“The Rebels and Indians” Newspaper Column

Source: "The Rebels and Indians," Notes of the Rebellion, The New York Times, August 16, 1861, https://nyti.ms/45LyxXL

Date: August 16, 1861

Text/Transcription:

As sectional conflict deepened, the degree of fidelity to the U.S. government lay in question for Native nations. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” to leave the southeast and establish “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma. Some of these members had long owned enslaved Africans and African Americans, and the question of government expansion of slavery to the western territories was a contentious debate. Furthermore, emigrant settlements during the 1850s caused an ecological crisis, impacting Native community access to resources. By January 1861, Confederate nationalism was a common advantage for leaders of the “Five Civilized Tribes.” This article, written by the Department of Commerce, condemns Indigenous polities for fighting alongside the Confederacy. In response to the alliance between the “Five Civilized Tribes” and the Confederacy, government officials threatened suspension of previous agreements with the promise of transferring “Indian Territory” to freed African Americans.