Was the treaty of New Echota the first treaty that removed the Cherokee Indians?
was discovered in Georgia. This discovery was on Cherokee land ceded to the U. S. in 1817 (Duke’s Creek), however, gold was soon found inside the Cherokee Nation. In 1832 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Cherokee Nation to be sovereign (Worcester v. Georgia). This has constitutional implications, disallowing the state of Georgia from passing any law governing the Cherokee. However, the Georgia Guard destroyed the Cherokee newspaper’s (The Cherokee Phoenix) printing press, and soon thereafter began harassing and illegally detaining Cherokee citizens, in clear opposition to the law, with the not so silent consent of Andrew Jackson. Then, in 1835 the Treaty of New Echota was signed, and 1838 was the deadline for voluntary removal to Oklahoma. Thus beginning the Trail of Tears.
