The Trail Of Brotherly Love

Who helped The Five Civilized Tribes before the Great Removal?

 

The Five Civilized Tribes are the Choctaw, Creek (Muskogee), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Cherokee tribes.  They were forced to move from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Arkansas to Indian Territory (eastern and southern Oklahoma) during the Great Removal.

 

Did all European Americans support the Great Removal?

 

Many European Americans were opposed to this treatment of the Five Civilized Tribes.

 

In fact, many European Americans fought against the removal of the Five Civilized Tribes to Indian Territory.   They often suffered at the hands of other European Americans for doing so.

 

They were far from the first European Americans to help Native Americans.  This started with the feast of the Pilgrims.

 

Many European Americans over the next two centuries believed that Native Americans and European Americans could live together in a mutually beneficial manner like Wampanoags and Pilgrims did.  They continued the legacy of the Pilgrims. 

 

They continued to help Native Americans long before the Great Removal.  Many of them did all that they could to prevent the Great Removal from ever occurring.

 

They walked the trail of brotherly love.

 

Their efforts began with efforts to educate the Five Civilized Tribes to prevent them from being taken advantage of in trade agreements and treaties.   This began with the Creek in 1707, then the Chickasaw in 1744, then the Cherokee in 1752, then the Choctaw in 1807, and finally the Seminole in 1823.

 

So American missionaries brought education to the Five Civilized Tribes.  The Light of the Five Civilized Tribes helped them in their negotiations to gain more fair treaties than they otherwise would have received.

 

However, that is not the only way that these European Americans helped the Five Civilized Tribes before the Great Removal.

 

Who helped the Creek?

 

James Oglethorpe set out to prevent mistreatment of Native Americans from the moment he began the colony of Georgia as a buffer between the Spanish in Florida and the colony of South Carolina in 1733.  He forbade Europeans from taking their land or even purchasing land directly from them.

 

When James Oglethorpe arrived he began negotiations with Chief Tomochichi for land to start the new colony.  After reaching a mutually beneficial agreement, he started Savannah as the first town in the new colony.

 

Chief Tomochichi had created a new tribe called the Yamacraw from former members of the Yamasee and Creek tribes.  He had also heard about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) through Mary Musgrove, daughter of an English father and Creek mother, who had served as the interpreter during the negotiations, before he ever met James Oglethorpe.

 

Instead, he negotiated fair deals with the Creek for land and then sold the land in fifty-acre allotments to the colonist for cost plus a small fee that helped to fund the colony.  No one was allowed to own more than one allotment in the colony.

 

James Oglethorpe had started the colony to relieve those who were unemployed and unemployable in England.  The society he headed paid their debts and they worked as indentured servants in Georgia for seven years.

 

At the end of their servitude, they were given a fifty-acre allotment and everything they needed to run their own farm on the allotment.  All profits from their servitude were used to help more destitute people come to Georgia as indentured servants.

 

James Oglethorpe also did not allow slavery in Georgia.  The Carolinas had bought Native American slaves from other Native Americans and the Spanish, but his efforts to block the trade from going through Georgia and its waters soon brought an end to this.

 

In response, the Carolinas soon began importing African slaves that had been bought from Africans in the African slave markets.  However, James Oglethorpe banned all slavery in Georgia and turned Georgia into a refuge for runaway slaves from the Carolinas and Spanish Florida.

 

In 1734, Chief Tomochichi accompanied James Oglethorpe to England to meet with the king.  While there Chief Tomochichi requested that the king send missionaries to the Creek to teach about the Man of Truth more.

 

Chief Tomochichi also wanted the missionaries to help the Creek develop a written language and translate the Book of Truth (The Bible) into it.  This would allow them to read the Book of Truth for themselves instead of relying on others.

 

So in 1735, James Oglethorpe sponsored some Moravian missionaries to come to the colony of Georgia.  They soon began turning the desire of Chief Tomochichi into a reality.

 

Neither the Carolinas nor the Spanish were happy with James Oglethorpe for his treatment of Native Americans and Africans.  However, Chief Tomochichi found him to be a true friend.

 

Most of the tribe of Chief Tomochichi had come into the House of Truth along with many of the Creek through the efforts of James Oglethorpe and his life that reflected the Man of Truth.  So in 1736, Chief Tomochichi asked Benjamin Ingrim, a Moravian minister brought to Georgia by James Oglethorpe to reach the Native Americans, to help him start a school in the town of Irene to teach his tribe more about the Man of Truth.

 

So Benjamin Ingrim requested help from John and Charles Wesley in creating this school.  They offered little direct help as they were mostly focused on the European colonists, but they did raise interest among their congregants in the school.

 

However, this greatly angered many of the European colonists in Georgia as well as the Carolinas.  English law prevented those who became Christians from being mistreated in various ways - including being enslaved.  (For this same reason laws were passed that forbid telling the Good News to African slaves in other English colonies.)

 

So in 1737, John and Charles Wesley along with Benjamin Ingrim found themselves fleeing from the colony of Georgia due to persecution for their efforts to help the Creek and other Native Americans.  By this time, Chief Tomochichi had achieved an alliance for the colony with the Creek based on his testimony to them of the character of James Oglethorpe.

 

Later that year, James Oglethorpe had to return to England to clear up false accusations by the rulers of the Carolinas and his own colonists of misconduct.  Chief Tomochichi said that the day that James Oglethorpe left without him was “like the day of death”.

 

James Oglethorpe was cleared of all accusations and returned to Georgia with more colonists and even greater means to grow the colony in 1738.  Still, many in the Carolinas and his own colony were unhappy with him for his efforts to ensure that Native Americans were treated fairly.

 

One of those measures was that he had been given sole authority to grant licenses for trading with the Native Americans.  He would only grant those licenses to members of his own colony that he governed over.  He would immediately revoke the trade license of any that he found treating the Native Americans unfairly and sometimes punish them in other ways.

 

Also that year, James Oglethorpe invited two prominent Moravian missionaries, David Zeisberger and Peter Boehler, to help with the efforts to reach the Creek with Gospel.  They both arrived and were soon living among the Creek to teach them.

 

James Oglethorpe learned through Chief Tomochichi that the Spanish were preparing to launch an attack on Georgia.  The British Royal Navy refused to help protect Georgia, so he spent his entire fortune on setting up defenses for the colony.

 

In 1739, James Oglethorpe went to the Lower Creek capital of Coweta – something that no European had done before.  Chief Tomochichi was too ill to accompany him but had secured good will and promises of safe passage for his friend.

 

James Oglethorpe and the Creek tribe reached a mutually beneficial trade agreement as well as an alliance of mutual defense.  The Creek tribe agreed to help defend Georgia against the Spanish.

 

James Oglethorpe became ill as well when he returned to Georgia.  He however allowed a pirate who attacked Spanish ships safe haven in Georgia.

 

Soon James Oglethorpe received a letter from the King of England authorizing him to attack the Spanish.  So, he told his Creek allies that they could begin conducting attacks against Spanish Florida.

 

Soon after that Chief Tomochichi died.  James Oglethorpe established a day of mourning for him throughout the colony of Georgia and Chief Tomochichi was buried in a place of honor in the colony with full British military honors.

 

A few weeks later, England and Spain declared war on each other.  James Oglethorpe was tasked with driving the Spanish out of Florida.

 

However, James Oglethorpe received almost none of the promised help from the Royal Navy and the rulers of the Carolinas were slow to provide help as well.  In fact, the colonies of Virginia and Rhode Island provided more help than they or the British did.

 

So in 1740, James Oglethorpe led an undersized and undersupplied force of a few European colonists in attacking Spanish Florida.  Thanks to the help of his Creek allies, he was able to keep the Spanish from leaving Florida and even took some of their forts - even though he was not able to drive them out of Florida.

 

Finally, the Carolinas provided some aid, but mostly because they feared that the Creek and other Native Americans would not continue to prevent the Spanish from attacking their colonies if they did not do so.  The Creek were far more reliable allies to the colony of Georgia than the Carolinas and were the main reason that the Spanish were on the verge of being driven out of Florida.

 

While James Oglethorpe was away leading the fight, the Moravian missionaries that he had sponsored were arrested for not aiding in the fighting.  They were forced to leave the colony, which ended their work among the Creek.  This was the real reason they were exiled.

 

The general lack of help from the rulers of the Carolinas and the British Royal Navy doomed the effort to take the Spanish stronghold of Saint Augustine.  The Spanish were finally able to launch an attack from there that drove James Oglethorpe and his Creek allies out of Spanish Florida in 1741.

 

Then the Spanish launched an attack on the colony of Georgia in 1742 but had badly underestimated the strength the Creek allies that helped defend it.  Soon the forces led by James Oglethorpe soundly defeated them and they were driven back to Spanish Florida.

 

In 1743, James Oglethorpe and his Creek allies again besieged Saint Augustine.  The general lack of help from the rulers of the Carolinas and the British Royal Navy doomed it failure again, so he was forced to withdraw.

 

When James Oglethorpe returned to Georgia, he was recalled to England and replaced as governor of the colony.  While he and his Creek allies were busy defending Georgia from being taken over by the Spanish, many of the colonists had worked with the rulers of the Carolinas to have him removed from office.

 

The same colonists that he had spent his fortune to rescue from debtors prison to give them a better life had turned against him.  They also turned against the Creek and other Native Americans that had kept them from being killed by the Spanish.

 

Their primary motivation was they resented James Oglethorpe from preventing them from mistreating Native Americans and Africans.  They especially hated his efforts to bring both into the House of Truth because that would have made them equal with Europeans under English law.

 

In 1804, American Indian Agent to the Creek Benjamin Hawkins and some of the leading Creek chiefs requested that the Moravians in Salem, North Carolina send missionaries to establish a mission at the abandoned Fort Lawrence in Georgia.  They wanted them to teach the Creek useful skills to put them more on par with Europeans, but not to preach the Gospel to the Creeks at the mission.

 

So in 1807, Christian Burkhardt and Karsten Petersen arrived.  They taught many useful skills including gun smithing, but they also talked to their students about the Gospel one on one.

 

Soon, after that they began making forays into modern day Alabama to preach to the Creek there.  A few of the White Sticks came into the House of Truth, but many of the Red Sticks hated them.

 

When the Red Sticks massacred the White Sticks at Fort Mims in 1813, Christian Burkhardt and Karsten Petersen had to flee for their lives.  The violence of the Creek Civil War and the Creek involvement in the War of 1812 forced them to return to Salem, North Carolina.

 

Even though the efforts of the Moravians were cut short twice by war, they had done what they could to help the Creek.  The years that they spent among the Creek would later lead them to be outspoken advocates for fair treatment of the Creek and protesters of their forced removal.

 

The Creek Civil War ended in 1818 with the White Sticks victorious.  Chief William MacIntosh began working to unify the Creek Nation under a single government with written laws.

 

By 1821, Chief William MacIntosh was firmly in control as the Principal Chief of the unified Creek Nation.  He soon negotiated a peace treaty with the governor of Georgia that would allow European Americans to operate schools and trading posts inside the Creek nation.

 

So that year the Methodists, founded by John and Charles Wesley, sent William Capers to open a missionary school among the Creek.  He also taught and preached to the African Americans that were enslaved among the Creek.

 

In 1822 the Southern Baptists sent Lee and Susan Compere to start a school among the Creek in Alabama at Withington Station.  They soon had a congregation consisting of Creek natives and African-American slaves.

 

In 1824 Chief William MacIntosh and the rest of the Creek National Council passed a law that gave the Creek National Council sole authority to negotiate treaties concerning tribal land with the American government.  The penalty for anyone else doing so was death.

 

In 1825, William Capers was sent back to Charleston, South Carolina to serve as editor of the Wesleyan Journal.  This began his long career of using the press to speak out against the unfair treatment of the Creek and oppose their coerced removal. He also spoke out against slavery and helped start hundreds of missions to African American slaves.

 

Also that year, Chief William MacIntosh signed the Treaty of Indian Springs without the involvement of the rest of the Creek National Council.  In accordance with the Creek codified law that Chief William MacIntosh had signed, Chief Menawa led the Creek national police force called the Law Menders in executing him.

 

Lee and Susan Compere protested against the Treaty of Indian Springs as unfair and began working with the Creek National Council to get it reversed.  The Southern Baptists, who were given money by the American government to educate Native Americans, soon retaliated against them by withdrawing all support for the school, but the Comperes spent their own fortune to keep their work going.

 

In 1826 the Creek National Council sent Chief Menawa, Chief Opothleyahola, and other delegates to Washington, D.C. as advised by the Comperes.  The efforts of advocates like the Christian Burkhardt, Karsten Petersen, William Capers, and the Comperes had public opinion on the side of the Creek, so Congress nullified the Treaty of Indian Springs and negotiated a new treaty that was far more favorable to the Creek Nation.

 

Lee and Susan Compere were so respected by the Creek people that the Creek chiefs asked if they could give names to their children born among them.  The Comperes consented and their two children born among the Creek were both given Creek first names by the Creek chiefs.

 

In 1827 the supports of Chief William MacIntosh and the other signers of the Treaty of Indian Springs began moving to Indian Territory to settle there.  Even though they had not signed the treaty and had not broken the written law, they were still concerned about reprisals.

 

In 1828 a band of Creek slave owners attacked and destroyed the school at Withington Station because the Comperes preached against slavery.  Soon, the Comperes realized that they would not be able to continue to live among the Creek.

 

In 1829, Lee and Susan Compere were forced to move to Montgomery.  They started a new congregation there that advocated fair treatment of Native Americans and the abolishment of slavery.  They also made occasional forays to preach among the Creek.

 

Also that year, their Creek student John Davis moved to Indian Territory to preach to the Creek that had moved there previously.  He helped these Creek continue their education as well.

 

By 1830 there was fierce opposition to the force removal of the Creek and other Native American tribes among the Americans due to the efforts of people like Christian Burkhardt, Karsten Petersen, William Capers and the Comperes.  In fact, it was almost as divisive as slavery and the Indian Removal Act was passed by only a few votes.

 

In 1832, the Creek National Council signed the Treaty of Cussetta that divided the Creek national lands into individual land allotments.  Individuals could either sell their land and move to Indian Territory with aid from the Federal Government or they could remain and be subject to the laws of the state of Alabama.

 

However, the state of Alabama never treated the Creek as equal under the law and allowed European Americans to constantly mistreat them.  So Chief Opothleyahola asked President Andrew Jackson to send troops to enforce the treaty, but President Andrew Jackson refused.

 

The efforts of advocates for the Creek like Christian Burkhardt, Karsten Petersen, William Capers and the Comperes had caused European-Americans to become deeply divided over the issue of the treatment of Native Americans.  President Andrew Jackson feared that acting against the state of Alabama to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Cussetta would set off a civil war.

 

So, Chief Opothleyahola and the rest of the Creek National Council realized the wisdom in the advice that Lee Compere had given before leaving them.  They began selling their individual allotments and moving to Indian Territory to escape the injustices being forced upon them by many of their European-American neighbors.

 

By 1836, almost all of the Creek Nation had relocated to Indian Territory – many by force.  Only those in the Tensaw community remained who eventually became the Poarch Creek tribe of Alabama.

 

Who helped the Chickasaw?

 

In 1744 James Adair, a deer skin trader came to live among the Chickasaw.  He told them about the Man of Truth and began educating them so they would be able to make better deals when trading deer skins with Europeans.

 

In 1746 James Adair was requested by the governor of South Carolina to convince the Choctaw to become trading partners with the British instead of the French.  So, he left to convince the Choctaw.

 

In 1751 James Adair moved back to live among the Chickasaw.  He soon became friends with Chief Tishomingo and helped him when dealing with Europeans.

 

In 1760 James Adair helped Chief Tishomingo in fighting the French on the side of the British during the French and Indian War.  The Chickasaw became allies of the British after he had showed them how the French had been taking advantage of them in their trading.

 

In 1775, Chief Tishomingo along with other Chickasaw leaders and British officers who had fought along side the Chickasaw against the French asked James Adair to tell Europeans about the unfair treatment of Native Americans by Europeans.  So he left the Chickasaw and moved back to live among the British colonies to publish his book.

 

In 1783 James Adair died after his book had become a best seller in both the North America and Europe.  He had detailed how many of the Chickasaw had come into the House of Truth during his many years among them and this caused many European colonists to advocate for the fair treatment of Native Americans.

 

His writings built upon the momentum for just treatment of Native Americans that religious leaders like Jonathan Edwards and political leaders like Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island had created.  His book was a continuation of advocacy for the fair treatment of Native Americans by the Children of Truth that had begun more than 100 years earlier.

 

These writings contributed to increasing demand among European Americans for fair treatment of Native Americans.  As a result, the Civilization Fund Act was passed by Congress and signed by President James Monroe in 1819.

 

So the Cumberland Presbyterians sent Thomas C. Stuart to teach, who came to the Chickasaw on the same day that Ishtehotopa became their new king in 1820.  With the permission of King Ishtehotopa, he built the Monroe Mission to help the Chickasaw adapt in dealing with European-Americans better.

 

By 1821 Chief Tishomingo approached Thomas C. Stuart to learn about more the Man of Truth that James Adair had introduced him to.  He could see the love that Thomas C. Stuart had for the Chickasaw and supported his efforts to bring the Chickasaw into the House of Truth.

 

In 1827, the American Board of Foreign Missions took control of the Monroe Mission.  They allowed Thomas C. Stuart to remain there despite his controversial articles that called for the fair treatment of the Chickasaw and other Native Americans.

 

By 1830, the congregation of Thomas C. Stuart had over 100 Chickasaw members and a second school was built at the request of the Chickasaw.  Yet despite the obvious progress that the Chickasaw had made in meeting the goals of the Civilization Fund Act, the Indian Removal Act was passed by only a few votes in Congress after a highly contentious debate that put America on the verge of civil war over the issue.

 

In 1832, Chief Tishomingo and other Chickasaw leaders signed the Treaty of Pontitock Creek.  It stated the Chickasaw would move to Indian Territory once they found suitable land there.

 

By 1836, Thomas C. Stuart had written many articles and papers appealing for fair treatment of the Chickasaw since many of them were brothers to the European American Children of Truth.  He gained much support for their cause in other states, but he was opposed greatly by many in Mississippi.

 

By 1837, the Chickasaw had still not found suitable land to move to in Indian Territory, but the state of Mississippi made their life so difficult that they realized that they had to move first and then find land.  So, Chief Tishomingo led them in moving to Indian Territory, which saved great bloodshed for the Chickasaw and the European-American violators of the treaty alike.

 

Who helped the Cherokee?

 

In 1801 the Moravians opened the Springplace Mission among the Cherokee to both teach the Cherokee skills needed to live along side European Americans and to preach the Gospel.  They began advocating for the Cherokee as they had for the Creek.

 

In 1810 the American Board of Foreign Missions was started with Samuel Austin Worchester as its first corresponding secretary.  It not only set out to bring the Gospel to Native Americans but to also advocate for their fair treatment.

 

In 1818 Daniel Sabin Butrick came to Brainerd Mission as a missionary to the Cherokee.  He soon began learning their language and their culture.

 

That same year, Elias Boudinot (European American) wrote “The Star of the West” to garner public support for the cause of the Cherokee.  He had been a close friend of George Washington and used his influence in Congress to speak on behalf of the Cherokee as well.

 

In 1819 Congress passed the Civilization Fund Act that Thomas L. McKenney had lobbied for.  This act provided funding of missionaries if they also taught Native Americans other skills necessary to meet the European American definition of “civilized”.

 

In 1821 Jeremiah Evert became the corresponding secretary of the American Board of Foreign Missions.  He led the extensive fight for the fair treatment of Native Americans and against the efforts to remove the Cherokee under the name “William Penn”.

 

Sequoyah invented the Cherokee Syllabary that same year.  He began working to get the Cherokee to accept it.

 

That same year Evan Jones was sent by the Baptist Foreign Mission Board to Valley Town, North Carolina to teach the Cherokee how to live as equals with European Americans and to preach the Gospel to them.  He soon became a staunch opponent of their removal.

 

In 1822, Ainsworth Blunt was sent by the American Board of Foreign Missions to help the Cherokee at the Brainerd Mission.  He helped them learn farming and mechanics.

 

That same year Thomas L. McKenney was appointed as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.  His job was to carry out the goals of the Civilization Fund Act.

 

Also that year John Gambold expanded the work of the Moravians at the Oothcaloga Mission at the request of Chief Ross.  He soon proved to be a vocal opponent to removal.

 

In 1825 Samuel Austin Worchester came to the Brainerd school to teach the Cherokee.  He immediately began to learn their language and culture as well as the Cherokee Syllabary.

 

That same year the Cherokee Syllabary was recognized as the official writing system of the Cherokee by the Cherokee National Council.  It gave the Cherokee a way to become more united by means of written communication, but it was used mostly for Cherokee government documents at the time.

 

Around that time, James Jenkins Trott came as a Methodist missionary to the Cherokee.  He soon began advocating against their removal as well.

 

In 1826 Elizur Butler was also sent as a missionary to the Cherokee by the American Board of Foreign Missions.  Due to the request of Chief Ross soon more than sixty missionaries would be teaching and preaching among the Cherokee.

 

In 1827 John Gambold died and Henry Gottlieb Clauder came to continue the work of the Moravians at the Oothcaloga Mission.  He also continued to advocate for the Cherokee.

 

In 1828 Samuel Austin Worchester moved to the Cherokee capital of New Echota to help Elias Boudinot (Buck Waite) start a Cherokee language newspaper.  The American Board of Foreign Missions funded the enterprise to help the Cherokee become more unified.

 

In order to print the Cherokee Phoenix in Cherokee as well as English, Samuel Austin Worchester had to make the Cherokee Syllabary types himself.  He then used these, and the print shop funded by the American Board of Foreign Missions, to also print the Cherokee Bible that he had translated.

 

In 1830 Thomas L. McKenney denounced the US Government for failing to keep European American squatters out of Cherokee land as the treaties promised.  He was dismissed as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs by President Andrew Jackson when he declared that Native Americans were intellectual and morally equal to European Americans.

 

Jeremiah Evert had personally gone to many congressmen to gain their support in opposing the removal of the Cherokee.  These efforts contributed to the Indian Removal Act passing by only a few votes that year.

 

Later that year Jeremiah Evert encouraged and helped the Cherokee to fight the Indian Removal Act in court.  This led to the landmark case “Cherokee Nation Vs Georgia” to stop removal of the Cherokee.

 

Finally that year the state of Georgia waged war on the American Board of Foreign Missions by passing a law requiring all missionaries to the Cherokee to register with the state of Georgia and swear loyalty of Georgia.  However, Jeremiah Evert and those he inspired were not deterred from their advocating for the Cherokee against the state of Georgia.

 

So Samuel Austin Worchester, Elizur Butler, Henry Gottlieb Clauder , and James Jenkins Trott along with seven other missionaries signed and published a resolution protesting the new law as illegal.  They then continued to preach and teach among the Cherokee in Georgia.

 

The Indian Removal Act also prompted Daniel Sabin Butrick to put the notes he had made during his years among the Cherokee into a book on Cherokee history and culture.  He wanted to raise public outrage over their mistreatment.

 

In 1831 Jeremiah Evert died due to overworking himself in fighting against the removal of the Cherokee.  He had published over 200 essays advocating Native American rights of which twenty-four were specifically against the forced removal of the Cherokee.

 

Not long after that, Samuel Austin Worchester and ten of the other signers of the resolution were arrested by order of the governor of Georgia for continuing to preach among the Cherokee without permission from the state of Georgia.  They were soon marched eighty-five miles in shackles to be tried and then imprisoned.  During their forced march they were beaten, insulted, and cursed.

 

The governor offered a pardon conditioned upon them quietly leaving Georgia because he was concerned that it could lead to civil war in a state deeply divided over the issue.  Nine of the missionaries took him up on it including James Jenkins Trott, who then preached to the Cherokee outside of Georgia as a circuit rider.

 

However, Samuel Austin Worchester and Elizur Butler refused.  They went to prison instead so they could make the issue as public as possible by suing the state of Georgia as they had been advised by Jeremiah Evert.

 

Also that year the first wife of Evan Jones died, and he remarried.   Evan Jones and his son John Butrick Jones continued to work among the Cherokee as they stood their ground against the Cherokee removal and never wavered.

 

So in 1832, Samuel Austin Worchester and Elizur Butler sued the state of Georgia for infringing on the sovereignty of the Cherokee with the help of the American Board of Foreign Missions and Chief Ross.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor stating that regulation of a Native American tribe could only be based on a treaty between the Federal Government and that tribe.

 

However, the governor of Georgia and President Andrew Jackson refused to live by the rule of law.  So, they started taking measures to force the Cherokee out of Georgia and into Indian Territory contrary to American law and all previous agreements.

 

That same year Evan Jones persuaded the Baptist to accept his partner Jesse Bushyhead as an assistant missionary.  He was convinced that Native Americans could be more effective in reaching other Native Americans with the Gospel than European Americans.

 

Also that year John Howard Payne, a famous actor and song writer, returned to America after twenty years of engagements in Europe.  He soon learned about the plight of the Cherokee.

 

By 1833, Samuel Austin Worchester and Elizur Butler wrote a public letter stating that the efforts to prevent removal of the Cherokee through legal channels were futile and requesting a pardon.  They were given one upon condition of leaving Georgia because the governor was concerned about civil war breaking out.

 

Samuel Austin Worchester and Elizur Butler agreed to leave Georgia to prevent needless bloodshed between the Cherokee and the Georgia militia.  They advised the Cherokee that removal was inevitable since many European American settlers and rulers would not obey their own laws.

 

However, Samuel Austin Worchester and Elizur Butler did not stay quiet after they left Georgia.  Samuel Austin Worchester wrote a scathing rebuke of the governor of Georgia and President Andrew Jackson that was widely published across America and Europe.  It stated that the treaties with the Cherokee were “broken, and an act of flagrant robbery...was committed upon a defenseless people, with the sanction of our national authorities.”.

 

In 1834 the Springplace Mission was confiscated from the Moravians by the state of Georgia and given to a bartender in a lottery as punishment for their unwavering opposition to removal of the Cherokee including giving them money to fight removal.  The Moravians continued their mission to the Cherokee from a temporary location in Tennessee not far from Georgia.

 

In 1836, John Howard Payne came to visit Chief Ross to see for himself the plight of the Cherokee.  He soon began collecting evidence that the Cherokee were a tribe like no other.

 

Soon John Howard Payne began helping Daniel Sabin Butrick in getting his book on the Cherokee published.  He used his many connection in the entertainment industry to keep public awareness of the plight of the Cherokee high.

 

In 1837, Ainsworth Blunt was forced to move to a Cherokee mission in Tennessee due to the health of his wife.  He continued to do all he could to help the Cherokee there prepare for the inevitable removal to Indian Territory.

 

John Howard Payne then went to Washington DC to lobby Congress to take action to prevent the removal of the Cherokee.  He used the writings of Daniel Sabin Butrick as support for his arguments until their force removal began in 1838.

 

In 1838, Evan Jones told Chief Ross that he would continue to offer any assistance that he could to prevent the removal.  His son, John Butrick Jones told the Baptist Foreign Mission Board that he would make any sacrifice necessary to prevent the full-bloods among the Cherokee from being crushed.

 

Evan and John Jones continued their resistance until the army showed up to force the removal.  Even then they protested. 

 

During their entire tenure before removal, they were constantly at odds with most European Americans.  They treated the Cherokee as equals and only preached against aspects of Cherokee culture that directly conflicted with the Book of Truth.  They made no efforts to turn the Cherokee into European Americans.

 

As a result, they were forced out from among the Cherokee several times by the US Government and twice by the Cherokee.  Each time, they moved their mission to just over the border of Cherokee land and then made preaching forays into it.

 

Who helped the Choctaw?

 

In 1818, the Board of Foreign Missions sent missionaries to the Choctaw including Cyrus Kingsbury.  Cyrus Kingsbury soon gained the respect and trust of the Choctaw by requiring the bare minimum necessary for them to come into the House of Truth while teaching them useful skills that would help them to not be dependent upon European Americans.

 

In 1820, Cyrus Kingsbury so impressed Chief Pushmataha, that he asked him to join in negotiations with the US government over removal that year.  He was appalled at how the US government agents first got the Choctaw drunk before negotiating the Treaty of Doak's Stand.

 

Cyrus Kingsbury advised Chief Pushmataha for the Choctaw to refuse to drink any liquor until after future treaties were signed.  The Choctaw took his advice and got better terms in all future negotiations.

 

Cyrus Kingsbury rigorously opposed the removal of the Choctaw.  He consistently argued against it in his correspondence with the Board of Foreign Missions and the US government.

 

In 1830, Cyrus Kingsbury found himself in danger of losing all government support needed for the network of mission schools that he had created because he vehemently opposed the removal policy of President Andrew Jackson.  Nonetheless, he did not back down in this opposition.

 

However, the Indian Removal Act was still passed by a few votes that year.  The Choctaw saw that removal was inevitable and signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek that gave them money to conduct their own removal.

 

Cyrus Kingsbury continued to help the Choctaw until their removal.  He worked to keep the mission schools open for the Choctaw that remained in Mississippi until they could operate it without him.

 

Who helped the Seminole?

 

In 1740 James Oglethorpe worked with the Seminole to attack the Spanish in Florida.  He had been able to gain their help because his Creek allies had verified that he had always treated Native Americans fairly.

 

There was not long-term contact with the Seminole by missionaries until the first missionary school was opened to educate the Seminoles in 1823.  Still, there were Children of Truth who stood with them against removal.

 

Among those was Davy Crockett, who ferociously fought against passage of the Indian Removal Act in Congress until it was finally passed in 1830.  He declared that his decision would “not make me ashamed in the Day of Judgment”.

 

In like manner, there were others who fought against the Indian Removal Act in the US Senate for the same reasons.  These included Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.

 

Even after passage of the Indian Removal Act, there remained opposition to the removal of the Seminole on behalf of the Seminole by the Children of Truth.  This lasted until the US government gave up on removing every last off-reservation Seminole from the Everglades.

 

By 1842, the US government had spent more than the cost of the Revolutionary War trying to move all off-reservation Seminole to Indian Territory in chains.  This cost was used by the Children of Truth to stir up public outcry that brought an end to the effort to capture and transport the last remaining off-reservation Seminole to Indian Territory.

 

Why did the Children of Truth walk the trail of brotherly love in defending the Five Civilized Tribes?

 

The Children of Truth who stood up for the Five Civilized Tribes were persecuted in so many ways for doing so.  Some were beaten, some were fined, some had their property taken from them, and some were fired from their positions.  Some even died as a result of their efforts to prevent the Five Civilized Tribes from being forcibly removed.

 

They walked the trail of brotherly love for others because the Man of Truth first walked that trail for them (Ephesians 5:1-2).  They demonstrated the love of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) by walking in the footsteps of the Man of Truth (1 John 5:5-6).

 

No man has greater love for his friends than to lay down his life for them (John 15:13).  They laid down their lives for these Native Americans because the Man of Truth first laid down his life for them (1 John 3:16).

 

The Man of Truth stuck with them closer than a brother during their times of adversity (2 Timothy 4:16-17).  They demonstrated that love to the Native Americans that they shared the Gospel with by doing the same for them (1 John 4:19-21).

 

These Children of Truth rejoiced in their suffering to bring Native Americans into the House of Truth (Colossians 1:23-25).  They suffered wrongfully on behalf of others to follow in the footsteps of the Man of Truth (1 Peter 2:19-21).

 

The Man of Truth laid down his life to save all people – not just Europeans and European Americans – to bring them into unity with him (John 10:15-16).  The Father of Truth sent His Son to die for all of us while we yet His enemies (Romans 5:8-10).

 

So, come into the House of Truth by making the Man of Truth your king because you believe that his Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  Then you can start walking the trail of brotherly love (Colossians 2:6-7).

 

Come into the House of Truth!