Thomas Jefferson and Native Americans facts for kids

Thomas Jefferson had interesting ideas about Native American people. He thought they were a "noble race" and were just as smart and capable as white people. He believed they had a natural sense of right and wrong. However, he also felt that Native Americans were not as advanced in their culture or technology. Like many people at the time, he thought that white settlers should take over Native American lands.

Before and during his time as president, Jefferson often spoke about treating Native Americans with respect and trading with them. He first believed that if Native Americans adopted European farming methods and ways of life, they could quickly "progress" from what he called "savagery" to "civilization."

But after 1803, Jefferson's private letters show he started to support the idea of moving Native American tribes. He suggested different ways to move tribes from their homes in the East to new lands west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson thought Native Americans had "land to spare" and would happily trade it for food and supplies. Starting in 1808, Jefferson began a plan to move several Native American nations from east of the Mississippi River to the new Arkansas Territory. This was an early step towards the more formal policy of Indian Removal that was later passed by the U.S. Congress in 1831 and carried out by President Andrew Jackson.

Thomas Jefferson's Views on Native Americans

Jefferson was very interested in Native American cultures and languages. His home, Monticello, had many Native American items that were brought back from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He also collected information about Native American words and grammar.

Encouraging a New Way of Life

Many people often think Andrew Jackson started the Indian Removal policy because the Indian Removal Act was passed during his presidency in 1831. He was also personally involved in moving many Eastern Native American tribes by force. However, Congress was actually following ideas that Jefferson had suggested in private letters starting in 1804, even though Jefferson didn't carry out the full plan during his own time as president.

When Napoleon became powerful in Europe, there were rumors that the Louisiana Territory might be transferred from Spain to France. This worried some Americans. Jefferson wanted to make the Western border, along the Mississippi River, stronger. He believed the best way to do this was to have many white settlements in the area.

In a letter from 1803, Jefferson wrote that hunting was no longer enough for Native Americans to get food and clothing. He thought that farming and making things at home were important for their survival. He wanted to help them with this. He believed that the best outcome would be for Native American settlements and white settlements to meet and blend together, becoming one people. He felt that if Native Americans joined the United States as citizens, they would be able to keep their lands.

After the American Revolutionary War, the U.S. government was not strong enough to risk a big war with the powerful Native American tribes around its borders. They worried that such a war might involve Britain, France, or Spain. So, Jefferson told Meriwether Lewis to treat all Native American tribes in a very friendly way.

Jefferson wanted to expand the country's borders into Native American lands without starting a major war. His first plan was to convince Native Americans to give up their own cultures, religions, and ways of life. He wanted them to adopt Western European culture, the Christian religion, and a settled farming lifestyle. Jefferson hoped that by becoming farmers and relying on trade with white Americans, Native Americans would become dependent on them. This would make them more willing to give up land they might not otherwise part with, in exchange for goods or to pay off debts.

In another private letter from 1803, Jefferson explained this strategy. He wrote that the government would encourage trade and even want important Native American individuals to get into debt. He observed that when these debts became too large to pay, Native Americans would be willing to give up land to settle them. He believed this would allow white settlements to slowly surround Native American lands. Eventually, he thought, Native Americans would either join the United States as citizens or move west of the Mississippi. He felt joining the U.S. would be the happiest outcome for them. He also wrote that it was important to keep their friendship. He believed Native Americans could see that the U.S. was strong and could easily defeat them, and that any help given to them came from kindness. However, he also stated that if any tribe was foolish enough to fight, taking their entire land and forcing them across the Mississippi would be a lesson to others and help the U.S. expand.

Jefferson believed this plan would "get rid of this problem without offending the Indians." He told the person he was writing to that the contents of the letter should be kept secret, especially from Native Americans. He thought it was best for them to only see the present situation.

Forced Relocation

If Native American tribes refused to change their ways, Jefferson believed they should be forcefully moved west to avoid war and possible destruction. In a letter from 1813, he explained that the U.S. had tried to help Native Americans live peacefully, teach them farming, and encourage them to own property. He thought this would help them grow and eventually mix with white Americans. However, he blamed England for encouraging some tribes to fight during a war, leading to attacks on American settlers. He said these attacks would force the U.S. to either destroy these tribes or drive them to new places far away.

He also told his Secretary of War, General Henry Dearborn, who was in charge of Native American affairs, that if the U.S. had to fight any tribe, they would not stop until that tribe was destroyed or moved beyond the Mississippi.

Jefferson first suggested moving Native Americans between 1776 and 1779. He recommended forcing the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes out of their traditional lands to areas west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson said that moving Native American people was the only way to ensure they survived. His first act as president related to this was a deal with the state of Georgia. He agreed that if Georgia gave up its claims to lands in the west, the U.S. military would help forcefully remove the Cherokee people from Georgia. At that time, the Cherokee had a treaty with the United States government that guaranteed their right to their lands, which was broken by Jefferson's deal with Georgia.