Protesting the removal of the Cherokee west of the Mississippi

Lot 261
16.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 4 410
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967461
Lot 261 | Protesting the removal of the Cherokee west of the Mississippi
Estimate value
$ 1 000 – 2 000
INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830 – Anonymous manuscript, signed ("S.P."), "The Cherokee's Appeal," [New England?], 8 June 1832.

Two pages, 318 x 204mm.

An unattributed protest against Andrew Jackson's forcible removal of the Cherokee from their ancestral lands. A forty line poem, with numerous revisions to the text written by an unidentified author, possibly a student, written on behalf of the Cherokee, who in 1830 had become, together with numerous other Native American tribes remaining east of the Mississippi, subject to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee were one of the last to be forced off their lands in the late 1830s, most removing to “Indian Territory” in what is today modern-day Oklahoma. The anonymous author may have been inspired by a similarly titled poem that appeared in the 21 April 1830 issue of the Massachusetts Spy, but the text in the present manuscript is completely different and reads, in part, “And must we go, & must we leave our native soil / Long maintained by valiant warriors' strife & toil / The land so long by & free untrammeled Red man trod / who oft was forced to prove his freedom by his blood. / Once did our fathers bold, in noble freedom rove" Interestingly, yet another poem with the same title also appeared in the 1 June 1838 issue of the New Bedford Mercury. That both published poems appeared in Massachusetts newspapers and New England was a hotbed of opposition to the removal policy, would suggest the present manuscript was composed and written by someone in this region.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
16.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

?>