Timeline

Cherokee Life

Biographies

Red Clay

New Echota

Chief Vann House

Bibliography

ThinkQuest

Many events and prevailing attitudes came together to finally destroy the Cherokee Nation. 

• Gold was discovered in Georgia which made the Cherokee land even more appealing. 
• The Georgia government began holding land lotteries which awarded Cherokee property to Georgia families. 
• A U.S. Supreme Court hearing decision in favor of recognizing the Cherokee Nation as its own nation was ignored by Andrew Jackson. 
• The Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave the U.S. President the authorization to sign treaties with the Cherokees. 
• Finally, in the capital city of this doomed nation, a treaty was signed that finalized the ending of this fine nation. Only about twenty people signed the New Echota treaty of 1835, giving the lands of New Echota to the U.S. government in exchange for land in Oklahoma and a payment of $5,000. Despite the majority of Cherokee citizens opposing the treaty, it was used to justify the removal of an entire nation from their homeland.