andrew Jackson
, vol. IV, pp. 429–31.

sent Ridge away in
“despair”
Jackson to Coffee, April 9, 1832, quoted in Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 229.

“Other important considerations”
Cass to Lumpkin, December 24, 1832, cited in Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision,”
p. 537.

the governor had dined with the wives of Worcester and Butler
Ibid.,
p. 535.

“considerations of a public nature”
Ibid., p. 540.

Governor
Lumpkin freed the missionaries on January 14, 1833
Ibid., p. 541.

negotiate a generous treaty
Ibid., pp. 529–30.

Elisha Chester . . . infuriated John Ross
Ross to Wirt, June 8, 1832, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1, p. 244.

“best good”
Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision,” p. 539.

“While the Union lasts”
Peterson, The Great Triumvirate, p. 178.

Part Eight: Democracy in America, 1833–1835
Chapter Twenty-six: The Purest Love of Formalities

June 6, 1833 . . . Jackson became the first president to board a train
Stover,
History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
p. 38.

Stephen A. Douglas of Vermont, age twenty, moved to Illinois
Quitt,
Stephen A. Douglas and Antebellum Democracy,
pp. 38–39.

“too insignificant, to make [my] politics an objection”
Lincoln,
Speeches and Writings, 1859–1865,
p. 164.

personal friends . . . included politically active Jackson Democrats
David Donald, in
Lincoln,
p. 52, reports that many of Lincoln’s friends, such as a gang of local toughs known as the Clary’s Grove Boys, were Jackson men who “favored Lincoln purely on personal grounds.”

“After I had retired to my room”
Van Buren,
Autobiography,
p. 293.

Men raised giant hickory poles
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 3, p. 424.

“nearly a mile long”
M. Chevalier, a French traveler, quoted in ibid., p. 425.

unprecedented fall tour from the Hermitage to Washington
Meacham,
American Lion,
pp. 218–19.

“aristocratic monopoly”
Stiles,
First Tycoon,
p. 101.

offering an extortion payment of $100,000
Ibid.
,
p. 103.

“Birth, condition, or profession”
Tocqueville,
Democracy in America,
p. 279.

“They call for equality in freedom”
Ibid.
,
p. 203.

“I do not think that there is any other country”
Ibid.
,
p.
59.

“singular mildness . . . an evil which does not affect them”
Ibid.
,
p. 203.

“By contrast . . . respect for the laws of humanity would be impossible”
Ibid.
,
p. 391.

Lincoln volunteered . . . mosquitoes
: An account of his 1848 speech spells it “musquetoes.” Donald,
Lincoln,
p. 45.

He was driven in a carriage
“The President’s Visit,”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, June 15, 1833, vol. 44, p. 256.

on June 6, 1833, he sat through a performance
Trask,
Black Hawk,
p. 300.

the Indian leader chatted with . . . the Great Father of the nation
Ibid.

“You will see” . . . “my people have suffered a great deal”
“The President’s Visit,”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, June 15, 1833, vol. 44, p. 256.

Black Hawk had to be taken out of the center city
Ibid.

“Long before the climax was reached”
Cited in Lepore,
In the Name of War,
p. 202.

Chapter Twenty-seven: I Have the Right to Address You

“speculating tribe . . . anihilation”
Jackson to William Berkeley Lewis, August 25, 1830, Moulton,
Papers of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 8
,
pp. 500–501.

The president offered $2.5 million
Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief, p. 51.

Jackson was offering something close to 50 cents
Wiley Thompson to Lewis Cass, February 2, 1833. Senate Document 512, no. 247, vol. 4, p. 68.

United States should spend its money
relocating white settlers
strong>
:
Ross letter in the American State Papers, Brown’s Hotel, Washington City, January 28, 1833. Ibid., p. 65.

“The usual scenes which our afflicted people experience”
John Ridge to Ross, quoted in Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 51.

Ross had relied on the younger man
John Ridge to Ross, April 3, 1832, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1, p. 241.

“Were I to continue as editor”
: Boudinot to Ross, August 1, 1832,
ibid.,
pp. 247–48.

“the evil effects of their intercourse”
Speech reprinted in Gabriel, Elias Boudinot, pp. 106–7.

“almost a dreary waste”
Boudinot, quoted in Smith,
American Betrayal,
p. 183.

“moral degradation,” yet
.
it seemed that Ross worried only about money
Smith,
An American Betrayal
, is particularly useful on this point, pp. 142–43.