- 73
Jefferson, Thomas, as Third President
Description
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Jefferson as architect of the federal policy of removal of the Indians that culminated in the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the catastrophic Trail of Tears that caused an unimaginable toll upon the Cherokee Nation in 1838 (see lot 96). The rapidly expanding population of the United States early in the nineteenth century created tensions with American Indian tribes located within the borders of the various states. While state governments did not want independent Indian enclaves within their boundaries, Indian tribes were understandably resistent to parting with their ancestral villages and hunting grounds. One of the first major decisions made during Jefferson's administration was the Compact of 1802 in which the state of Georgia relinquished western lands to the federal government in exchange for the removal of Indian tribes within Georgia; the first of the targeted tribes were the Creek who occupied land in the fork of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers.
On 5 August 1803 Governor John Milledge of Georgia wrote to Jefferson. Therein he complained that his letter of 19 May to Secretary of War Dearborn requesting federal approval of delegates to treat with the Creek Nation for the recovery of Georgian slaves, prisoners, and property had been answered with a stalling reply on 13 October which impugned Georgia's right to involve itself in such negotiations. Jefferson responded to Milledge on 22 November in a conciliatory manner: "Altho I am so late in answering your favor of Aug. 5 yet it was not unattended to; and has, in execution, had it's effect. While we were negociating with the Creeks for the extension of your Oakmulgee boundary, we thought it unadvisable to press any other topic which would be disagreeable to them. as soon as the unfavorable turn which that negociation took was known, I desired the Secretary at War to take the proper measures for effecting the object of your letter of Aug. 5."
The Louisiana Purchase and Jefferson's Indian Policy: "The acquisition of Louisiana will it is hoped put it in our power the means of inducing all the Indians on this side to transplant themselves to the other side the Missisipi, before many years get about," Jefferson writes confidently to Milledge. Jefferson was sincere in his belief that Indian people had to adopt the ways of the white man in order to survive. He was determined to provide them with the tools and education necessary to abandon a lifestyle of communal hunting in favor of an agricultural society with private property. However philanthropic this policy appeared on the surface, it was nevertheless patently self-serving white expansionism. Before news of the Louisiana Purchase reached Washington in July 1803, Jefferson candidly outlined his objective in a letter to his Secretary of War Henry Dearborn on 29 December 1802: "The Indians being once closed in between strong countries on the Mississippi & Atlantic, will, for want of game, be forced to agriculture, will find that small portions of land well improved will be worth more to them than extensive forests unemployed, and will be continually parting with portions of them, for money to buy stock, utensils & necessities for their farms & families."
Jefferson's greatest presidential triumph, the Louisiana Purchase, which he hailed in a speech before Congress as an "ample provision for our prosperity and a widespread field for the blessings of freedom," profoundly influenced his mature Indian policy. One of its strategic points was that for those Indians who rejected "civilization" as their sole alternative to their extinction, the Louisiana Purchase would provide them with their next native enclave. There refugees and aboriginal residents could freely hunt for skins and furs and trade to mutual profit with the United States and her citizens, until such time as the land was needed for white settlement (Anthony Wallace, Jefferson and the Indians, p. 225).
In the present letter, Jefferson also announces that the United States has sucessfully treated with the Cherokees for a road connecting Knoxville and Savannah. He now wishes to press the Creek for a road from Savannah to New Orleans: "The Cherokees have at length ceded to us the road from Knoxville to the Savanna, under some cautions & restrictions which it is believed they will so retire from in practice. we have to press on the Creeks a direct road from this place to New Orleans, passing always below the mountains. it will probably brush the Currahee mountain, pass through Hickabatchee & Fort Stoddard. we hope to bring N. Orleans to within 1000. miles of this place, and that the post will pass it in 10 days." Hickabatchee is most likely Lake Hicpochee in South Florida. Fort Stoddard was located at the Mount Vernon Landing on the Mobile River in Mobile County, Alabama, east of present day Mount Vernon. The postal roads would prove invaluable for moving troops rapidly for the defense of the Gulf Coast in the event of hostilities with other nations.
Ever the impassioned agriculturalist, Jefferson concludes his letter with thanks to Milledge for some "seeds & stones ... I hope Congress will rise early enough to let me pass the month of March at home to superintend the planting them and some other things which may be growing & preparing enjoyment for me there when I retire from hence."