Van Buren, Martin Lot 203

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LOT 203 Seller's Estimate: USD 15,000 - 25,000 Van Buren, Martin. (1782-1862) 8th President of the United States (1837-1941). Autograph letter signed ("M. Van Buren") as President, 7 pages, 10 x 8", Apr. 11, 1838. To Major General Winfield Scott with instructions for the forced removal of the Cherokees to beyond the Mississippi. Each leaf is tipped to a larger sheet. Folds are strengthened on verso. Some dampstaining and toning. Letter is bound with a typed transcript in a quarter morocco and buckram case with gilt lettering on spine; staining to cover.The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It authorized the President to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing states. Although a few tribes went peacefully, many tribes resisted, and the Cherokees brought lawsuits. In Worcester v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee nation was free from the law of individual states, but Jackson, knowing that the Court had no way to enforce its mandate, ignored the Court and continued with his removal plan. The Treaty of New Echota was signed on Dec. 29, 1835, by a minority Cherokee faction without the approval of the Cherokee National Council or the signature of Principal Chief John Ross; nonetheless, the U.S. Senate amended and ratified this treaty in March 1836. The Indians were given two years to leave and in May 1838, forcible removal began.Van Buren's instructions to General Scott read, in part: "If on your arrival in the Cherokee Nation, propositions should be made to you by the party opposed to emigration, the acceptances of which you shall have good reason to prevent the shedding of blood, & secure & expedite the voluntary emigration of the whole nation, you are authorized to receive & transmit them to the Department of War for the consideration of the President & Senate: Provided the said proposition do not, to any degree, impugn the Treaty [of New Echota] with the execution of which you are charged, or materially change any of its provisions, & particularly that which provides for their emigration to the west.... [N]o stipulation shall be entered into that shall effect injuriously & against their will the individual rights of any of the Citizens of the States in which the indians now reside, & which are secured to such Citizens by the laws of such States & founded upon the Treaty. For these purposes & to meet the contingency referred to, you are here appointed a Commissioner, & authorized to conclude an arrangement of the nature herein described, with the said indians subject to the approbation or rejection of the President & Senate....In such proceedings, the known Chiefs & their Adherents, of the party heretofore opposed to emigration may, if you find it necessary, be put upon a footing of equality with the other part of the nation, taking care not to sign any stipulation which may injuriously affect the true interests or just pride of the latter. To the ends contemplated by these instructions any reasonable sum of money, not exceeding 300,000 dollars, to be paid by the United States after the execution of the stipulations by the said Indians, may be agreed upon; but the discretionary authority hereby conferred upon you is made subject to the following absolute restriction, viz;; that no proposals are to be received from the Indians until the great body of the Chiefs, Head Men & People of the remaining Cherokees have been distinctly informed, that the said proposals are based upon their certain & speedy removal to their new Homes, that the only object in view is to make that removal more satisfactory to them, & that no delay, in the execution of the Treaty, not really indispensable, is to [be] occasioned by any of the proceedings authorized by these instructions."Federal groups and state militias began removing Indians forcibly from their homes with little but the clothes on their backs, ignoring warnings to treat them kindly. Food and medicine were in short supply and water was scarce and often contaminated. Many... read more

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