The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-12-15
From the NationaZ Ln.e,,igencer.

lanu.
/ From the National Ln:e!.igencer.
WHAT ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITFr
STATES TO DO IN REGARD TO THE IN
DIAN QUESTION
| Gentlemen In my former number. endeav
ored to exhibit the present state of the Indiar
| question, and now proceed to cmbody in this M
per several things, which the people OF the Uniiec
St1tes, ere bound to do in regard TO IT, In thi.
attempt, make no claim to originality. but freely
avail myself OF suggestions, made on various public
occasions, by numerous patriotic citizens residing
, in different parts of the country
Let 1t be borne in mind that the evil aprre.
hended is mo- less than this That the people OF
he Cn.ted States tciH deliberately, for a small
temptation. commit a tcdnton and fagitiots rioln
ticn Of the public faith that in doing this then
tclH Cypress qceak and dependent allies and thai
they ic,H thus bring upon Themselves great disgrace
and gull, and upon the country neuer ending re-
pronch and shame. This is the evil 70 be ayerted
ana is not the occasion worthy of the most stren.
uous exertlons, which every friend of the country
can make Is not the exigcncy extreme. and the
necessity OF immediate effort mperious? All who
thnK with the writer of these paragraphs must an
s"er IN the affirmative, and will be inclined seri-
] ousiy TO consider the following suggestions:
/ Ihe people Of the United States are bound
10 regard the Cherokces and other Indians as men
as human beings, entitled to receive the same
treatment as Englishmen. Frenchmen, or ourselves.
would be entitled to receive in the same circum-
! stances. Here is the only weak place in the
cause. hey are not treated as men: and if thew
are finally elected from their patrimonia nheri-
lance by arbitrary and unrighteous power the peo-
pie OF the United States will be impeached and
condemned for treating the Indians. not as men.
bat as anlmals, The sentence will he pronounced
against US, that while we boosted of our attach
ment to liberty and set ourselves up as patrons of
the rights OF man, we treated the weak and de-
pendent-even our old and long tried allies if
weak and dependent, we treated not as men, but
as animals. Fellow citizens is this horrible in
lqulty to be perpetrated by us q?
Why should not the Cherokees Greeks. and
Choctaws, be treated as men Their ancestors
were thus treated, when Oglethorpe landed at Sa-
vannah and when he begged them as the rightful
sovereigns of the territory. to spare him little
land on which to settle, and promised them ever
lasting friendship and good neighborhood. The
last generation was treated in the same manner by
Washington. when he sent for Creek Chiefs; in
I dnccd them to visit tie sea. or government; OK
planned his wishes to them, gave them his advice.
and formed an honorable treaty with them. by
which the United States solemnly guaranteed TO
them known boundary. The Cherokees and
Choctaws were treated as men, during the last
war, when they fought by the side ofthe command.
er who is now President of the United States and
were praised for their bravery, their fdelit, and
their devotedness to the of their great allv
These tribes have always been treated as men, till
within three years past. And why should they not
he so treated still l-What have they done to for
felt their human character why should not a
compact with them be construed and executed as
compact would be, to which France and Switzer-
land, the Emperor of Austria and the Hanse
Towns, might be parties Why should not a bar
gain with John Ross be subject to the same. rules
| Of Interpretation, as bargain with Mr. Girard of
Philadelphia, or the Earrings in London
Once establish the position that Indians are to be
men nd he h1r tbor
cause instantly. The controversy is for ever at
an end. We might as well dispute whether are
bound by the treaty of 1903, to protect the Catho-
lies of New Orleans in the free profession and
else of their religion whether the St. Lawrence
is part of the boundary between the United States
and Canada; whether by the treaty of Client
the British engaged to eyacuate the eastern part OF
Maine; to hesitate, whether the Cherokees have
the sole and exclusive jurisdiction over their own
! territory.
If the Indians had never been allowed to possess
the attributes of men. the would be very diff.
ferent from what it now is. Long continued en-.
! croachments do not indeed farash justification oil
those who make them but they prove that the op
pressors may possibly not perceive the true nature
of their oppressive acts In this matter we cannot
offer even the sorry plea Of prescription in crime
as an extenuation Of our guilt The presidents, in
our own country, are all against us. For two hun
dred years the Indians have been treated like othe
men, to the acknowledgment of their rights anC
the Interpretation of treaties made with them
Cherokees are now living, who have been assured
hundreds of times, by the accredited agents of ou
Government, that the United States would neye
permit any encroachmemt to be made upon them
that their country would remain involate, as Ion!
as they pleased to retain it and that all treat.s
were to be executed with the strictest honor anC
fidelity How humiiating the thought, that thes
upright decisions to be reversed; and all en-
gagements to perform the merest acts Of Justice arr
to be violated withonta single reason or pretext
the bare mention of which would not disgrace I'll
honest man, in any private transaction
If the Indians are men, they are under the protec
ton of law. The People of this country demand
that essential interests of individuals should not
touched, unless by the operation of law. Who ha
forgotten the case of Rowland Stephenson II
came to this country, rs was universally supposed
an absconded debtor, a fraudulent bankrupt,
swmdling defaulter. He had no peculiar claims o
the country, or its government. He had not pei
haps, in the United States, personal acquaintanc
who felt any deep interest in him while his ow
6 countrymen and his own Government wished to al
rest him. Yet the People Of the United State
said, with one voice, mo man is to be arreste
here, whatever his character and whatever b
country, unless by due process Of lao" Two cite
in States distant from each other, were thrown int
great agitation by the attempt to carry him out
" the country clandestinsy. This was right; for
one man, however ill-deserving. may be remove
: from the protection OF the law, it is impossible
n tell who will be removed next. Rowland Stephel
!, son, though stranger and fugitive, and unive
sally believed to be culprit, experienced the pr
:, Itection Of law. because he was man; but RIOS
II | and Hicks, and Boudinot and Folsom, with mo
i than twelve thousand Indian families, cannot ava
l. themselves Of the protection Of law not even
l. treaties, which expressly declared by our co
/ sttution 10 be the supreme law of the land, al
which, by the common consent of Nations, are I
n' most sacred Of oil laws These twelve thousa
e Indian families arc not fugitives nor strange
Q, Thoy inhetted tho immemorial possessions Of tn