The problem of the Cherokees was more difficult.  By a series of treaties beginning in 1785 the United States had recognized this people as a nation, capable of making peace and war, of owning the lands within its boundaries, and of governing and punishing its own citizens by its own laws.  At the close of Jefferson’s second Administration the tribe seriously considered moving west of the Mississippi, and shortly after the War of 1812 most of the northern members resident in Tennessee took the long-deferred step.  The refusal of the Georgia members to go with the Tenneseeans disappointed the land-hungry whites, and from that time the authorities of the State labored incessantly both to break down the notion that the Cherokees were a “nation” to be dealt with through diplomatic channels, and to extend over them, in effect, the full sovereignty of the State.  In December, 1828, the Legislature took the bold step of enacting that all white persons in the Cherokee territory should be subject to the laws of Georgia; that after June 1, 1830, all Indians resident in this territory should be subject to such laws as might be prescribed for them by the State; and that after this date all laws made by the Cherokee Government should be null and void.

When Jackson became President he found on his desk a vigorous protest against this drastic piece of legislation.  But appeal to him was useless.  He was on record as believing, in common with most southwesterners, that Georgia had a rightful jurisdiction over her Indian lands; and his Secretary of War, Eaton, was instructed to say to the Cherokee representatives that their people would be expected either to yield to Georgia’s authority or to remove beyond the Mississippi.  In his first annual message, on December 8, 1829, the President set forth the principles that guided him from first to last in dealing with the Indian problem.  It would be greatly to the interest of the Indians themselves, he said, to remove to the ample lands that would be set apart for them permanently in the West, where each tribe could have its own home and its own government, subject to no control by the United States except for the maintenance of peace on the frontier and among the tribes.  Forcible removal was not to be contemplated; that would be cruel and unjust.  But every effort was to be made to bring about a voluntary migration.  One thing was to be clearly understood:  any tribe or group that chose to remain in Georgia must submit to the laws of the State and yield its claim to all land which had not been improved.  The President was not indifferent to the well-being of the red men; but he refused to recognize the Cherokees as a “nation” having “rights” as against either Georgia or the United States.  A few weeks after the message was received Congress passed a bill creating an Indian reservation beyond the Mississippi and appropriating five hundred thousand dollars to aid in the removal of such Indians as should choose to accept the offer of the Government.