" But in 1826 and 1827 treaties were obtained finally
extinguishing Creek titles in the State. Land west of the Mississippi
was promised to all Creeks who would go there.
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.
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