want for necessaries.. .we shall push our trading houses, and be glad to see then good and

influential individuals among them run in debts...they will become willing to lop [debt]

them off by a cession of lands... .they will in time either incorporate with us as citizens of

the United States or remove beyond the Mississippi" (Hurt, 1987, p. 86).

 The U.S. government encouraged land allotment through treaties with Cherokee in

1817 and 1819. The allotments granted the heads of the household 640 acres if he/she

lived on the land and cultivated it. This allowed the American government to determine

which and how much land a household could receive. Further, it encouraged assimilation

through farming and private ownership, as opposed to communal land ownership and

farming. The allotment reduced Indian land holdings because not all land was under

cultivation. In total, Indians of the southeast lost 80 to 90% of their total land holdings

(Hurt, 1987, p.93-94).

 Americans encouraged Indians to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi during

the 1820s. Numerous Supreme Court cases, such as Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia in

1830 and Worchester vs. Georgia in 1831, dealt with issues related to land ownership by

Indians and state governments (Hurt, 1987, p.91). Some Cherokees voluntarily moved

in the 1820s and 1830s to Indian Territory in what are now parts of the states of

Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas to avoid additional conflict with Americans. Many of

them faced economic hardship initially, but were able to reestablish farm operations.

Many of these Cherokees were the wealthier, more acculturated farmers. By 1837, these

Cherokees were considered the most advanced Indian farmers in the west and had

between 1,000-1,100 farms (Graebner, 1945, p.234). Many other Cherokees moved

farther south into Georgia. Some were rich plantation holders with slaves, while others

remained subsistence farmers. The subsistence farmers were sometimes called