All language subtitles for the_indian_wars_a_change_of_worlds_s01e04_manifest_destiny_and_the_trail_of_tears

By the late 18th century, the North
America once inhabited by indigenous

was already in the midst of drastic
transformation.

The United States government had already
instituted several new laws that

restricted Native Americans from freely
selling their land to any other

individual. When the Trade and
Intercourse Act was put into place in

sort of American trade was restricted.

to only those who held a Congress
-issued license, rendering all state

trade licenses invalid.

As the Indians were already being pushed
further and further from their

homelands that they had lived on for
centuries, this forced them to sell

property for far less than it was worth
and caused such poverty that they could

not get food and supplies necessary for
their own survival.

One of the many tribes to be affected by
this and other similar treaties was the

Cherokee.

As the Cherokee had been one of the more
successful tribes to integrate into

white American society, this treatment
from the U .S. Congress hit particularly

hard.

Since the beginning of the 18th century,
the Cherokees had been friendly with

white settlers in both trade and
military situations.

But as the colonists insisted on
expanding their settlements into Native

American territory, the Cherokee, as
well as the Creek Indian tribe, found

themselves in the same sort of dead -end
situation as many other Native peoples

had before them.

By 1773, and due to unfair trade
policies, these two tribes and

those living in Georgia and Kentucky
territories had become hopelessly

Their only hope in freeing themselves
from this sort of indentured servitude

to agree to the Treaty of Augusta.

This treaty meant giving up more than
two million acres of Georgia land.

The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals claimed a
great amount of Cherokee land in the

state of Kentucky.

Though this second agreement was in
violation of British law, it was

conveniently overlooked by the
Transylvania Land Company.

and in 1775 the land was ceded.

At the beginning of the American
Revolution, the Cherokee people

continued support of the crown.

Provisions were already scarce, and
there was fear that colonial expansion

eventually encroach upon Cherokee
hunting grounds.

Against the advice of the British, and
with many failed attempts at restraining

them, The Cherokee attacked two U
.S.-held forts in North Carolina in July

1776.

Both attacks failed, and the tribe was
forced to retreat.

General Charles Lee, commander of the
Southern Continental Forces, led a

counterattack, which was recognized as
the Cherokee Campaign of 1776.

He was joined by Colonel Andrew
Williamson and General Griffith

during this operation.

and it resulted in the destruction of
more than fifth Cherokee towns.

Left without food or shelter, many
Cherokee gave up extensive amounts of

exchange for peace.

But the campaign had already sparked a
chain reaction of attacks from the

Chickamauga Cherokee, the Creek, and the
Choctaw upon frontier settlements.

Despite their desperate efforts, The
power of the Cherokee had already waned

beyond recovery.

The scattering of warriors had weakened
their armies, and too many crops and

villages had been destroyed.

The Cherokee had no choice but to
surrender even more land in North and

Carolina, only this time it wasn't
limited to hunting grounds, but now

towns that the Cherokee had called home
since before the Europeans had begun to

invade North America.

On May 20, 1777, the Treaty of DeWitt's
Corner, and on July 20, 1777,

the Treaty of Long Island on the Holston
were introduced, and the Cherokee had a

short run of peace, while still being
allowed to maintain some political and

cultural independence from the United
States government.

In 1780, while the American armed forces
were busy fending off the British, the

Cherokee seized another opportunity to
attack white settlements.

But again, they were unsuccessful in
regaining their lands, and instead, a

second treaty of Long Island on the
Holston was enacted.

On July 26, 1781, additional Cherokee
land was taken in exchange for a

less than stable peace.

This unbalanced trend of land for peace
would continue with many of these so

-called exchanges more or less forced
upon the native people rather than

any sort of mutual agreement.

In 1803, and under the presidency of
Thomas Jefferson, the United States

bought the territory of Louisiana from
France by way of the Louisiana Purchase

Treaty.

This acquisition opened the way for more
westward exploration of North America,

and Jefferson proposed sending an
expedition into this newly acquired

As Jefferson's personal secretary,
Meriwether Lewis was intelligent,

and already a skilled frontiersman,
which made him a good candidate for the

expedition.

Lewis selected draftsman and fellow
frontiersman William Clark.

to accompany him and made him second
lieutenant for the journey.

They were joined by a small group of U
.S. Army volunteers, dubbed the Corps of

Discovery.

In May of 1804, the Corps left the St.
Louis area and began their expedition by

traveling along the Mississippi River.

This perilous and groundbreaking
expedition would last until September

Jefferson's objective in commissioning
this expedition was to find a waterway

route through the western half of the
continent for the sake of commerce, and

wanted this to be done before European
powers, namely the British, had a chance

to claim it for themselves.

He also had a secondary interest in the
scientific and ecological sides of the

exploration.

The Corps was assigned with gathering
botanical, biological, and geographical

information.

In addition to having extensive
education in these areas, Lewis was also

familiar with Native American manners
and character, which would prove quite

useful in establishing trade with Indian
tribes encountered along the way.

When Jefferson sent the Corps of
Discovery on their way, He also employed

.S. Mint to prepare several silver
medals bearing his image and Thomas

Jefferson, President of the USA, 1801,
on one side, and two clasped hands

with the words peace and friendship on
the other.

These were Indian peace medals, and the
Corps was instructed to give them to the

Indian tribes that they encountered
during the expedition.

While these medals signified an offering
of friendly relations, they also

symbolized U .S. power over all
inhabitants of the land, including the

While many Indians took this exchange as
a guarantee of the Americans'

protection in war, members of the Corps
took it as an understanding that the

Indians were accepting their subordinate
place within the eyes of the American

government.

The expedition departed from Camp Dubois
in the late afternoon of May 14, 1804,

and met up with Lewis in St. Charles,
Missouri, and then continued to head

westward.

Their travels took them along the
Missouri River, through Kansas City,

and Omaha, Nebraska.

On August 20, the Corps lost Sergeant
Charles Floyd to acute appendicitis.

Floyd would be the only member of the
expedition to die during the excursion.

A river near his burial site has been
named after him, Floyd's River, near

is now known as Sioux City, Iowa.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was met
with devastating conditions as they

traveled through the Rocky Mountains.

Harsh winters, starvation, and
difficulties with navigation might have

expedition. had it not been for the
Indian tribes that they met along the

Lewis and Clark met and established
relations with two dozen Indian nations,

their encounters weren't always
friendly.

When the expedition encountered the
Lakota natives, who the Americans

to as the Sioux, the threat of trouble
became real.

A written account made by Harry W. Fritz
told of the preceding reputation of

the Sioux.

All earlier Missouri River travelers had
warned of this powerful and aggressive

tribe determined to block free trade on
the river. The Sioux were also expecting

a retaliatory raid from the Omaha
Indians to the south. A recent Sioux

killed 75 Omaha men, burned 40 lodges,
and taken four dozen prisoners.

With such notions already in the minds
of the explorers, and after the

disappearance of one of their horses,
the Americans became understandably wary

of crossing paths with the Sioux.

Their meeting was inevitable, and after
some disagreement and the threat of

violence, the Sioux eventually let the
expedition continue on to Arakara

territory. In his writings, Clark
described the Sioux as warlike and the

miscreants of the savage race.

But despite this impression, No one from
the expedition was harmed.

It was during the winter months of 1804
and going into 1805 that the expedition

party built Fort Mandan in present -day
Washburn, North Dakota.

Shortly thereafter, they continued on
westward and upriver, where they camped

Mandan Nation land.

They were visited by a fair number of
Indians, many who made extended stays

the camp.

During this time, Lewis and Clark met a
French -Canadian fur trapper by the name

of Toussaint Charbonneau.

Charbonneau was married to Sacagawea, a
young woman of the Shoshone people.

Sacagawea has been recorded in history
as being a translator for the

More accurately, she was a guide.

And as she was the mother of
Charbonneau's young son and pregnant

daughter for part of the continuation of
the expedition, Sacagawea's motherhood

proved to be a totem of and initiation
for peace when encountering other

Corps member Henry Brackenridge
described her in his Views of Louisiana

1814.

We had on board a Frenchman named
Charbonneau.

with his wife, an Indian woman of the
Snake Nation, both of whom had

Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, and were
of great service.

The woman, a good creature, of a mild
and gentle disposition, greatly attached

to the whites, whose manners and dress
she tried to imitate, but she had become

sickly and longed to revisit her native
country.

Her husband, also, who had spent many
years amongst the Indians, was become

weary of civilized life.

was viewed as an asset to the expedition
by most, it is said that Lewis did not

much care for the woman or for having
her along on the journey.

Quite the opposite was true for Clark,
who took to both Sacagawea and her

children.

He provided for them before and after
Sacagawea's death in 1812, at the age of

25, just a few months after her daughter
Lisette was born.

Clark later enrolled Sacagawea's son,
Jean -Baptiste, into the St. Louis

Academy. It is believed that Lisette
died in infancy.

Before leaving Mandan territory and
continuing their expedition to the

coast, Charbonneau served as the Corps'
translator, and with this and the

sharing of a Mandan peace pipe, the
explorers and the Mandan tribe were able

establish peaceful relations.

The expedition continued, bringing
Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and their young

Jean -Baptiste along with them.

They followed the Missouri River to the
Lemhi Pass and over the Continental

Divide. They traveled the Clearwater
River, the Snake River, and the Columbia

River by canoe, following them beyond
what is now known as Portland, Oregon,

with the help of notes and maps that had
been created by William Robert

Broughton. in 1792.

They were able to sight Mount Hood, a
positive sign that they were on the

course to reaching the Pacific Ocean.

By then, it was late October 1805, and
by mid -November, they concluded their

journey to the Pacific coast.

Even with this victory well in hand,
they found themselves facing a second

unforgiving winter.

They had chosen to camp along the north
side of the Columbia River, but here

food was scarce, as was the money that
was needed to buy it from nearby tribes.

The Corps retreated to the south side of
the river, having voted on the matter.

Both Sacagawea and Clark's slave, York,
were included in this vote, which likely

made them the first woman and slave ever
to participate in such democratic

practice.

The team built Fort Clatsop, the first
official American establishment in the

West. It was here that Lewis transcribed
the bulk of his journey's documentation

that would later be presented to
President Jefferson.

The expedition remained at Fort Clatsop
until March 23, 1806.

Due to the harsh weather, it was the
first moment that they were able to

travel for their return home.

Many of the men had suffered poor health
during the long winter months, and

despite what new obstacles they might
encounter, they were quite eager to

Along the way, Lewis's dog was stolen,
presumably by natives.

In an effort to stave off any further
incidents, Lewis gave a heavy warning to

the tribe's chief that no future acts of
mischief or malice would be tolerated.

But... would be reciprocated with
penalty of death.

In early July, the Corps broke off into
two groups.

Lewis led his half to the Marias River,
where the four men met up with members

of the Blackfeet Nation.

In an attempt to steal weapons from the
explorers, two Blackfeet men were

killed.

It would be more than another hundred
miles traveled in a single day before

Lewis and his companions would stop to
camp again.

During this time, Clark's group stumbled
into Crow territory.

While no such tribe members were
spotted, half of Clark's horses

overnight. By mid -April, Lewis and
Clark and the Corps reconvened

at the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.

Mistaking Lewis for an elk, Pierre
Cruzot of Clark's team shot Lewis in the

Despite this mishap, the Corps were able
to return to St. Louis on September 23,

1806, with a successful mission behind
them.

Though some historians debate the year
and location of Sacagawea's death,

believing by way of oral legend that she
returned to Shoshone lands,

John C. Luttig documented otherwise in
the Journal of a Fur Trading Expedition

on the Upper Missouri.

This evening, The wife of Charbonneau, a
snake squaw, died of a putrid fever.

She was a good and the best woman in the
fort.

Aged about twenty -five years, she left
a fine infant girl.

Had she in fact returned to her people,
as legend states, Sacagawea would have

lived to be about ninety -six years old
and died around the year 1884.

While Lewis and Clark failed in finding
a continuous and direct waterway to the

Pacific Ocean, they still succeeded in
keeping journals full of river maps and

landscapes, detailed drawings, and over
200 extensive descriptions of the

wildlife.

This collection of information proved
sufficient to Jefferson's satisfaction

provided enough detail that it was used
to aid future explorations of the West.

for the next two centuries.

One of the crucial parts of the Lewis
and Clark expedition was in setting up

diplomatic relations with more than 70
Native American tribes.

As with their geographical and
biological discoveries, Lewis and Clark

documented and described these meetings
and the natives encountered in great

detail.

Though there had been some conflict,

the Corps found many of the Indians to
be helpful and had been able to gain

assistance with the expedition through
native knowledge of the different

territories.

There were few tribes that took
advantage of the expedition, though

interactions with the Teton Sioux
Indians and the partisan tribe, who were

adversaries of one another, caused
relations to be more than a little

Not having this knowledge before the
Corps stumbled into the middle of this

intertribal rivalry,

it would take much negotiation and the
extensive presentation of gifts to both

tribal chiefs before the Corps was
allowed passage from the area.

While none of the members of the Lewis
and Clark expedition were lost to Indian

attacks, it was still a generalized
observation of the Corps that many of

tribes encountered led a lifestyle that
was seemingly harsh, unforgiving, and

assuredly uncivilized by Western
standards.

The trail forged by Lewis and Clark
opened the floodgates of further

and eventually coast -to -coast
expansion.

The term Manifest Destiny became a well
-known phrase in the 19th century,

coined by John L. O'Sullivan in the
1840s.

Our manifest destiny to overspread the
continent allotted by Providence for the

free development of our yearly multiply
in millions.

Not only did this way of thinking
promote Western settlement, but it also

encouraged the war with Mexico and
Native American removal as a way of

happen.

With many Americans already feeling that
this expansion was perfectly natural

and others believing that it was their
divine obligation by way of the Second

Great Awakening, it was a movement not
to be stopped.

Droves of settlers headed out west,
including those with the mission in mind

converting heathen natives to
Christianity along the way.

American culture and racial superiority
was at the heart of Manifest Destiny.

Civilizing and dominating the Native
Americans was significant.

This was nothing to say of what sort of
booming profit could be made by whatever

means the new settlers could find.

For the South, this meant acquiring
suitable land, and more of it, upon

cotton crops could be planted. And in
turn, it would bring an increased need

African slavery.

For those headed West, it was a
statement of creating civilization by

American standards.

Columbia, the symbol of manifest
destiny, was depicted as a woman.

sweeping across the land ahead of eager
settlers while shedding light in place

of darkness and refined society in place
of ignorance.

Ironically, another well -known symbol
adopted by the settlers was that of the

Mohawk Indian.

This, a symbol of liberty, was prominent
during the Boston Tea Party.

Following the death of his father, who
was killed during the French and Indian

War, a young Shawnee named Tecumseh
joined the American Indian Confederacy

under the leadership of Mohawk Chief
Joseph Brandt.

Tecumseh was born in Old Pequot in
western Ohio in 1768, and by the 1780s,

he had already participated in a series
of raids along the Kentucky and

Tennessee frontiers.

While many of the raids were considered
successful, and his participation in the

Battle of the Wabash was victorious
enough that General Arthur St. Clair was

forced to resign, the Indian defeat of
the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 was

the cause for Tecumseh's bitter refusal
to attend negotiations leading to the

Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

As he had hoped, Tecumseh still emerged
from these battles as an important and

respected war chief.

In 1805, his younger brother, Lala
Wetheka, began to have prophetic visions

took on the name Tenskawatoa, or the
Open Door.

Tenskawatoa became a prominent spiritual
leader amongst his people.

Both he and Tecumseh strongly believed
in the strength of tribal tradition.

Like many other Indian leaders, he felt
that returning to their old ways was

best for their people.

The brothers gained great support from
Creek prophets and other traditionalists

who had also believed in the power of
the clan versus that of the Creek

Council.

Tenskawatawa's religious following
became something of a political movement

led to the settlement of... Prophet's
Town in 1808.

The town survived for three years before
it was invaded by U .S. forces in 1811

and destroyed during the Battle of
Tippecanoe.

All food supplies were also lost and the
settlement burned to the ground,

causing a quick and irreversible end to
Prophet's Town.

Tecumseh tried to restore his
confederacy, but when the War of 1812...

he was forced to retreat to Michigan,
where he joined and fought alongside the

British. He accompanied William Henry
Harrison during the invasion of Upper

Canada, who was killed by American
forces during the Battle of the Thames

1813.

Though Benjamin Hawkins, a white member
of the Creek Agency, had encouraged the

Creeks to abandon their support of these
prophets and stated that anyone who

didn't was an enemy of America, The
admiration of Tecumseh's renowned

and political leadership from both the
British and American alike had gained

the status of an American folk hero.

The Creek Indians were already facing a
drastic economic decline and carried

great resentment toward white American
settlers in their constant demand for

native lands.

This opposition caused a divide in the
Creek people, leading to some who sided

with the Creek National Council.

Those who were against it became known
as Red Sticks for raising the Creek's

symbolic declaration, the Red Stick of
War.

American forces feared that this new
population would side with the British

the upcoming War of 1812, so they
employed Federal Indian agent Benjamin

to bring remaining Creek forces
together.

The Cherokee and Choctaw proved their
loyalty to the Americans by joining them

against the Red Sticks.

Meanwhile, the Shawnee rallied for
resistance against the Council, and

was gained.

However, Hawkins and his followers were
persistent against these attacks.

The result was the Americans' quick
defeat of the Creek people with the help

their Native American supporters.

By 1813, hunting and trading had
decreased enough that the Creeks were

resort to agricultural means.

During their conflict with those who
supported the Creek National Council,

of the Indian kept livestock.

had been slaughtered, which resulted in
additional hardship.

Without the economic wealth to support
agricultural recovery, many did poorly

and had to rely on imported goods.

This, too, proved expensive and all but
impossible for some.

Shawnee leaders met to discuss obtaining
weapons from British sources, as they

were also becoming increasingly
concerned about the revitalized movement

white expansion.

In an effort to quell this threat, eight
Creek warriors took action by killing

two families near Tennessee's Duck
River.

This warning to others proved
unsuccessful and resulted in their being

and executed.

In 1813, a second Creek attack was made
on another white party.

These natives had been in communication
with the Shawnee, and it spurred

Hawkins' demand to the Creek National
Council for the immediate punishment of

those involved.

Council warriors known as the Lawmenders
and headed by William McIntosh were

assigned to this duty.

Traditionally, it was the clans, not the
council, who handled this sort of

practice, and this decision only caused
greater upset within the Creek Nation

instead of restoring any hope for peace.

This came at a time during which many of
the Creek peoples were experiencing an

increase in religious prophecy.

It renewed the urgency for tribes to
return to their pre -contact ways of

and encouraged the recovery of Indian
lands with the use of armed forces.

Getting a foothold on protecting their
interests would prove difficult, as the

interests of those in American power
began to turn determined focus

all land from the Indians.

While Presidents Thomas Jefferson and
James Monroe expressed that the Indians

the southeast could make the move west
of the Mississippi River and give up

their land, neither of them took the
step to make this happen.

Andrew Jackson was set on doing just
that.

In 1813,

He led the expedition against the Creek
Indians as part of a three -pronged

invasion involving three separate
armies.

While the attacks on the Red Sticks
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of

Stick warriors, women and children,
Jackson's army suffered heavy losses as

well.

Multiple sieges were made on Red Stick
towns, including Talladega, but many of

the captives escaped.

A great amount of miscommunication
between Jackson and General John Cock

resulted in further complications within
their forces, and after several battles

with the Red Sticks, left Jackson with
roughly 150 men out of 1 ,000 by the

he reached Fort Strother on the Coosa
River at the end of 1813.

The Georgia militia, led by General John
Floyd, had better success.

with his casualties resulting in only 11
American men killed and 50 wounded

during the attack on Atofi.

Nearly all of the stronghold's
inhabitants escaped, but Floyd and his

succeeded in burning Atofi to the
ground.

The third part of the American invasion
force was led by General Ferdinand

Claiborne and consisted of poorly
trained and meagerly equipped

The Choctaw warriors, joined Claiborne's
Mississippi Territory militia following

the attack on Fort Mims, where roughly
700 Red Sticks had attacked and killed

nearly 250 of its inhabitants.

Shortly before the attack at Otossi,
Claiborne's troops traveled along the

Alabama River, the site of Samuel Dale's
famous canoe fight.

They reached a settlement called the
Holy Ground, just outside of present

Montgomery. in late December, where they
destroyed the town and chased out

nearly all of the Red Sticks who were
there.

The troop disbanded without further
involvement.

By the beginning of 1814, Jackson and
Floyd had regrouped and set out on a new

campaign, Floyd heading west from Fort
Mitchell.

The Red Sticks attacked at Calabee
Creek, but Floyd's army, supported by

Uchi Creeks, proved too unbeatable.

Floyd and his forces then retreated to
Georgia.

This left only Jackson's new army of
roughly a thousand men active in the

against the Red Sticks.

By the end of January, Jackson and his
army made their first new encounter with

the Red Sticks at Emukfo Creek and at
Enichapco Creek.

They were joined by 600 more men from
the 39th U .S. Infantry Regiment.

and set upon the Red Stick settlement of
Tohopeka at Horseshoe Bend.

This attack, and the burning of nearly
50 Creek towns along the way, resulted

the death of an estimated 800 Red Stick
warriors.

The death rate, overall, during the
Creek War battles, was estimated between

,500 and 3 ,000.

When the remaining Red Sticks described
their losses to Benjamin Hawkins, it

was... like the fall of leaves.

The end of Jackson's campaign did not
mean the end of attacks on the Creeks or

other tribes.

Hostilities remained, violence against
people, and property continued, with

countless Indians escaping to Florida,
where they integrated within Seminole

villages.

It was in August that Jackson summoned
the remaining Creek leaders to Fort

Jackson to hear his terms for peace.

It would consist of the cession of more
than 20 million acres of land to cover

the cost of the war, for which a treaty
was drawn and signed on August 9, 1814.

While this arrangement gained little
agreement from the Greeks, they had

choice but to comply.

Before his presidency, Andrew Jackson
was sent to Spanish Florida to fight the

Seminoles.

The Spanish coined the term as a slang
word for a runaway or a wild one.

While the Seminoles were a culture
largely made up of Creek Indians, there

also a large presence of Free Africans
who had escaped enslavement.

They were known as Black Seminoles.

Prior to Jackson's arrival during the
Seminole Wars, which began in 1817,

owners had conducted search parties for
runaway slaves and for Seminole Indians.

Both had supported the enemy during the
War of 1812 by trading weapons to the

British Army.

Between the years 1817 and 1818, the U
.S. Army raided Florida in the First

Seminole War.

When Jackson arrived in Florida, he was
accompanied by an army of about 3 ,000

soldiers.

The battle against the Seminole and the
destruction of villages was quick, with

no hope of the Seminole Indians making
much of a counterattack.

Jackson's strike was followed up with
the capturing of Spanish forts, St.

and Pensacola, giving the Spanish no
other choice but to relinquish the

Through a treaty negotiated with Spain
in 1819 and signed by Secretary of State

John Quincy Adams, and Spanish minister
Luis de Onís. The Adams -Onís Treaty

sold Florida to the United States in
exchange for the nullification of

$5 million debt to America.

The United States' acquisition of
Florida increased settlers' demands for

Seminole territory.

The Seminoles had been confined to a
reservation located in central Florida.

under the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in
1823.

But with the Treaty of Payne's Landing,
signed in 1832,

the Seminoles found themselves being
pushed off the land.

Within a decade, most Seminoles,
including black Seminoles, were forced

or another into moving westward.

During the time between these two
treaties, the Seminoles gave up nearly

million acres of land.

and Jackson was responsible for helping
negotiate nine out of the 11 major

treaties involving the removal and
relocation of Native Americans.

After becoming president in 1829,
Jackson lobbied Congress to adopt the

Act of 1830.

Though the U .S. government implemented
treaty after treaty, To remove Indians

from their native lands and place them
farther west on reserved plots of land,

it often broke its own laws in order to
reclaim and move the Indians off those

lands as well.

With the population of land -hungry
Americans steadily increasing and

take over the backcountry of what would
become Alabama and Mississippi, the

settlers petitioned to have the natives
further removed.

President Jackson used the Indian
Removal Act of 1830 to grant land west

Mississippi River to natives who
willingly gave up the land that they

had.

He encouraged Congress to adopt this
policy in other areas, as it would free

and make territories east of the
Mississippi safe for American

While the law provided relocated Indians
with financial and material assistance

needed in order to make such a move, It
was never enough, and the promise made

by the U .S. government to give Natives
protection from non -Natives on new

lands was no more than a farce.

Jackson used the act as a means of
bribing, persuading, and even

Natives to sign removal treaties.

Even though the Supreme Court ruled that
Indian tribes were sovereign and immune

from Georgia laws, Congress ratified the
Treaty of New Ikota.

This treaty was signed by a small party
that represented the Cherokee and did

not support the desires of the majority
of the tribe.

It was a failed attempt at holding on to
their lands, and in 1838, Georgia state

militia and federal troops showed up to
physically force 17 ,000 to 18 ,000

Cherokee from their land.

Within a week, they were shipped out in
railroad boxcars, and due to the

oppressive heat, lack of food, and poor,
cramped conditions, at least 4 ,000 of

them died along the way.

It has been argued that the number of
deaths was actually closer to 8 ,000.

Whatever the devastating toll, this
brutal 800 -mile journey has since been

known as the infamous Trail of Tears.

In 1832, Blackhawk, leader of the Sauk,
led the Sauk and Sauk Indians into

battle against the Americans.

Blackhawk's mission was to regain
Illinois land that the U .S. had claimed

through a treaty written in 1804.

It was Blackhawk's hope that this
recovery could be done without

Oddly enough, the group that accompanied
Blackhawk in this quest was named the

British Band.

which American officials immediately
took as a sign of hostility and a vow

trouble. As a precaution, officials
formed a frontier army made up of poorly

trained militiamen and American troops
that were less than prepared for even

minor conflict.

On May 14, 1832, at the Battle of
Stillman's Run, they attacked the

band, who in turn volleyed in attack.

The U .S. Army fared poorly.

and the British band pressed on with a
series of raids.

In July, General Henry Atkinson led the
army that would ultimately defeat the

British band at the Battle of Wisconsin
Heights.

Though Black Hawk's army backed down and
retreated toward the Mississippi River,

Atkinson pursued them, and on August
2nd, at the Battle of Bad Axe, most

participating members of the British
band were captured or killed.

Black Hawk and a few other leaders
managed to escape, but were later

and imprisoned.

With America growing by leaps and
bounds, fully immersed in the practice

manifest destiny, and the increased need
for slave labor, United States

politicians found themselves in history
-changing positions.

James Knox Polk, born in Pineville,
North Carolina, on November 2, 1795,

was one of many Americans to travel with
his family by covered wagon during

Western expansion.

The Polk settled in Tennessee, where the
family acquired thousands of acres of

land and owned more than 50 slaves.

At age 20, Polk attended the University
of North Carolina and graduated in 1818.

He won the election to the U .S. House
of Representatives, where he served

terms.

With president and family friend Andrew
Jackson in his corner, James Polk

secured the position as Speaker of the
House in 1835.

In 1839, he became governor and sought
to further his political career by

running for president.

During his campaign, Polk tried to skirt
the subject of Manifest Destiny,

believing it to be potentially
controversial.

He was, however, in favor of the
annexation of Texas as a new slave

When Polk won the presidential election
and took office on March 4, 1845, he was

the youngest president in American
history at 49 years of age.

Following the annexation of Texas, Polk
was able to successfully negotiate with

England for the ownership of the Oregon
Territory.

Neither country wanted the costly
responsibility of financing another war,

after a series of persistent
negotiations, America gained ownership

current border between the U .S. and,
with the exclusion of the southern tip

Vancouver Island, Canada.

The acquisition of California and New
Mexico would follow, but only after

tensions rose between the U .S. and
Mexico.

eventually leading to the Mexican
-American War.

In 1848, Mexico ceded New Mexico and
California, concluding the coast -to

expansion of the white American.

Under Polk's presidency, the United
States grew by more than a million

miles.

Polk did not run for a second term and
was succeeded by Zachary Taylor, a hero

of the Mexican War and a member of the
Whig Party.

and a man for whom Polk had little
respect.

Polk died shortly after the 1849
inauguration.

Just before his death, Polk made a
request to his wife, Sarah, that she

their slaves.

Even as the issue of slavery was one
that had thus far been unresolved in

lifetime and was steadily becoming a
contentious national and political

the U .S. had indeed become larger,
though weaker as it now faced the

of another great war.

With the many treaties between the U .S.
government and Native Americans, most

of which the Native Americans were
forced to agree upon and begrudgingly

these treaties were consistently broken
by both sides.

Native Americans had already been
relocated to reservations en masse.

taken to land that was unfit for farming
or other means necessary for survival.

The result was constant conflict between
Indians and white settlers, ranging

from small arguments to full -scale
battles.

By 1894, the Census Bureau would be able
to account for more than 40 wars

between white Americans and Native
Americans.

Between individual attacks made by
settlers...

retaliation attacks and preemptive
strikes made by U .S. regiments, and the

proposed and legitimized genocide of
indigenous peoples, roughly 45 ,000

Indian lives would be lost.

And that did not account for the many
thousands who were lost during

to appointed reservations.

When the great American desert was, by U
.S. government standards, generously

given to the native people in 1840, it
came along with the promise that they

would retain it for as long as the stars
shall shine and the rivers flow.

Native Americans were given similar
promises all throughout America and with

similar outcomes.

Already facing starvation and having
insufficient means by which to survive,

American officials frequently stepped in
and reduced the size of these

reservations.

Upon discovering that the land reserved
for native -only populations could serve

well for their livestock,

cattle barons would step in and demand
that the land be given over to them.

When the California Gold Rush began in
1848, many whites did not pay heed to

zones between white and native lands and
often freely trespassed into these

territories. The government had little
choice but to move the Indians.

concentrating and confining them into
smaller and smaller areas.

Naturally, the native people continued
to push back, and the battles continued.

While many tribes tried to avoid full
-scale war with white settlers and the U

.S. government by giving up great
amounts of land in exchange for peace,

Seminole tribe in Florida continued to
resist white encroachment.

With Seminole warrior Asiola as their
leader, they made surprise attacks

the white population.

The Dade Massacre, the first of many
attacks, occurred in 1835, during which

over 100 of Major Dade's soldiers were
killed.

The U .S. followed up this massacre by
sending in more troops in the hopes of

completely defeating the Seminoles and
intimidating those who remained from

causing further trouble.

The troops succeeded in pushing the
Seminole further south, and though the

government managed to coerce some of the
tribe's chiefs into completely removing

their people from the state of Florida,
these agreements were repeatedly

overlooked, and the fighting continued.

In 1838, Osceola was captured during a
raid, and he died while imprisoned.

His death signified the beginning of the
end for the Seminole people.

In mid -August 1842, the Second Seminole
War concluded, with many Indians being

forcibly relocated to reservations in
the West, while a great number of others

died at the hands of the U .S. Army.

Within those three years of steady
resistance, the Seminoles had been

nearly to extinction.

Between 1848 and 1855, a new frenzy hit
the state of California.

The discovery...

First discovered by James Marshall at
Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California,

new promise of fortune would draw nearly
300 ,000 immigrants to the area over a

period of seven years.

Half of that number arrived by land, the
other half by sea, and this nearly

tripled the state's population.

San Francisco alone went from 200
residents in 1846 to around 36

,000 by 1852.

At the beginning of this astounding
invasion, about 150 ,000 Indians already

were living on these lands.

Approximately $10 billion in gold would
be mined on tribal land between the

years 1849 and 1862.

Half of those who participated in the
mining were Native Americans who, for a

short time, had been able to trade the
gold for necessities.

But before long, the immigrant miners
began to view the Indians as a source of

low -wage labor and took advantage of
their willingness to help in the mines.

It wasn't long after that before the
Natives once again became targeted

scapegoats. as hopeful miners failed to
find gold in the amounts that they had

expected.

Violent raids were made on Indian
villages, and without the proper weapons

which to defend themselves, many natives
were killed.

More than 4 ,000 children were stolen
from their parents and sold for labor.

$60 for boys and $200 for girls.

In 1850, the Act for the Government and
Protection of Indians was passed,

prohibiting Native Americans from
testifying in court.

It became a loophole that allowed white
Americans to keep Indians as slaves.

To make matters worse, it became
socially acceptable and legal to kill

Americans.

In an alarming number of cases, local
communities gave monetary compensation

for these murders.

In Shasta, California in 1855, the
severed head of a Native American could

a hefty reward of $5, and Honey Lake
residents could expect 25 cents for an

Indian scalp.

California's state government and
eventually Congress came to support

funding of such genocide.

This, in addition to rampant diseases
such as measles, Smallpox and cholera

quickly spread throughout the Gold Rush
communities and claimed thousands of

Native American lives.

Within a 22 -year period, the population
of Indians in California was reduced to

30 ,000.

Thanks to the U .S. government's
sanctioning the ethnic cleansing of

1900, the 30 ,000 was reduced to less
than 16 ,000.

Even the Kumeyaay Indians, who had once
been one of the strongest and most

prominent tribes, numbered only around 1
,000 by the turn of the century.

From the continuation of white American
expansion, now in the name of manifest

destiny, to the frenzied greed for gold,
Native Americans faced another series

of decades of war, land theft, and
insufferable methods of relocation.

While many tribal leaders sought to
encourage their people to embrace their

ways, others succumbed to the pandering
of newcomers, giving in and giving up

their homelands and hunting grounds in
the meager hope of evading further

destruction of their tribes.

This pacification brought only temporary
peace between the peoples, and time and

again Native Americans faced the same
discrimination, violence, and genocide

that they had endured since the first
Europeans set foot on American soil.

What would become of those who survived?

Was there any chance of hope for
renewal?

While history dictated a grim outlook,
it would take the heart and fire in the

very souls of America's first residents
to ensure any chance of their survival.