It is estimated that the Cherokees inhabited the land now known as the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama for hundreds or even thousands of years prior to European contact. For the most part women farmed, and men hunted. The Cherokees governed themselves through consensus and allowed both men and women to join in debates. It was not until European settlers arrived that the ownership of land became an issue and the Cherokees found it necessary to create laws and treaties to protect their homeland.
On 28 November 1785 the Cherokees signed the first of such treaties, the Treaty of Hopewell. This served as a peace treaty between European settlers and the Cherokees intended to ensure protection of Cherokee land. Yet Georgia refused to acknowledge the treaty; in 1828 Georgia outlawed the Cherokee national government, which by 1827 consisted of a constitution that allowed for a bicameral legislature, a chief executive, and a judicial system. The state of Georgia required a loyalty oath for whites living within the Cherokee Nation and created the Georgia Guard to enforce state law. The fate of the Cherokees' land was ultimately determined once gold was discovered in Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1829. As a result President Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) signed the Indian Removal Act on 28 May 1830. The Cherokee Nation fought removal by taking their case to the Supreme Court in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in 1831. The Court had to choose whether to uphold the laws of the Cherokee national government or those of the state of Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall (1755–1835), while declining to rule on the validity of Cherokee law, declared the Cherokee Nation a "domestic dependent nation" that would not be affected by the laws of individual states even though it was considered part of the United States and so was subject to federal rule. In late December 1830 Georgia passed a law requiring white men to acquire a license from the state before entering Indian country. After the law took effect on 1 March 1831, eleven missionaries were arrested because they had not sought licenses, and nine received pardons from the governor in exchange for a promise that they would obey Georgia law in the future. Samuel A. Worcester and Elizur Butler, who refused the pardon, were sentenced to prison for four years. Their challenge to the verdict came before the Supreme Court in March 1832 as Worcester v. Georgia. The court ruled in favor of the Cherokees and claimed that Georgia law was not valid within the Cherokee Nation. The Georgia Guard continued to enforce state law in the Cherokee Nation in spite of this verdict. When President Jackson did nothing to prevent the guard's attacks on the Cherokee people, some Cherokees began to question the feasibility and success of a continued resistance against removal. In the midst of Georgia's refusal to recognize the Cherokee Nation, several Cherokees began to lose faith in the idea of resistance. One such figure was Elias Boudinot (1740–1821), who had been educated in a missionary school. Previously Boudinot held the position of editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the national newspaper printed in English and the Cherokee syllabary. The first issue appeared on 21 February 1828 and was widely read by Native Americans and settlers. Initially Boudinot chose to run articles and editorials that championed the idea of resistance to removal from Georgia. In 1832 his views on resistance began to change in light of Georgia's refusal to recognize the decision in Worcester v. Georgia and President Jackson's refusal to force the state to comply with the federal ruling. At this point Boudinot opened the issue of Indian removal up for debate. Despite his efforts to garner editorials from both sides, the Cherokee Council refused to allow Boudinot to publish articles questioning the feasibility of resistance. As a result he resigned as editor. Perhaps the most notable pieces of resistance literature were the Cherokee Memorials, documents that held the status of petitions in the nineteenth century. These memorials were written by members of the Cherokee Council and citizens to protest the impending Indian Removal Act of 1830. The majority of Cherokees sided with John Ross (1790–1866), the chief of their tribe, and his efforts to resist removal. However, Boudinot, Major Ridge (1771–1839), and several other Cherokee leaders chose to negotiate with the U.S. Senate and formed what would be known as the Treaty Party. In December 1835 the Treaty Party signed the Treaty of New Echota despite the absence of John Ross and the Cherokee Council. Out of twenty thousand, only two hundred Cherokees met and ratified the treaty that called for their removal west of the Mississippi. The treaty gave the Cherokees two years to prepare for the removal. General Winfield Scott (1786–1866) was placed in charge of the forced removal that later came to be known as the Trail of Tears. The removal began in the summer of 1838, and many Cherokees died from exhaustion, hunger, and disease. In the winter of 1838–1839 fourteen thousand Cherokees marched twelve hundred miles into what is now Oklahoma. It is estimated that four thousand died. On 22 June 1839 a band of Cherokee assassins killed Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot for signing the Treaty of New Echota.
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