Sovereign Nation Era Ends 1800-1827

At the beginning of the 1800s, more than 80 percent of the current contiguous lower 48 states is in Indian hands (Nies, 1996). However, the U.S. becomes more powerful and...Read More

1801

Federal policy of land acquisition through Indian debt

President Thomas Jefferson actively encourages territorial governors to do all they can to acquire Indian...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1802

Civilization campaign formalized in policy

Congress appropriates $10,000 for “civilization” of Indians.

Settler Colonial Policy
1802

Tlingit Indians destroy Russian-American Trading Company (Alaska)

Rising up against Russian enslavement and other violent practices, Tlingit warriors destroy several Russian settlements,...Read More

Native Resistance
1802

John Quincy Adams cites Manifest Destiny for land dispossession

“What is the right of the huntsman to the forest of a thousand miles over...Read More

Traumatic Event
1803

Louisiana “Purchase”

The U.S. “purchases” Louisiana from France. Indians of Louisiana now must contend with U.S.-imposed settler...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1803

Congress orders medical care for Native peoples

The federal government formally assigns the responsibility for providing medical care for Native peoples to...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1803-1804

Indian removal policy progresses

Thomas Jefferson drafts a constitutional amendment authorizing Congress to trade land west of the Mississippi...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1804-1806

Sacagawea, 13-year-old Shoshone girl, is purchased by French Canadian fur trader

Over 25 years her senior, Toussaint Charbonneau obtains her through either trade, a gambling payoff,...Read More

Traumatic Event
1805

Tlingit Indians destroy Yakutat, a Russian post

Native Resistance
1805

Spanish massacre 115 Dine’ Indians (Arizona)

Spanish soldiers, led by Antonio Narbona, massacre 115 Indians (mostly women and children) in Canyon...Read More

Traumatic Event
1806-1809

Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa call for unified pan-tribal Native resistance movement

“With the Shawnee under siege, fragmented, and dispersed, Lalawithika has a spiritual revelation that begins...Read More

Native Resistance
1809

“Whiskey Treaty” of Fort Wayne signed

A process of fraud, embezzlement of lands, and use of alcohol is used to negotiate...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1810

Kamehameha I unifies Hawaiian Islands

Kamehameha I brings all of the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom when King Kaumuali‘i cedes...Read More

Traumatic Event
1811

Natives resist illegal settlement (Indiana)

Tenskwatawa orders a pre-dawn attack on the U.S. military force encamped close to Prophetstown, which...Read More

Native Resistance
1812

Resistance movement to westward expansion and War of 1812

By 1812, “tribal nations of the lower Great Lakes, including the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ojibway, and...Read More

Native Resistance
1813

President Jefferson supports extermination and genocide

In a letter on December 29, 1813, Thomas Jefferson writes: “This unfortunate race, whom we...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813

Seminole villages invaded by Tennessee militia (Florida)

Andrew Jackson is one of the leaders to attack Seminole villages in Spanish territory of...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813

Massacre at Tallushatchee (Tennessee)

Under General John Coffee, Tennessee troops attack an unsuspecting Muscogee town, killing 186 to 200...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813-1814

Red Stick rebellion

Muscogee Creek Upper Towns in Georgia and Alabama lead a resistance movement to support traditional...Read More

Native Resistance
1813

Battle of Horseshoe Bend; 20 million acres of Muscogee land seized

In retaliation for the Red Stick rebellion, over 5,000 U.S. forces led by Andrew Jackson...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813

Hillabee Massacre of the Muscogee Creek (Alabama)

General White and his Tennessee troops launch a surprise attack on a Muscogee village, whose...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813

Autossee Massacre of the Muscogee Creek (Alabama)

General Floyd of the Georgia militia attack a Muscogee town on the Tallapoosa River, massacring...Read More

Traumatic Event
1813

Tecumseh is killed; his confederacy collapses

The U.S. continues to invade old northwest tribal lands north of Ohio and around Michigan....Read More

Traumatic Event
1815

U.S. prohibits ceding of Native lands to any other international power

This government policy narrows tribal negotiating power to leverage strategic alliances with other foreign powers....Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1816

U.S. restricts trading licenses with Indians to U.S. citizens

This impacts tribes’ ability to negotiate with foreign powers.

Settler Colonial Policy
1817

James Monroe is elected president

In his 1818 State of the Union address, Monroe states, “Experience has clearly demonstrated that...Read More

Traumatic Event
1817

First action to remove Indians from their lands

Cherokee land in Georgia is exchanged for territory in present-day Oklahoma, foreshadowing American Indian removal...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1817-1818

Andrew Jackson leads assault on Seminole village; “First Seminole War” (Florida)

In lands still controlled by the Spanish, U.S. forces launch an attack and burn and...Read More

Traumatic Event Native Resistance
1818

Creek resistance leader Josiah Francis killed

Andrew Jackson kills Josiah Francis, who had accompanied Tecumseh in visiting the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee,...Read More

Traumatic Event
1818

First Alaskan hospital opens; refuses services to Alaska Natives

A new hospital in Sitka only serves Russian-American Company workers and settlers, not Alaska Natives...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy

Select Era:

Tribal Independence Era

Epidemics, Slavery, Massacres, and Indigenous Resistance

Invasion from All Directions—Stolen Lands, Stolen Peoples

Strategic Alliances and Trail of Broken Treaties

Sovereign Nation Era Ends

Indian Removal Era Begins

Reservation Era Begins

Boarding School and Land Allotment Eras

Indian New Deal, Tribal Termination, and Urban Relocation

Indian Self-Determination and Self-Governance Era

Federal policy of land acquisition through Indian debt

Civilization campaign formalized in policy

Tlingit Indians destroy Russian-American Trading Company (Alaska)

John Quincy Adams cites Manifest Destiny for land dispossession

Louisiana “Purchase”

Congress orders medical care for Native peoples

Indian removal policy progresses

Sacagawea, 13-year-old Shoshone girl, is purchased by French Canadian fur trader

Tlingit Indians destroy Yakutat, a Russian post

Spanish massacre 115 Dine’ Indians (Arizona)

Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa call for unified pan-tribal Native resistance movement

“Whiskey Treaty” of Fort Wayne signed

Kamehameha I unifies Hawaiian Islands

Natives resist illegal settlement (Indiana)

Resistance movement to westward expansion and War of 1812

President Jefferson supports extermination and genocide

Seminole villages invaded by Tennessee militia (Florida)

Massacre at Tallushatchee (Tennessee)

Red Stick rebellion

Battle of Horseshoe Bend; 20 million acres of Muscogee land seized

Hillabee Massacre of the Muscogee Creek (Alabama)

Autossee Massacre of the Muscogee Creek (Alabama)

Tecumseh is killed; his confederacy collapses

U.S. prohibits ceding of Native lands to any other international power

U.S. restricts trading licenses with Indians to U.S. citizens

James Monroe is elected president

First action to remove Indians from their lands

Andrew Jackson leads assault on Seminole village; “First Seminole War” (Florida)

Creek resistance leader Josiah Francis killed

First Alaskan hospital opens; refuses services to Alaska Natives

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