Alternate History

Will Goodson

Alternate History

If any Native Americans had ever doubted that the arrival of European settlers would eventually lead to the destruction of their way of life. All doubt was gone with the events of the 1830’s. American of European heritage had decided that Indians were dangerous, uncivilized, and just too different to fit with the new country they were building. The European settlers also believed that the land Indians lived on would be better used and more productive if whites had the land instead. The and the government agreed with them. In 1831 in the case of Cherokee Nation vs State of Georgia the indians were denied the protection of the court system and were not protected by the constitution. This ruling justified the 1830 Indian Removal Act. In five years Andrew jackson was able to almost complete the removal of the Native Americans from their land to the west. The indians had never stood a chance after the 1832 ruling in Worcester vs State of Georgia that gave the federal government the jurisdiction over indian territories. As a result in 1838 the Cherokee people who had farmed, had a written language, published a newspaper and had converted to christianity were forced to go to Oklahoma. Other indian tribes were also forced to go West. On the Trail of Tears these people were starved, some frozen, any many thousands died. They marched over over 1,000 miles.

What if things had been different? What if one thing could have changed all these  outcomes? Would indians still be living segregated lives on reservations in 2011? Could the Trail of Tears been avoided? Lets see what might have happened if one thing had been changed. here is how history might have been different.

Gold was discovered in Georgia in 1829. Whites began to overrun the lands of the Cherokee. The Cherokee were civilized and knew the courts were the way to get the state of Georgia to protect there rights. After several months the case, known as Cherokee Nation vs. State of Georgia got all the way to the supreme court. In an important decision the highest court ruled that indians were to have all the protection that any other citizen would have.  The decision was what Congressman Davy Crocket used to get enough votes to repeal the 1830 Indian Removal Act. The repeal of this act stopped the removal of all tribes. The way the Cherokee handled the situation gained the respect of many whites.  Indians now were seen as equal citizens that would be protected by the government.  Over many years the Native Americans became active and valuable members of their communities.  Whites and indians worked together to build their towns and states.

So in the end we have the real story where a court case changed the course of history. The court’s ruling denied indians the full protection of the constitution.  That allowed the 1830 Indian Removal Act to go unchallenged.  Indians were forced onto reservations in western lands.  This denied them the chance to integrate into the developing United States, and that was not good for them or the whites.