United States Congress Quotes
It shall and may be lawful for the President to have the same superintendence and care over any tribe or nation in the country to which they may remove, as contemplated by this act, that he is now authorized to have over them at their present places of residence: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed as authorizing or directing the violation of any existing treaty between the United States and any of the Indian tribes.
This law allowed the President to forcibly move entire tribes from their native lands to sparsely settled land in the West. Oklahoma became knows as Indian Territory as so many Indians were relocated there. The act, and this clause in particular, gave the President the authority over all Indian tribes in the nation and established the difficult if not impossible relationship between the Indian nations and the Federal government. The act—the last sentence of the quote—also ratified all treaties with the Indians and pronounced them inviolate. That was not to be.
U. S. Congress, Indian Removal Act, May 28, 1830
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Cherokee's had fallen under the control of the Confederate military and Ross had urged Federal military protection for the tribe.
The Indians did not have the wheel when the whites came, but soon there were wagons, stage coaches and railroads.
There was then legislation proposed to to nullify a number of Indian treaties. Indians themselves were divided as to the desirability. Mrs. Roosevelt favored negotiations and discussions with each tribe separately regarding their treaties as opposed to the proposed legislation which treated the tribes monolithically when indeed they were 500 separate tribes with different cultures, needs and desires.
While Jefferson was clear on this point, there were other forces and points of view that did not recognize Indian rights and were prepared to use force to obtain Indian lands. These, together with some Indians who made bad and sometimes corrupt bargains and treaties ceding land, produced the loss of most of the Indian land in America.
Despite Jefferson’s reasonable intentions towards the Indians, all the boundaries never did get fixed and existing agreements and treaties were abrogated usually by whites acting illegally but then were supported by their state government and if serious hostilities broke out, the Federal government usually entered the fray to defend the whites regardless of whether or not they abrogated the treaties. Some Indian nations complicated the situation by having a tradition of raiding neighbors and stealing horses or other goods. Whites, insisting on then rather severe “English type” law enforcement often inadvertently, started an Indian war with the Federal soldiers almost always defeating the Indians leading to yet another treaty by which the Indians were pushed from their land, Further, many whites “bought” lands from Indians in good faith while the Indians did not own the lands, thought that they were selling hunting rights as they had no tradition of property ownership. The consequence was tragic history which Jefferson and his successors failed to manage well.
In the only presidential Special Message to Congress on the subject of Indians in American history:
In a tragic irony, the two chiefs were killed by a year later at the Sand Creek Massacre.
Most of the Colonies had laws against Indians possessing guns and any white seeing such was allowed to attack such Indians. Rhode Island had peaceful relations with the Indians and not only allowed Indians to carry firearms for hunting but hired them to do the hunting as they were better at it and did not value their time as highly as the whites. However, travelers coming from out of the colony would see an Indian with a gun, and shoot at him thereby killing or injuring friendly Indians and causing racial problems when there were few. The quotation also illustrates that there was little uniformity amongst the colonies as to how to deal with their various social and political problems.
The Iroquois were among the most sophisticated of the North American Indian Tribes. They also were highly assimilated into the American society. In the next decades, they would switch their political position when New York State provided better legal guarantees for Iroquois land than the Federal Government. By the end of the 20th Century, led by the Iroquois, the Indian residents of New York State had the same level of earnings as the white man—and that was with NO INDIAN GAMING.
There were a few members of Congress who were distressed at the deception that was very often used in negotiations with Indians. They never were a sufficient majority to pass serious, meaningful legislation.
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, and only rarely to a third party or as independents. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 Representatives and 100 Senators.; A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations, or groups.
