This document summarizes the forced removal of Native American tribes from the Southeast region of the United States in the 1830s under the Indian Removal Act. It outlines the five main tribes affected - the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. It describes how the Cherokees and Choctaws lost their lands, with the Cherokees unsuccessfully fighting removal in the Supreme Court. It concludes that Indian removal was driven by non-Native Americans wanting their lands, not because the tribes refused to adopt Western ways.

1. Indian Removal

2. The Five “Civilized” Tribes
•Cherokees (Southern Appalachians)
•Choctaws (Mississippi, Alabama,
Louisiana)
•Creeks (South Georgia and Alabama)
•Chickasaws (North Mississippi, West
Tennessee)
•Seminoles (Florida)

3. Cherokees
•Had a written language, schools, and a
newspaper.
•Capital city of New Echota still stands
today in North Georgia.
•Successfully sued the state of Georgia
in the Supreme Court over land rights.
•President Jackson refused to enforce
the court’s decision.

4. A “Primitive” Cherokee
Dwelling

5. “Primitive” Cherokee
Print Shop

6. “Primitive” Cherokee
Dwelling

7. Choctaws
•Gave up most of their land in the 1832
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.
•Most went to Oklahoma, but a few
stayed behind.

8. FACT
•If you could take a trip to 1828
Mississippi, you couldn’t tell the
difference between a white farm and a
Choctaw farm unless the owner came
out to greet you.

9. Conclusion
Indians were not removed because they
refused to “get with the times” and
adopt the “white man’s ways.”
Indians were removed because they
were IN THE WAY and felt that the land
they’d lived on for thousands of years
was theirs.

10. RESISTANCE
•After the Sauk and Fox were removed from
Illinois, a warrior named Black Hawk led his
people back, spawning what became known
as “Black Hawk’s War.” Today, Black Hawk
is best known as a hockey mascot.

11. MORE RESISTANCE
In Florida, the Seminoles, led by
Osceola also refused to go along
with removal.
Osceola was told that the
Americans wanted to discuss a
peace treaty. When he showed
up to discuss it, he was arrested
and imprisoned. He died a
prisoner.

12. Today…
•“Osceola” can be seen at every Florida State
home game, where he once again declares
war on people who invade Florida