The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1829-12-16


ed its own policy and the Indians in general
receding further to the West, have retained
their savage habits A portion, however, of the
Southern tribes, have mingled much with the
whites, and made some progress in the arts of
the civilized lie, have lately attempted to erect
an Independent Government within the limits
of Georgia and Alabama. These States, claim
ing to be the only Sovereigns within their ter.
ritorles, extended their laws over the Indians ;
which induced the latter to call upon the United
States for protection.
Under these circumstances the question pre-
sented was, whether the General Government
had right to sustain those people in their pre-
tensions? The Constitution declares, that g no
new State shall be formed or erected within the
jurisdiction ofany other State" wthoutthe con-
sent of its Legislature If the General Gov
eminent is not permitted to tolerate the erec-
ton OF confederate State within the territory
OF one OF the members of this Union, against
! her consent, much less could it allow foreign
! and independent government to establish itself
there. Georgia became member of the con-
tederacy which eventuated in our Federal Union,
! as sovereign State, always asserting her
claim to certain limits; which having been
originally defined in her colonial charter, and
subsequently recognized in the treaty of peace,
she has ever since continued to enjoy, except
as they have been cIrcumscribed by her own
voluntary transfer of portion of her territory
( to the United States, in the articles of cession
! OF loC2. Alabama admitted into the Union
on the same footing with the original States,
with boundaries which were prescribed by
Congress
There is no constitutional, conventional, or
legal provision, which allows them less power
over the Indians within their borders, than s
possessed by Maine or New York Would the
people of Maine permit the Penobscot tribe
to erect an Independent Government within
their State And unless they did, would il
not be the duty of the General Government to
| support them in resisting such measure
J Would the people of New York permit each
remnant of the Six Nations within her borders,
to declare itself an Independent people, under
the protection of the United States? Could the
! Indians establish a separate republic on each
OF their reservations in Ohio9 And if they
were so disposed, would it be the duty Of this
Government to protect them in the attempt
II the principle involved in the obvious answer
to these questions be abandoned, it will follow
that the objects of this Government are reversed,
and that 1t has become part of its duty to aid
in destroying the States which it was estab-
llshed to protect
Actuated by this view of the subject, in
formed the Indians inhabiting parts OF Georgia
4 and Alabama that their attempt to establish an
Independent Government would not be counten-
anced by the Executive of the United Statos
and advised them to emgrate beyond the Mis-
sisslPpi, or submit to the laws of those States.
Our conduct towards these people is deeply
interesting to our national character. Their
present condition contrasted with what they
once were, makes most powerful appeal to
our sympathies. Our ancestors found them
the uncontrolled possessors OF these vast regions
by persuasion and force, they have been made
10 retire from river to river, and from mountain
10 mountain, until some of the tribes have
become extinct, and others have left but rem
nants to preserve, for awhile, their once terri
Bile names. Surrounded by the whites, with
their arts of civilization, which, by DESTROYING
the resources of the savage, doom him to weak
ness and decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the
Narragansett, and the Delaware, is fast over
J taking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the
f Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if
they remain within the limits of the States,
} does not admit of doubt Humanity and ma
tional honor demand that every effort should be
made TO avert SO great a calamity. 1t is too
late TO inquire whether it was just in the United
States to include them their territory within
the bounds of the new States, whose limits they
could control. That step cannot be retraced
A State cannot be dismembered by Congress,
or restricted in the exercise of her constitution
! al powers. But the people of these States. and
OF every State actuated by feelings of Justice
and regard for our national honor, submit to
} you the interesting question, whether some
thing cannot be done, consistently with the
! rights of the States, to preserve this much in
iured race?
As means of effecting this end, | suggest,
, for your consideration the propriety of setting
apart an ample district west of the Mississippi.
and without the limits of any State or Territory
now formed, TO be guaranteed to the Indian
! tribes as long as they shall occupy it; each
tribe having distinct control over the portion
designated for its use. There may be secured
IN the enjoyment of governments of their own
; choice, subject to no other control from the
Uuited States, than such as may be necessary
TO preserve peace on the frontier and between
the several tribes. There the benevolent NAV
endeavor to teach them the arts of civilization
, and by promoting union and harmony among
them, to raise up an interesting commonwealth
! destined to perpetuate the race, and to attest
} the humanity and justice of this Government.
This emigration should be voluntary for it
would be as cruel as unjust to compel the abo.
rhymes to abandon the graves of their fathers.
! and seek homo in distant land. But they
: should be distinctly informed, that if they re-
} main within the limits of the States, they must
! be subject to their laws In return for their
obedience individuals, they will without
doubt, be protected in the enjoyment of those
possessions which they have improved by their
) industry. But it seems to me visionary to sup
> pose that in this state of things, claims can be
+ allowed on tracts of country on which they have
t neither dwelt nor made improvements, merely
Z because they have seen them from the noun
tain or passed them in the chace. Submitting
to the laws of the States, and receiving, like
: other citizens, protection in their persons and
, property, they will ere long, become merged in
the mass of our population.
The accompanying report of the Secretary
of the Navy will make you acquainted with the
, condition and useful employment of that branch
: of our service, during the present year. Con.
5 sttuLing as it does, the best standing security
! of this country against foreign aggression, It
claims the especial attention of Government
; In this spirit the measures which, since the
: termination of the last war, have been in oper-