Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees: Volume Ten: March to Removal, Part 5: This Is Not My Home Any More, 1834-1838

Volume 10 of Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees, 1834-1838 concludes the subtitle series March to Removal leading up to the Trail of Tears.

The state of Georgia and the United States press forward toward their common goal: Georgia for white citizens only and America east of the Mississippi swept clean of Indians.

After years of negotiations, treaties, enactments, and lawsuits, the Treaty of New Echota, signed in late December 1835 by a handful of Cherokee head men, seals the fate of the Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi.

The Cherokees are now a homeless people in their ancient homeland. And the Moravian Church's missionaries, through mission diaries, reports, and letters, record the events as they hear, read, and watch them, "heart freezing scenes of injustice, deception, oppression, & force, of which this Nation is the victim," missionary Henry Clauder writes in April 1837.

As forced removal increases, "forts" are built to hold up to 200 Indians each, even at the Moravians' beloved Springplace mission. Herded into the forts like cattle, many succumb to camp diseases.

As the deadline for departure approaches, John Ross, president of the Cherokee Nation, wins a concession from the Army's Gen. Winfield Scott. Instead of soldiers, Cherokees will conduct the thirteen "detachments" of about one thousand Indians each.

And the Moravian missionaries make their own hard decision. With winter coming on, they depart on the 800-mile journey to Arkansas before Br. George Hicks can start his detachment with a number of Moravian mission families.

ISBN-13: 9780999452127

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Cherokee Heritage Press

Publication Date: 01-12-2021

Pages: 534

Product Dimensions: 9.20h x 7.70w x 1.70d

Starbuck, Richard W.: -

Richard W. Starbuck was born and raised in the Moravian Church. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College and worked for twelve years as a writer and editor for the Winston-SalemJournal and Sentinel newspapers. In 1986 he joined the Moravian Archives, where he has been instrumental in editing numerous works for publication in print and online. He is the coauthor of With Courage for the Future: The Story of the Moravian Church, Southern Province and editor of eight volumes of Records of the Moravians among the Cherokees. Starbuck was appointed and briefly served as the Archivist of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, before retiring in 2017.