— Ch. 1 · Trail Of Tears And Southern Ways —
Cherokee in the American Civil War.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
The Cherokee Nation stood in the Blue Ridge Mountains before 1830. Chief John Ross led a delegation to the U.S. Supreme Court that year. They argued for their rights in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. The court set a precedent but the United States enforced removal anyway. Andrew Jackson ordered most Cherokees west of the Mississippi River along what became known as the Trail of Tears. Some Cherokee remained in the mountains while others moved to Indian Territory. Those who relocated adopted Southern ways before the war began. Their society held slavery as a primary institution throughout the pre-war period. Laws explicitly prohibited black slaves from obtaining citizenship in their nation. Later laws excluded persons of color altogether. The Cherokee judiciary and legislative bodies promulgated similar laws regarding race and enslaved status. They attempted to legally define themselves as equal to whites or European Americans. This effort came at the expense and exclusion of non-white and non-Indian groups. In particular they excluded Blacks. The Cherokee aligned with the Confederacy partly due to existing cultural affinities. Trading and legal ties connected them to states that had seceded. Cherokee in Indian Territory opposed William Seward's campaigning in 1860 on behalf of Abraham Lincoln. Seward said Lincoln would open the Indian Territory for white settlement.
Ross Versus Watie And Class Divisions
Chief John Ross insisted upon the nation's neutrality when the war broke out. A highly influential member named Stand Watie supported the Confederate cause. On the 1st of June 1861, Watie began recruiting all-Indian units that became part of the Confederate army. Full-blooded Cherokee tended to support Ross who was primarily Scottish. Mixed-blooded Cherokee supported the three-quarters Cherokee Stand Watie. These terms were not racial categories but rather a cultural and class distinction. The primarily Cherokee-speaking nationalist and anti-slavery lower class considered full-blooded. The largely English-speaking assimilationist and slaveholding aristocracy considered mixed-blooded. The Gold Cloak Society composed mainly of mixed slave owners supported the confederacy. Members of the Keetoowah Society organized in opposition to that support. Stand Watie in 1862 was elected Chief of the newly declared Southern Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation had approximately 21,000 members with 3,000 serving as soldiers. Albert Pike served as Commissioner for tribes west of Arkansas and south of Kansas. He facilitated treaties with various tribes by mid-1861. Confederate President Jefferson Davis referred to a now-lost Act for the protection of certain tribes. Pike negotiated agreements concluding with the Cherokee in October of that year.