Teaching With Documents, Volume 1

Contents:

Census of Cherokees in the Limits of Georgia in 1835

The year 1835 marked the end of an era for 16,542 Cherokee Indians living in parts of North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Under pressure from state and federal authorities, a small group of Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota with the United States government; it ceded their eastern lands. Under terms of the treaty, the tribe received designated lands west of the Mississippi River and was ordered to relocate within two years. Most Cherokee had to be forced to leave their lands under military escort in 1838 and 1839.

In 1835 the United States government directed the Office of Indian Affairs to take a federal census of the Cherokee. This census served to record the number of Cherokee and to establish the value of their lands. The 66-page tabulation reveals much about nineteenth-century Cherokee lifestyle.

Census statistics indicate that by 1835 the Cherokee had adapted to the encroaching white culture. Unlike many other tribes, the Cherokee engaged in farming, rather than hunting, as a primary means of subsistence. Of 2,668 families registered in this census, 2,495 (about 93 percent) had at least one farm. The Cherokee economic structure also included black slaves. In 1824, the Cherokee owned more than 1,000 slaves; by the time of this census, the number had increased to 1,500. Light industry was another aspect of white influence on the Cherokee economy. Indian spinsters and weavers manufactured cloth and clothing. Census records of sawmills and gristmills provide further evidence of industries, similar to neighboring white culture.

Perhaps the most striking feature of eastern Cherokee culture was the development of a written language. The 1835 census documents a small, but significant, percentage of literacy among the Cherokee. Sequoya had invented a Cherokee syllabary of 86 characters by 1821; by 1828, the first copy of a newspaper printed in Cherokee and English, the Cherokee Phoenix, was in circulation.

The document reproduced here is a portion of page 49 from the 1835 census of the Cherokee. Thirty-eight columns of information fill two pages (numbered page 49). Information is filled in under the following column headings: Heads of Families, Indians, Half-breeds, Quadroons, and Whites; Residence, State and County, and Watercourse; Males, Under 18 years; Males, Over 18 years; Females, Under 16 years; Females, Over 16 years; Total Cherokees; Slaves, Males; Slaves, Females; Total Slaves; Whites connected by marriage; Farms; Acres in cultivation; Houses; Bushels wheat raised; Bushels corn raised; Bushels corn sold; For how much; Bushels corn bought; For how much; Mills; Ferry boats; Farmers over 18 years; Mechanics over 18 years; Readers in English; Readers in Cherokee; Half-breeds; Quadroons; Full-blooded; Mixed Catawbys; Mixed Spaniards;Mixed Negroes; Weavers; Spinsters; Reservees; Descendants of Reservees; Total; and Remarks.


Click the image to view a larger version

The 18 headings on the right of page 49, not reproduced here, reveal that of the 292 Cherokee listed, there were: 18 who read English, 38 who read Cherokee, 51 weavers, 72 spinsters, 4 mechanics, 169 full-blooded Cherokee, 12 half-breeds, and 9 quadroons. There were also three gold mines on the property of Roasting Fox, Burnt Rail, and Tovesuskee. There were no ferry, boats or mills.

This document is from the Census of Cherokees in the limits of Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia in 1835, Entry 219, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75.

Suggestions for Teaching

1. Motivator: Provide each student with a copy of the Cherokee census and the puzzle. Each answer builds on the answer to the previous question. The answers are: (1) 292, (2) 3, (3) 876 (4) 16, (5) 892, (6) 2, (7) 1784, (8) 41, (9) 1,825, (10) 10, (11) 1,835, (12) the final answer is 1835.

2. What’s in a Name? Direct students to choose for themselves descriptive names to reflect their personalities, interests, or objects important to them. Collect the names in a list and read each name to the class. Ask students to try to match the descriptive names with the persons who selected those names.

3. Testing a Generalization: The worksheet below lists ten generalizations relating to Cherokee Indians in 1835. Students are directed to weigh the validity of those generalizations by using the document. Reproduce and distribute a copy of the document and worksheet for each student. Once the worksheets are completed, review student responses.

4. Map Skills. Direct students to an atlas of the United States and ask them to locate the Cherokee tribe in 1835 by using the geographical information provided in the census. Ask students to answer the following questions:

a. In what area of Georgia did the Cherokee in this census reside?

b. What major city is in this area today?

c. Estimate the number of miles that the Cherokee had to travel to reach the Mississippi River.

5. Creative Writing. Direct students to assume the role of one of the Cherokee recorded on the census list. Ask them to compose a letter to the federal government or to a fellow Cherokee that describes their feelings after learning of the Treaty of New Echota. Ask students to include in their letters how they think life would be different and what they would miss most.

6. Synthesis: Ask students to write a short paragraph describing the lifestyle of the Cherokee based on the information provided in the 1835 census. Students might include such topics as work, family, slaves, and crops.

Cherokee Census: A Puzzle
(1) __________ Find the total number of Cherokee recorded in this census. Indicate this number on the line to the left.
(2) __________ Locate the number of Indians connected by marriage to whites.
(3) __________ Multiply answer #1 by answer #2.
(4) __________ How many Cherokee lived near Beach Creek?
(5) __________ Add answer #4 to answer #3.
(6) __________ How many persons owned 10 or more slaves?
(7) __________ Multiply answer #5 by answer #6.
(8) __________ What is the total number of slaves owned by all the Cherokee?
(9) __________ Add answer #8 to answer #7.
(10) __________ How many bushels of corn did Roasting Fox raise?
(11) __________ Add answer #10 to answer #9.
(12) __________ Enter your final answer here.


Click the image to see a printable, full-page version of this teaching activity

Contents:

Download Options


Title: Teaching With Documents, Volume 1

Select an option:

*Note: A download may not start for up to 60 seconds.

Email Options


Title: Teaching With Documents, Volume 1

Select an option:

Email addres:

*Note: It may take up to 60 seconds for for the email to be generated.

Chicago: "Census of Cherokees in the Limits of Georgia in 1835," Teaching With Documents, Volume 1 in Teaching With Documents: Using Primary Sources from the National Archives, ed. United States. National Archives and Records Administration and National Council for the Social Studies (Washington, D.C.: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1989), 13–16. Original Sources, accessed March 29, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DW4ZFFPVQ3KQCFW.

MLA: . "Census of Cherokees in the Limits of Georgia in 1835." Teaching With Documents, Volume 1, in Teaching With Documents: Using Primary Sources from the National Archives, edited by United States. National Archives and Records Administration and National Council for the Social Studies, Vol. 1, Washington, D.C., National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1989, pp. 13–16. Original Sources. 29 Mar. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DW4ZFFPVQ3KQCFW.

Harvard: , 'Census of Cherokees in the Limits of Georgia in 1835' in Teaching With Documents, Volume 1. cited in 1989, Teaching With Documents: Using Primary Sources from the National Archives, ed. , National Archives Trust Fund Board, Washington, D.C., pp.13–16. Original Sources, retrieved 29 March 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DW4ZFFPVQ3KQCFW.