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The Causes of Wars on the Frontier

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Americans agreed to give up their claim to most of Ohio and Indiana. In 1813–1814, a civil war occurred among the Creek tribe, which lived in west- ern Georgia and Alabama. One faction wanted to live in peace with the Americans. The other, known as the Red Sticks, wanted to fight for their land. In March 1814, General Andrew Jackson led a U.S. army that won a decisive victory over the Red Stick Creeks at Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. Jackson forced the Creeks to sign a peace treaty that gave the United States 23 million acres of land in Alabama and Georgia. Even the Creeks who had remained friendly to the United States were forced to leave their lands under this treaty. Jackson would eventually become the president of the United States, and on May 28, 1830, he signed into law a bill for the complete removal of Native Americans east of the Mississippi River. The Cherokees and

President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which called for eastern tribes to be moved west of the Mississippi River to “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma. No tribes were spared. Even the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations—often called the “Five Civilized Tribes” by whites—were forced to go.

other tribes that had remained in Georgia were stunned. They had tried to adopt the ways of the Europeans. They had even adopted a constitution modeled on the U.S. Constitution. Had they not been good neighbors? However, the Americans had another reason for wanting the Cherokee lands in Georgia. Gold had been discovered there. The state of Georgia passed laws making it a crime to discourage Cherokees from leaving the state. When missionaries took the side of the Native Americans, they, too, were thrown in jail. The Cherokees would have to leave. The governor of Georgia divided up their territories and distributed it in a lottery to white Georgians. Not all white Americans favored the removal of Native Americans. The Indians had some famous defenders in Congress, including Senator Daniel Webster and Senator Henry Clay. In addition, Reverend Samuel