WI: No Indian Removal Act - what happens to 5 Civilized Tribes?

WI: No Indian Removal Act - what happens to 5 Civilized Tribes?


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Imagine that Andrew Jackson's presidency is butterflied away and the Adams/Clay faction of the government remains in power for another four or so years. What happens to the Five Civilized Tribes in the absence of an Indian Removal Act?
 
I think you see a mix of ethnic cleansing, and some assimilation. The settlers moving west were more than happy to see the Indians leave or dead. To be sure figures such as Davy Crockett opposed this. It may have led to a situation where some if not most Indians were pushed west and the rest were assimilated by a more sympathetic government/Anglo-American society. Perhaps with some lands being ceded to them. Though that wouldn't prevent them being taken in the future.
 
Hrm. Honestly, I'm not sure what would be the best way to keep everything in order, but I believe the key component is delay, delay, and delay. I've mentally speculated that an earlier western push (I'm imagining the PoD would be the US annexing the Marquisas Islands in 1814 when the British prisoners don't manage to escape, as they did OTL. This creates a larger cultural consciousness about the drive west). Simultaneously, you'd have to have that western push coincide with a larger change in understanding considering the Civilized vs Uncivilized tribes. it would essentially boil down to "The Pacific is our Manifest Destiny. There are vast plains wide open and awaiting settlement, and there are thousands and thousands of Indians there that do not accept the US government's control. So, instead, go west, young man, as there is far more there than close to home."

And always, in the cultural conscious, would be that they could come back later and take care of the Civilized Tribes. However, while their borders may be nibbled at the edges, they wouldn't lose them in total - at least in the meantime.

This would also correspond with the Jacksonians never being able to completely take over power, except when distracted by other issues.

At the same time, as all of the Civilized tribes are in the South, we might see that have a repercussion down the line. Perhaps another slave territory or two. Perhaps Kansas becomes a slave state, if it occurs along the same line. Basically, a "compensation" for all the nearby lands that are not to be settled. Perhaps an expanded Gadsden Purchase equivalent down into Sonora would be contemplated.

Either way, that means that, until the eve of the Civil War (which, we'll assume follows a similar trajectory for ease of discussion), the 5 Civilized Tribes yet exist, but they are highly dependent upon the Federal government against the encroachment of the states. And, when the Southern States begin to secede, the Southerners intervene into them, fearing that they'd be a hotbed of Unionism. And, while that may not be the case initially, the Southern dispossession of their land forces them squarely into the Union Camp. And, as such, the stories of the Five Civilized Tribes end up wedded to that of West Virginia's independence and Unionist sentiment throughout the war. And, once the war is over, there is a recognition of their loyalty of the US government and their borders, for the most part, become fairly concrete.

So, in the span of 2 generations, we've made a change in cultural consciousness, and they're afforded some protectiosn . Not necessarily as many as they should, but enough so that they as individual units will survive much later and, perhaps, to Modern day. This might also encourage the growth of other reservations, to a certain extent. The Union becomes the honest broker, at least in this instance, and can reap the dividends thereof.
 
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