Why did most of the Cherokees oppose the treaty of New Echota.
http://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/content/treaty-new-echota
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Most of the Cherokees opposed the Treaty of New Echota because they believed it was illegitimate and did not represent the will of the majority of their people. However, to understand why they opposed the treaty, it's important to provide some historical context.
In the early 19th century, the United States government pursued a policy of Indian removal, seeking to relocate Native American tribes from their ancestral lands to lands west of the Mississippi River. The Cherokee Nation, one of the largest and most advanced tribes in the southeastern United States, resisted relocation and fought vigorously to maintain their sovereignty.
Despite the Cherokee's efforts, a small faction within the Cherokee Nation, led by Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot, signed the Treaty of New Echota on December 29, 1835. This treaty ceded all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi River in exchange for lands in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) and monetary compensation.
The Cherokees who opposed the treaty had several reasons for doing so. First, they argued that the signatories did not represent the Cherokee Nation as a whole - they were seen as a minority faction collaborating with the U.S. government. The majority of Cherokees rejected their authority and considered the treaty invalid.
Another reason for opposition was that the treaty contradicted the Cherokee constitution and laws. The Cherokees had their own government and believed in their sovereignty as an independent nation. They felt that the Treaty of New Echota undermined their rights and violated their self-governance.
Furthermore, many Cherokees had a deep attachment to their ancestral lands and did not want to be uprooted from their homes and communities. They had established thriving agricultural, commercial, and educational systems on their land, and the prospect of forcibly moving to unfamiliar territory was distressing.
It is important to note that the forced removal of the Cherokee people, known as the Trail of Tears, resulted in immense suffering and loss of life. Despite the opposition to the Treaty of New Echota, it was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1836, leading to the forced removal of nearly 16,000 Cherokees from their ancestral lands.
In summary, most Cherokees opposed the Treaty of New Echota because they deemed it illegitimate, as it was signed by a minority faction not representing the majority of the Cherokee Nation. They rejected its terms as a violation of their sovereignty, their laws, and their attachment to their ancestral lands.