hat guarantee is hereby pledged." The New Echota Treaty amended that promise to the Nation.
President Jackson, representing the interests of the United States, gave the Cherokee Nation several reasons--most of which centered on states rights--why he wanted them to move west of the Mississippi. In an open letter to the Nation dated March 1835, Jackson told them that their customs were in conflict with the laws of the states whose jurisdiction they were now a part. He wrote "You are liable to prosecutions for offences, and to civil nations for a breach of any of your contracts." Hugh White of Tennessee further elaborated on this point on the Senate floor. He said the articles of confederation, which had been replaced by the constitution 46 years earlier, still secured the rights of each state to govern any population within its limits. He predicted that if the federal government protected the Cherokee Nation from the white residents of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi that civil war might erupt. He said "And what will be the consequences if you do? Why, civil strife and bloodshed enough to make any man shudder." President Jackson foretold extinction of the Indian population if they stayed in their present location. He wrote "Your condition must become worse and worse, and you will ultimately disappear, as so many tribes have done before you . . . You have but one remedy within your reach."
John Ridge's father and a ranking Nation member, The Ridge, also apparently agreed with President Jackson. In a speech before the general council, he told a few hundred members of the Nation that there is "one path of safety, one road to future existence as a Nation." The Ridge cited that the United States was strong and populous and that the Indians were weak and few. The Ridge further cited that the Georgians "harass our braves and make the children suffer and cry."
Historical accounts paint subchief John Ridg...