Tennessee's Policy in the Removal of the Cherokee

PREFACE: Indian removal was one of the most vital problems in the early history of the State of Tennessee. When this state came into the Union she had title to only two widely separated triangles of land, one in northern Middle Tennessee, the other in East Tennessee. The Indians held title to all other lands within her limits, and these lands practically surrounded the white settlements. Squatters who settled upon Indian soil and holders ot North Carolina land warrants petitioned the Federal Government to purchase Indian land; public officials pleaded for the purchase of Indian land to aid in the development of transportation facilities and in the expansion of the state. The state could legally expand only as she obtained land from the Indians; therefore the Indians were constantly pressed for cessions of land, until they were entirely removed from the state.