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Lot 199
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Martin Van Buren rare ALS as President w/ superb content incl. Cherokee Indian Removal and within days of the Mormon "Extermination Order"
Martin Van Buren rare ALS as President w/ superb content incl. Cherokee Indian Removal and within days of the Mormon "Extermination Order"
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Description:

Van Buren Martin

Two page autograph letter signed, 7.75" x 9.75". Written on recto and verso of the first page, with the second page being written on the recto and verso docketed. Signed and dated by Martin Van Buren, "M. Van Buren / Washington / October 20 - 1838" Toning to upper edge with faint chipping. Expected folds, else near fine. Accompanied by a PSA/DNA Letter of Authentication.

This phenomenal ALS penned in the heat of a confluence of events revolving around racial and religious 'removals' and 'exterminations' of Indians and Mormons by influential Whites in the South East corridor. The letter, written entirely in the hand of President Van Buren makes note of Mr Crawford who was just appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs and was to start his post within 2 days of the letter, and illuminates that "the property is of immense nature & the parties to the controversy numerous and influential, resident chiefly in Georgia & Alabama." The letter written after the disaster of forced removal of the Cherokees is shown in part below:

"The enclosed memorandum will explain to you the duties of a commission to the officiated in the place of Mr. Crawford who has been appointed Commissioner of Indian affairs. The property is of immense nature & the parties to the controversy numerous and influential, resident chiefly in Georgia & Alabama. I was very desirous of obtaining a commissioner whose weight of character … were sufficient to secure confidence with Congress + the Country…   would it be agreeable to you? … The principal part of the business will be done here … Let me know what your feelings are in the matter."

Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia, tacitly supported Georgia's expulsion of the Cherokees.   In 1838, Van Buren placed Winfield Scott in charge of enforcing the Treaty of New Echota, and in command of the "Army of the Cherokee Nation" including removal of the Cherokees to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Van Buren allowed Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama an armed force of 7,000 militiamen, army regulars, and volunteers under General Winfield Scott to relocate about 13,000 Cherokees to Cleveland, Tennessee enforcing the Treaty of New Echota, including removal of the Cherokees to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

Arriving at New Echota, Cherokee Nation, on April 6, 1838, Scott immediately divided the Cherokee Nation into three military districts. He designated May 26, 1838 as the beginning date for the first phase of the removal. The first phase involved the Cherokees in Georgia. Scott wanted Army regulars rather than Georgia militia for this operation, because the militia had personal gains at stake; some claimed Cherokee land. The promised regulars did not arrive in time, so Scott proceeded with 4,000 Georgia militia.

 

The moral implications of the Jackson-Van Buren policies did not make Scott's role easy. Representative (and ex-President) John Quincy Adams opposed the removal, imputing it to "Southern politicians and land grabbers"; many Americans agreed. Scott reassured the Cherokee people of proper treatment. In his instructions to the militia, Scott called any acts of harshness and cruelty "abhorrent to the generous sympathies of the whole American people." Scott also admonished his troops not to fire on any fugitives they might apprehend unless they should "make stand and resist".

Scott detailed help to render the weak and infirm: "Horses or ponies should be used to carry Cherokees too sick or feeble to march." Also, "Infants, superannuated persons, lunatics, and women in a helpless condition with all, in the removal [deserve] peculiar attention, which the brave and humane will seek to adopt to the necessities of the several cases."

Scott's good intentions, however, did not adequately protect the Cherokees from terrible abuses, especially at the hands of "lawless rabble that followed on the heels of the soldiers to loot and pillage". The Cherokee were herded violently into internment camps, where they were kept for the summer of 1838. The actual transportation west was delayed by intense heat and drought, but in the fall, the Cherokee reluctantly agreed to transport themselves west. At the end of the first phase of the removal in August 1838, 3,000 Cherokees left Georgia and Tennessee by water toward Oklahoma, but camps still retained another 13,000.

 

As astounding as this forced act of Indian removal was, it was occurring concurrently with "Extermination Order" issued by Governor of Missouri on October 27, 1838, authorizing troops to use force against Mormons to "exterminate or drive [them] from the state" Smith and his party appealed to members of Congress and to President Van Buren to intercede for the Mormons. According to Smith's grandnephew, Van Buren said to Smith, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you; if I take up for you I shall lose the vote of Missouri". This rather dark period of our history occurred against the back drop of Slavery (which Van Buren supported in so much as he did not want to disturb the status quo resulting in an upset of political support from the South). And Van Buren's denial of Texas' formal request to join the United States, again in part to prevent the upset of the slave state/free state balance in the Missouri Compromise. Van Buren's positions represent Political jockeying at its finest to uphold the interests of the numerous influential parties, no matter the cost.

 

An important historical letter, with superlative content. Letters by Van Buren with significant content are incredibly scarce and rarely come to auction. A similar letter last sold at Sotheby's, New York in 1999 which brought in nearly $50,000 inclusive of the buyer's premium.

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