Toward Cherokee Removal: Land, Violence, and the White Man’s Chance (Early American Places Ser.)

Cherokee Removal excited the passions of Americans across the country. Nowhere did those passions have more violent expressions than in Georgia, where white intruders sought to acquire Native land through intimidation and state policies that supported their disorderly conduct. Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears, although the direct results of federal policy articulated by Andrew Jackson, were hastened by the state of Georgia. Starting in the 1820s, Georgians flocked onto Cherokee land, stole or destroyed Cherokee property, and generally caused havoc. Although these individuals did not have official license to act in such ways, their behavior proved useful to the state. The state also dispatched paramilitary groups into the Cherokee Nation, whose function was to intimidate Native inhabitants and undermine resistance to the state’s policies. The lengthy campaign of violence and intimidation white Georgians engaged in splintered Cherokee political opposition to Removal and convinced many Cherokees that remaining in Georgia was a recipe for annihilation. Although the use of force proved politically controversial, the method worked. By expelling Cherokees, state politicians could declare that they had made the disputed territory safe for settlement and the enjoyment of the white man’s chance. Adam J. Pratt examines how the process of one state’s expansion fit into a larger, troubling pattern of behavior. Settler societies across the globe relied on legal maneuvers to deprive Native peoples of their land and violent actions that solidified their claims. At stake for Georgia’s leaders was the realization of an idealized society that rested on social order and landownership. To achieve those goals, the state accepted violence and chaos in the short term as a way of ensuring the permanence of a social and political regime that benefitted settlers through the expansion of political rights and the opportunity to own land. To uphold the promise of giving land and opportunity to its own citizens—maintaining what was called the white man’s chance—politics within the state shifted to a more democratic form that used the expansion of land and rights to secure power while taking those same things away from others.

Cherokee Removal excited the passions of Americans across thecountry. Nowhere did those passions have more violent expressionsthan in Georgia, where white intruders sought to acquire Nativeland through intimidation and state policies that supported theirdisorderly conduct. Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears,although the direct results of federal policy articulated by AndrewJackson, were hastened by the state of Georgia. Starting in the1820s, Georgians flocked onto Cherokee land, stole or destroyedCherokee property, and generally caused havoc. Although theseindividuals did not have official license to act in such ways,their behavior proved useful to the state. The state alsodispatched paramilitary groups into the Cherokee Nation, whosefunction was to intimidate Native inhabitants and undermineresistance to the state's policies. The lengthy campaign ofviolence and intimidation white Georgians engaged in splinteredCherokee political opposition to Removal and convinced manyCherokees that remaining in Georgia was a recipe for annihilation.Although the use of force proved politically controversial, themethod worked. By expelling Cherokees, state politicians coulddeclare that they had made the disputed territory safe forsettlement and the enjoyment of the white man's chance. Adam J.Pratt examines how the process of one state's expansion fit into alarger, troubling pattern of behavior. Settler societies across theglobe relied on legal maneuvers to deprive Native peoples of theirland and violent actions that solidified their claims. At stake forGeorgia's leaders was the realization of an idealized society thatrested on social order and landownership. To achieve those goals,the state accepted violence and chaos in the short term as a way ofensuring the permanence of a social and political regime thatbenefitted settlers through the expansion of political rights andthe opportunity to own land. To uphold the promise of giving landand opportunity to its own citizens-maintaining what was called thewhite man's chance-politics within the state shifted to a moredemocratic form that used the expansion of land and rights tosecure power while taking those same things away from others.

Cherokee Removal excited the passions of Americans across the country. Nowhere did those passions have more violent expressions than in Georgia, where white intruders sought to acquire Native land through intimidation and state policies that supported their disorderly conduct. Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears, although the direct results of federal policy articulated by Andrew Jackson, were hastened by the state of Georgia ... Adam J. Pratt examines how the process of one state's expansion fit into a larger, troubling pattern of behavior. Settler societies across the globe relied on legal maneuvers to deprive Native peoples of their land and violent actions that solidified their claims. At stake for Georgia's leaders was the realization of an idealized society that rested on social order and landownership. To achieve those goals, the state accepted violence and chaos in the short term as a way of ensuring the permanence of a social and political regime that benefited settlers through the expansion of political rights and the opportunity to own land. To uphold the promise of giving land and opportunity to its own citizens--maintaining what was called the white man's chance--politics within the state shifted to a more democratic form that used the expansion of land and rights to secure power while taking those same things away from others."--Adapted from back cover "Cherokee Removal excited the passions of Americans across the country. Nowhere did those passions have more violent expressions than in Georgia, where white intruders sought to acquire Native land through intimidation and state policies that supported their disorderly conduct. In Toward Cherokee Removal, Adam J. Pratt details this process in Georgia from 1800 to 1835, placing the tragic story of Cherokee Removal within the larger context of the United States' transition from a limited republic to a democracy that championed white male equality. The book highlights the importance of local concerns over sovereignty, whiteness, and violence to better understand how politics at the state and federal levels succumbed to the violent dispositions of Georgia's frontier residents"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 16 1 Order and Sovereignty 26 2 Disorder in the Disputed Territory 41 3 The slicks and the Pony Club 64 4 The Convergence of State and Federal Policy 87 5 The Georgia Guard and the Politics of Order, 1830–1832 107 6 The Georgia Guard and the White Man's Chance, 1832–1836 136 7 The Militia and the Coming of Order 165 Conclusion 186 Notes 194 Bibliography 216 Index 230 A 230 B 230 C 230 D 231 E 231 F 232 G 232 H 233 I 233 J 233 L 233 M 233 N 234 O 234 P 234 R 234 S 235 T 235 U 235 V 235 W 235 Y 236