their countrymen; on the other, a deputation was appointed in council, on the part of the nation, to repel their complaints, and to negotiate with the secretary of war concerning their boundaries. This deputation was instructed not to admit, in any shape, the validity of the late treaty, nor the illegality of M'Intosh's execution; but to fix upon some course by which the tribes might not be entirely removed from their country, and, at the same time, to enable the Uni troops, to restore tranquillity among the Creeks, and to prevent any disturbances between them and the frontier settlers. After a full examination of the Creek chieftains, the special agent reported the facts to the war department, and the bad faith and corruption were so strongly supported by the statements of the witnesses, and so great a majority of the tribes (about) appeared to be hostile to the treaty, that the president decided not to suffer any interference with them, until the meeting of, ted States to perform its contract congress. This decision gave with Georgia. great offence to governor Troup, and he threatened to take the execution of the treaty into his own hands; but the firm and decided tone which the president at last was compelled to adopt, induced him to leave the affair to the constitutional authorities. After a long negotiation, a treaty was concluded between the secretary of war and this deputation, by which the old treaty was annulled, and the Creek nation ceded to the United States all the land east of the Chatahoochy river, and a tract west of the river, beginning Although the president had thus 47 miles below the intersection of resolved to postpone the execution the boundary line between the of the treaty from motives of hu- Creeks and Cherokees and the manity to the Creek tribes, he was Chatahoochy, and thence 30 miles still anxious to satisfy the claims of west of Buzzard's roost, thence to Georgia, and the efforts of the war Buzzard's roost, and thence to the department were directed to the place of beginning. This was af accomplishment of that object, terwards extended to certain points, provided it could be done without so as to comprehend all the Creek violating the rights of the Indians. lands within the estimated limits of While on the one side a number of Georgia, for the sum of $30,000. chiefs belonging to the M'Intosh The consideration of the new treaparty, presented themselves at ty was $217,000 paid to the Creek Washington, to urge the govern- nation, and a perpetual annuity of ment to espouse their quarrel with $20,000. To the M'Intosh party, the United States agreed to pay $100,000, provided that party amounted to 3000; and so in proportion for a smaller number. The improvements were to be estimated and paid for by the United States, and a tract of land beyond the Mississippi was to be provided, at their expense, for the accommodation of those who might choose to emigrate, and the expense of removal, and of the first year's subsistence, was also to be borne by the federal government. The chief difference between this treaty and the one declared void, was in the amount of territory ceded, of the consideration, and the manner in which that consideration was distributed. By the void treaty, the whole Creek territory in Alabama, as well as in Georgia, was ceded for the sum of $400,000, to be distributed by the commissioners who negotiated the treaty. By the new treaty, the Creeks retained all their land in Alabama, and received a more liberal compensation, which was to be paid to the representatives of the whole nation. Opposition, however, was made to the new treaty by the Georgia delegation, and by others unfriendly to the national administration. The committee on Indian affairs, in the senate, reported through (Mr. Benton) their chairman against the ratification of the treaty, but the senate ratified the same by a vote of 30 to 7, of which latter number three had been placed on the committee, who reported against it. In the house of representatives, the unanimity was still greater. On the passage of the bill making appropriations to carry into effect the new treaty, the vote stood 167 to 10. To the passage of this bill, the Georgia delegation offered a protest, in which having described the treaties, (which the protest styles contracts,) the delegation proceeds to declare that the first treaty partially fulfilled the obligations of the United States towards Georgia, and removed every difficulty interposed by the occupation of the Creeks to the full exercise of all the vested rights of the state over a large portion of her territority: that the government of the United States, nor any branch of it, could not invalidate nor interrupt, without the consent of Georgia, her right secured by that treaty, ratified with all due solemnity: that the new treaty differs from the old one in not providing for the removal of the Indians until 1827, and then not expressly providing for their removal from all the land occupied by them in Georgia; they "therefore protest against it as violating the rights of that member of the union of which they are the representatives, leaving it to the constitutional organs of the state sovereignty to vindicate or wave those rights, as their own sense of propriety, their duty to the people of the state, and their reverence for the union of the states, under the federal constitution, may dictate." To the entry of this protest on the journal of the house, some objection was made; but on the ground that it was a protest on the part of a state delegation, as such it was permitted, by a vote of 82 to 61. The unanimity with which the conduct of the executive, in the settlement of this intricate and unpleasant controversy, was approved by congress, was as unexpected as it was satisfactory to the people in every part of the country, except in the state of Georgia itself, where strong and excited feelings prevented a fair and impartial consideration of the question. At the commencement of the dispute, governor Troup, in order to obtain support in other states, appealed to the peculiar sympathies of the citizens in the adjoining states, and in his first legislative message, accused the national government with an improper and unconstitutional interference with the slave property in the southern states. The facts he adduced in support of this charge were, 1st. A resolution, submitted by Mr. King, of New-York, pledging all public lands which were not pledged for the redemption of the public debt, as a fund for the emancipation and removal beyond the limits of the United States, of such slaves as were allowed to be removed or emancipated "by the laws of the several states respectively." These 2dly. Certain expressions which he imputed to the attorney general of the United States, as uttered in the argument of the case of certain Africans, who were captured, and brought into the United States, and whose freedom was claimed, as having been transported in contravention of the laws of this coun try, by American citizens. expressions, which, if they had been used in a legal discussion, would not have warranted any charge against the general government, were magnified by governor Troup into deliberate opinions uttered by its official organ, and as showing its intention to divest the citizens of the south of their property without compensation. To avert this impending danger, he called upon them "to stand by their arms." call, which in any other country would have been regarded as an indication of civil war, did not produce any general apprehension of serious consequences, although it was sanctioned by a report to the state legislature. In the United States, these ebullitions of lo This cal feelings are safely left to the care of public opinion, and the moral sentiment of the community; and the threats and denunciations of Governor Troup were not productive of any result, except a warm and rather undignified correspondence between him and the United States agents stationed in the Creek country. Between him and the war department, the dispute was terminated by the refusal of the president to permit any encroachment upon the Indian lands, and the orders of the secretary to arrest and deliver over to the judicial authority all intruders upon their territory. The premature alarm which the governor had sought to create in relation to the slave property, by alluding to the official opinions of the attorney general, was entirely prevented by the prompt contradiction, by that gentleman, of the opinions imputed to him, and by the declaration of the person to whom governor Troup appealed to substantiate his assertion, that he had been wholly misunder stood. The conclusion of this business in congress showed how small was the effect produced by the intemperate course of the state government, and the little sympathy felt by the nation for the unfounded complaints of governor Troup. was thus extending its protecting care to the southern Indians, the unfortunate aboriginals in the north western states and territories were not neglected. In conformity with the system which was first laid down under Washington's administration, and to which public attention had this summer been forcibly attracted, the national authorities earnestly sought to avert the extinction of the tribes, which wandered over that vast wilderness, and to promote their happiness by the introduction of peace and civilization. With this benevolent view, governors Cass and Clark were deputed to treat with the Indians of the upper Mississippi for the purpose of restoring peace between the tribes of that part of the country. For many years past, hostilities had been carried on between the Sioux on one side, and the Foxes, Sacs, and Menominies on the other. Wars had also existed between them and the Chippawas, Winnebagoes, Ottowas, and Pottawatomies, on account of their hunting grounds, and unsettled boundaries. In the month of August, deputations from these seve ral tribes, to the number of 2000 and upwards, met the United States commissioners at Prairie des Chiens, and entered upon the discussion of their several claims under the mediation of the United While the national government States. Maps were produced, and The total expense for presents and subsistence in accomplishing this benevolent work, did not exceed $40,000; and the dictates of sound policy towards our own citizens, in securing tranquillity upon the frontier, as well as motives of humanity, were both consulted in this expenditure. Another object of the government was, to remove the tribes scattered through the several states, to a tract of country west of the Mississippi, and to concentrate them into one nation, with some plan for their government and civilization. This plan was fully developed in a message of the late president, 27th January, 1825, in which its advantages were strongly depicted. With the constant superintendence and protecting care of the federal government, this scheme might be put in practice, and the annihilation of the original inhabitants of the American forest prevented. Without that care, the policy of bringing tribes with savage habits and inimical feelings into immediate contact, may be well doubted. To carry this plan into effect, treaties were made with the Osages and the Kanzas, extinguishing their titles to the territory west of the Mississippi, excepting to certain reservations for their own use, and providing those tribes with domestic animals, blacksmiths, and persons to teach them agricultural employments. By these treaties, a tract was provided for those Indians, who might be induced to emigrate from the states on this side of that river. The Indians, however, were generally unwilling to remove, and, at a meeting with some of the tribes in Ohio, in May, 1825, they refused to do any thing to promote the views of our government. The Shawanee tribe, in Missouri, were not so reluctant to comply with that arrangement; and, in consideration of a sum of money, and an annual payment in iron, with a blacksmith to work it, at the expense of the United States, they exchanged their lands for a tract in the territory purchased from the Osages, and agreed to remove thither. Treaties of amity and protection were also made with most of the tribes in that vast tract between Missouri and Mexico, by which the Indians permitted the United States to lay out a road through their lands, for the traders |