Indian Rights Quotes
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.
This was passed in 1787 before the Constitution had become operative, but was then ratified by Congress in 1789. It was one of the first acts of our new nation, and one of the most frequently violated throughout our history.
Surprisingly to most people, American Indians born in the United States were not automatically citizens until this law was passed making them so.
In the only presidential Special Message to Congress on the subject of Indians in American history:
The intentions of the Founding Fathers towards the Indians was decent, respectful, and well intentioned. However, there was not enough of a system of enforcement or the will to enforce when the greed of the average whites grew too great. Many settlers saw these vast lands and could not see any harm in using a few acres for their farm. And if there had been only a few, there would have been little trouble. However, the settlers kept coming and coming and soon the Indians began to push back. In a sense, it was a class problem. The members of the Continental Congress who wrote the Northwest Ordinance were educated, affluent men who had plenty of land. Most of the men who contested for the Indian lands had little land or were newly affluent and saw few limits to America.
The legal and governmental relationships with the Indians has from the very beginning of the nation been very complex and difficult. The Articles of Confederation had been wholly inadequate to the task and there were attempts to remedy this in the Constitution. There was an improvement but the problems still remain and may never be fairly and reasonably resolved.
Standing Bear and some other Indians left the Indian territory where the government had assigned their tribe and with an invitation went to live on another Indian reservation designated for another tribe. The Government sent the military police to take the Indians back to the Indian Territory. The Indians claimed that they had the right to live wherever they wanted and did not have to live in the place the government had assigned them. The Indians won and since then, Indians like all other Americans were free to go wherever in the country that they wanted so long s they were not trespassing or violating other laws.
Jackson refused to obey this decision, He was the only American President who disobeyed a Supreme Court Decision. In doing this, he killed tens of thousands of Indians, allowed the Southern Whites to steal most of the Cherokee land. His Indian Removal, contrary to this Supreme Court decision, was the worst case of ethnic cleansing in the history of the United States.
The treaty was signed by a number of people including the Navajo leaders but Sherman or his staff drafted most of it. Sherman also had the title then of Indian Peace Commissioner. This clause, together with Article V, {617991} guaranteed the territorial integrity to into the 21st century. The super majority requirement was key, preventing what happened to many other Indian land holdings which were sold off by individuals or so called chief’s who were not really representing the majority of the tribe.
