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James Polk signs an Indian Treaty, thus beginning his mission of Manifest Destiny, ALS as President
James Polk signs an Indian Treaty, thus beginning his mission of Manifest Destiny, ALS as President
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Polk James

James Polk signed ALS re: an Indian Treaty, thus beginning his mission of Manifest Destiny.

 

Bi-fold signed letter, 8" x 10". Penned to recto of first page, and docketed to verso of last page, all other pages blank. Dated "Washington 4th Dec 1845" and signed by President James Polk as "James Polk". A lovely well preserved letter with strong contrasting ink. Small tear to upper edge of blank second page.

 

An important letter from President Polk discussing the Treaty Of the Dancing Rabbits Creek,  the first official treaty signed under the Indian Removal Act, which ushered in Polks push for Manifest Destiny. His letter is shown below:

 

 

"To The Secretary of War

Sir

I transmit to you herewith a resolution of the senate calling for certain information in relation to the execution of the Treaty Of the Dancing Rabbits Creek - with the Choctaw Indians. Will you cause the documents called for to be prepared as soon as practical -- I desire to make prompt answers to all calls which may be made by Congress

Respectfully

Your able ser

James Polk"

 

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed between the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi and the U.S. Federal Government on September 27, 1830. Dancing Rabbit Creek was the first official treaty signed under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, an Act which allowed the President to negotiate with Indian tribes living within the boundaries of existing U.S. states to voluntarily exchange their lands for unorganized territory west of the Mississippi River -- mostly in what is now Oklahoma -- as well as to be assisted in the move and to be reimbursed for any improvements on the abandoned lands. This treaty is of great significance because it started the process of Indian Removal to the mid-West, at least on a more centralized, federal level.

The Removal Act and subsequent treaties such as Dancing Rabbit Creek were designed to lessen tensions between white American who were pushing into Indian territories, and to resolve boundary and jurisdictional disputes between Indians and the governments of the states in which they resided. As President Andrew Jackson puts it in a letter to Congress reprinted in The Globe on December 7, 1830, “the waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward; and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the south and west by a fair exchange.' Jackson acknowledges it will be difficult for the tribes to relocate, but he likens the Indians move to when European settlers first set foot on the unknown shores of America and argues that it will be better for all involved.

 

After ceding nearly 11,000,000 acres (45,000 km2), the Choctaw emigrated in three stages: the first in the fall of 1831, the second in 1832 and the last in 1833. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 25, 1831, and then President Andrew Jackson was anxious to make it a model of removal.

 

James K. Polk was the dark horse who became President of the United States in 1845. Polk set four goals for his administration and two of these had major implications for American Indians: (1) the acquisition of the Oregon Territory, and (2) the acquisition of California and New Mexico. Polk himself had little direct contact with Indians, but the policies established during his administration had long-lasting ramifications for Indian tribes and Indian people.  

During Polk’s presidency, the concept of Manifest Destiny became popular. In 1845, the New York Democratic Review wrote about:

 

“our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”

In 1846, Senator Thomas Hart Benton said:

“It would seem that the White race alone received the divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth, for it is the only race that has obeyed it-the only race that hunts out new and distant lands, and even a New World, to subdue and replenish.”

 

President Polk appointed William Medill as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Medill felt that Indians must be “civilized” and they had to be instructed in morality, religion, and the work ethic. Medill considered Indians to be ignorant, degraded, lazy, and possessed of no worthwhile cultural traits.

 

The 1848 annual report of Indian Commissioner William Medill stressed the belief that Indians must make way for the superior race of civilized people. He characterized Indians as wedded to savage customs, prejudices, and habits; as finding labor repugnant. Medill felt that education and Christianization were needed.

 

Under Polk's administration, Congress passed the Oregon Organic Act in 1848 which established Oregon Territory and set the stage for statehood. The Act included five provisions dealing with Indians. The Act:

1. indicated that lands were not to be taken from the Indians without their consent and affirmed the rights of person and property for Indians.

2. granted 640 acres to occupied mission sites at the time of its enactment.

3. created the office of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the territory.

4. extended the Ordinance of 1787 to all of Oregon Territory which included the philosophical idea that Indians are to be dealt with in utmost good faith.

5. appropriated $10,000 for the purchase of presents to the tribes.

 

Following the Mexican War, and near the end of the Polk administration, the United States acquired California and New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under this treaty, ratified in 1848, the United States acquired what would become California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

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