AP U.S. History · Lesson 3

Expansion and Native removal

Know Know it

The Louisiana Purchase (1803) roughly doubled the nation, and Lewis and Clark explored it from 1804 to 1806. In the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819), Spain gave up Florida. As settlers moved west, each new state raised the question of slavery. The Missouri Compromise (1820) admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and it barred slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30′. Jefferson warned that a line dividing the nation by slavery would never be erased.

Native nations resisted expansion. In the Ohio Valley, the Shawnee leaders Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa built a confederacy of many nations, which lost at Tippecanoe (1811), and Tecumseh died fighting alongside the British in 1813. In the Southeast, the Cherokee adopted a written syllabary, a newspaper and a constitution (1827), partly to show they could govern themselves.

From 1828 Georgia passed laws claiming authority over Cherokee land, and the discovery of gold there in 1829 raised the pressure. The Indian Removal Act (1830) let President Jackson trade land in the West for Native land in the East. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia's laws had no force in Cherokee territory, but Jackson did not enforce the ruling. A small Cherokee faction signed the Treaty of New Echota (1835) without the approval of the Cherokee government, and in 1838 the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee west on the Trail of Tears. The Seminoles fought removal in a long war from 1835 to 1842.

Americans also settled in Mexican Texas from the 1820s. Disputes over Mexican authority, limits on new settlers and slavery led to the Texas Revolution, and Texas won independence in 1836. Many Northerners opposed adding a large new slave state, so annexation waited until 1845.

Cherokee removal in brief
YearEventWhat it meant
1830Indian Removal ActThe president could negotiate land exchanges with Native nations east of the Mississippi
1831Cherokee Nation v. GeorgiaThe Court called the Cherokee a domestic dependent nation and said it could not hear the case
1832Worcester v. GeorgiaThe Court ruled Georgia's laws had no force in Cherokee territory; the ruling was not enforced
1835Treaty of New EchotaA minority faction signed away Cherokee land without the Cherokee government
1838 to 1839Trail of TearsSoldiers forced the Cherokee west; thousands died

Trap A Cherokee win in court did not stop removal

Worcester v. Georgia was a legal victory for the Cherokee, but the president did not enforce it and Georgia ignored it. Removal went ahead under the 1835 treaty. On a question about what the ruling did, say it upheld Cherokee self-government; on a question about what happened next, say removal happened anyway.

Worked example Easy

What did the Missouri Compromise of 1820 do?

  1. It banned slavery in every western territory
  2. It let the settlers of each territory decide on slavery by a popular vote
  3. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free stateAnswer
  4. It ended the import of enslaved people from Africa

How to solve it

  1. Recall the problem in 1819: adding Missouri as a slave state would upset the balance in the Senate.
  2. The fix paired Missouri with Maine and drew a line for the rest of the territory.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. It barred slavery only north of 36°30′ in the Louisiana Purchase, and Missouri itself allowed slavery.
  • B. Incorrect. Letting settlers vote on slavery is popular sovereignty, the approach of the 1850s, not the 1820 deal.
  • C. Correct. The compromise kept the balance of free and slave states by admitting Missouri with slavery and Maine without it.
  • D. Incorrect. The import of enslaved people was banned by a law that took effect in 1808, not by the Missouri Compromise.

Explain Explain it

Task verbs: explain, analyze

When you analyze a policy, separate what it said from what happened. The Indian Removal Act authorized negotiation; the force came later, through treaties that many Native people rejected and through the army. Pointing out that gap is a strong move in a written answer.

Source questions on removal often turn on point of view. A president's message to Congress argues for a policy; a Cherokee petition or a court opinion may argue against it. Ask who wrote it, for whom and why.

Worked example Medium

Which strategy did Cherokee leaders use to resist removal in the early 1830s?

  1. They allied with Britain in a new war against the United States
  2. They brought cases against Georgia to the Supreme CourtAnswer
  3. They asked Georgia to admit them as citizens of the state
  4. They moved west on their own before Congress passed any law

How to solve it

  1. Think about what made the Cherokee case unusual: they used American institutions to defend themselves.
  2. Two Supreme Court cases came out of that strategy in 1831 and 1832.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. The Cherokee did not ally with Britain in the 1830s; Britain and the United States were at peace.
  • B. Correct. The Cherokee fought removal in court, in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and backed the missionary's case in Worcester v. Georgia (1832).
  • C. Incorrect. The Cherokee claimed to be a separate nation and resisted Georgia's authority over them.
  • D. Incorrect. Most Cherokee stayed on their land until they were forced out in 1838, so moving west early was not their strategy.

Explain Your turn

Explain why the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) did not stop the removal of the Cherokee.

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A full answer does this

  • States what the Court ruled in Worcester v. Georgia
  • Gives an accurate reason removal went ahead anyway

Model answer

In Worcester v. Georgia the Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct community where Georgia's laws had no force. But the ruling was not enforced: President Jackson did not act to carry it out, and Georgia ignored it. The government then used the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, signed by a small faction, to justify forcing the Cherokee west.

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