Indian Removal Act Of 1830 Seybert Summary

The author, Seybert provide an article informing the reader about Native American slaves’ and the series of events that occurred after the arrival of the Europeans. Before the Europeans arrived, some of the Native tribal groups would capture the Indian slaves and use them for small-scale labor and ritual sacrifice. Indian slaves were treated as if they were part of the Native American tribe. For example, The Creek treated both tribal members and slave children as if they were full members (Seybert, 1). Most importantly the Native Americans did not buy and sell the Indian captives, and if they did it was usually for peace gesture or an exchange of a member. The arrival of the Europeans in North America had a huge effect on the Indian captives.

Many slave-owning Indians with plantations sold their land to whites before moving to Oklahoma. However, not all of those slave-owning Indians were willing to give away their lands, they were very hesitant. Throughout the fatal journey many Indians suffered from hunger, and diseases. Sadly, many more died after the journey because many couldn’t adapt on the new environment, and the U.S government never sent supplies as they promised. There was vast amount of Cherokee that died shortly after the migration, before the journey there were 12,000 then 4,000 died (Seybert, 5). Continuingly, the enslaved blacks received harsh treatments from the Indians. The punishments were so cruel, it’s said that James Vann, a Cherokee mixed-blood buried a slave alive for committing robbery. The numbers of enslaved blacks in the five Indian tribes (the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminoles) grew dramatically. For example, the numbers enslaved blacks in the Creek tribe went from 502 to 1,532. Although, it’s proven that the numbers of African American slaves grew after the removal of the Indian Territory many enslaved blacks ran away (Seybert,

“Fighting, refugees, raiding, guerrilla warfare, and battles devastating Indian Territory during the Civil War, and disrupted the lives of slaves and Indians alike (Seybert, 6). It was not until after the Victory of the Union forces, the Civilized Tribes signed treaties with the U.S. to free slaves. The enslaved blacks were granted rights such as: acquiring land, representation in the government, and protection in the Indian laws. “In the 20th century, African-American Indians received full title to property just like any other Native American” (Seybert, 7). Civil war ended between the Seminole, Creeks, and Cherokee and the tribes adopted their enslaved