John Ridge
Encyclopedia
John Ridge, born Skah-tle-loh-skee (Yellow Bird) (c.
1802 – June 22, 1839), was from a prominent family of the Cherokee
Nation, then located in present-day Georgia
. He married Sarah Bird Northup, of a New England family, whom he had met while studying at the Foreign Mission School
in Cornwall, Connecticut
. Soon after their return to New Echota, Ridge was chosen for the Cherokee National Council and had political influence in the tribe.
In the 1830s, he was part of the Treaty Party with his father Major Ridge and cousin Elias Boudinot
. Believing that Indian Removal
was inevitable, they supported making a treaty with the United States government to protect Cherokee rights. Ridge and Boudinot were both signatories to the Treaty of New Echota
of 1835, by which they ceded Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands in Indian Territory. The land cession was opposed by the majority of the tribe and the Principal Chief John Ross, but the treaty was ratified by the US Senate. In 1839, after the Trail of Tears
, Ridge and Boudinot were assassinated for their roles in the land cession.
and his wife around 1802 in their village of Oothacaloga, near present-day Calhoun, Georgia
. The Cherokee were a matrilineal tribe, so he belonged to his mother's clan and achieved political status through her line. Ridge was often sick as a child. He studied at the nearby mission school run by the Moravian Brethren at Spring Place, Cherokee Nation (now Georgia
). It was founded on land given to them by his father's mentor and fellow former warrior, James Vann
.
Ridge's father sent him to the Foreign Mission School
in Cornwall, Connecticut
in 1819, where he learned reading and writing in English
and other subjects typical to middle-class education at the time. Many families in the town supported the school and were hospitable to its students. As the top-ranked student, Ridge was asked to write an essay for President James Monroe
, to be presented by Jedidiah Morse
.
and his father's protegé, John Ross
. He was highly respected by all the tribes across the Southern United States
for his abilities and faithfulness to Indian welfare .
Descendants of a Cherokee father and white mother, however, could have no true place in the tribe. In 1825 the Council passed a law enabling children of such unions to have full Cherokee citizenship, as if of Cherokee descent on their mother's side. By this time, Ridge's cousin Elias Boudinot
(the oldest son of David Watie) had announced his engagement to another New England woman. Given the high status of the two young men, the new ruling made a place for their families and protected their children within the Cherokee Nation.
As clerk of the Cherokee National Council, Ridge was part of delegations to Washington from the Council; in 1831 they protested Georgia's illegal annexation of that part of the Nation which lay within its territory. In 1832, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in the associated case, Worcester v. Georgia
, that Georgia's unilateral extension of its laws over Cherokee territory was illegal and unconstitutional. It ruled that the Cherokee Nation had sovereign status and appropriately would deal only with the US government. The delegation were dismayed to learn that President Andrew Jackson
still supported removal of the Cherokee to lands west of the Mississippi River. Ridge reluctantly began to see the point of removal, which he had previously opposed.
Ridge and Boudinot both became leaders of the "Treaty Party," a group that advocated negotiation of removal under a treaty in order to protect Cherokee rights. They had begun to believe it was the only way to preserve the Cherokee Nation, as European-American settlers were encroaching on their lands in present-day Georgia. They believed they had to give up the Cherokee land illegally annexed by Georgia. The majority of the Cherokee sided with the Principal Chief John Ross in opposing removal. Ross still hoped to make a settlement with the US allowing the Cherokee to stay in the east. Ridge hoped gradually to persuade the Nation of what he saw as the only way out of its dilemma, given the encroachment of European Americans.
Together with his father and Boudinot, Ridge signed the Treaty of New Echota
in 1835 after final negotiations with a delegation in Washington City, D.C.
They were part of the National Council's delegation, headed by Principal Chief John Ross, who still was trying to negotiate staying in the East. Since the treaty surrendered all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River and against their wishes, the Ross faction, known as the National Party, regarded the Ridges and Boudinot as traitors. Despite the known opposition within the tribe and the lack of signature by the Principal Chief Ross, the US Senate ratified the treaty. President Jackson used it to justify the forcible Cherokee removal, in what is now known as the Trail of Tears
.
The treaty provided for Cherokees who wished to remain in the east to do so. They would have to become citizens of the states where they resided and give up their Cherokee tribal status. This provision was widely ignored during the removal, and the US Army rounded up most Cherokee and their slaves from Georgia to take west. Among the Five Civilized Tribes
, the Cherokee held the most slaves.
. This was years before the forced removal of most of the Cherokee in 1838. The Ridges and other families joined the "Old Settlers" of the Cherokee Nation West under Principal Chief John Jolly
. Some of them had migrated west in the 1820s from North Carolina or Alabama.
On June 22, 1839, a group of 25 pro-Ross partisans of the "Late Comers" assassinated Ridge, his father, and Boudinot for having signed the treaty to cede the Cherokee lands. They attacked Stand Watie, but he survived. The attackers stabbed John Ridge 48 times, jumped on his chest, and kicked him repeatedly, all before his wife and children.
The attacks contributed to a wave of violence among the Cherokee that went on for years among the various partisan groups. The US representatives tried to negotiate a peace between the groups. Some of the enmity over the treaty was reflected in Cherokee alliances during the American Civil War
. As it developed, Ross and a minority supported the Union. Stand Watie and a majority of the Nation (including most slaveholders) were pro-Confederacy
and he served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. The pro-Confederacy faction were forced to accept conditions of a new treaty in 1866 after the United States won the war.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1802 – June 22, 1839), was from a prominent family of the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Nation, then located in present-day Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He married Sarah Bird Northup, of a New England family, whom he had met while studying at the Foreign Mission School
Foreign Mission School
The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution which existed between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut. It was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to bring Christianity and Western culture to non-caucasian people by educating missionaries of...
in Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2000 census.In 1939 poet Mark Van Doren wrote "The Hills of Little Cornwall", a short poem in which the beauties of the countryside were portrayed as seductive:The town was also home to the Foreign...
. Soon after their return to New Echota, Ridge was chosen for the Cherokee National Council and had political influence in the tribe.
In the 1830s, he was part of the Treaty Party with his father Major Ridge and cousin Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...
. Believing that Indian Removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
was inevitable, they supported making a treaty with the United States government to protect Cherokee rights. Ridge and Boudinot were both signatories to the Treaty of New Echota
Treaty of New Echota
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, known as the Treaty Party...
of 1835, by which they ceded Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands in Indian Territory. The land cession was opposed by the majority of the tribe and the Principal Chief John Ross, but the treaty was ratified by the US Senate. In 1839, after the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
, Ridge and Boudinot were assassinated for their roles in the land cession.
Early life
John Ridge was born to the Cherokee chief Major RidgeMajor Ridge
Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...
and his wife around 1802 in their village of Oothacaloga, near present-day Calhoun, Georgia
Calhoun, Georgia
Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,650. The city is the county seat of Gordon County.-Geography:Calhoun is located at , along the Oostanaula River....
. The Cherokee were a matrilineal tribe, so he belonged to his mother's clan and achieved political status through her line. Ridge was often sick as a child. He studied at the nearby mission school run by the Moravian Brethren at Spring Place, Cherokee Nation (now Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
). It was founded on land given to them by his father's mentor and fellow former warrior, James Vann
James Vann
James Vann was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia. He was the son of Wah-Li Vann, a mixed-race Cherokee woman, and a Scots fur trader...
.
Ridge's father sent him to the Foreign Mission School
Foreign Mission School
The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution which existed between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut. It was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to bring Christianity and Western culture to non-caucasian people by educating missionaries of...
in Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2000 census.In 1939 poet Mark Van Doren wrote "The Hills of Little Cornwall", a short poem in which the beauties of the countryside were portrayed as seductive:The town was also home to the Foreign...
in 1819, where he learned reading and writing in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and other subjects typical to middle-class education at the time. Many families in the town supported the school and were hospitable to its students. As the top-ranked student, Ridge was asked to write an essay for President James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
, to be presented by Jedidiah Morse
Jedidiah Morse
Jedidiah Morse was a notable geographer whose textbooks became a staple for students in the United States. He was the father of Samuel F. B. Morse, the man who developed Morse code.-Early life and education:...
.
Marriage and family
While at school in Cornwall, Ridge fell in love with Sarah Bird Northrup, the daughter of the school's steward. After two years, he convinced her parents to allow them to marry, which they did in January 1824. The Cornwall community reacted angrily to the marriage of a Native American man and a white woman. Their unwillingness to accept his marriage reduced Ridge's admiration for European Americans and altered his hopes for future relations between the Cherokee and whites.Career
After Ridge returned with his wife to the Cherokee territory, his fortunes in the political affairs of the Nation rose quickly. He became a leading member of the National Council, along with his cousin Elias BoudinotElias Boudinot (Cherokee)
Elias Boudinot , was a member of an important Cherokee family in present-day Georgia. They believed that rapid acculturation was critical to Cherokee survival. In 1828 Boudinot became the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, which was published in Cherokee and English...
and his father's protegé, John Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)
John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828–1866...
. He was highly respected by all the tribes across the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
for his abilities and faithfulness to Indian welfare .
Political life
Ridge's marriage was unusual. In the past, marriages between Europeans and Cherokee took place most frequently between European men, frequently fur traders, and high-status Cherokee women. They were strategic alliances believed to benefit both peoples, at a time when Cherokee chiefs sought more influence with the European Americans. Generally the man would live among the Cherokee; in the matrilineal culture, the children were accepted into the Nation as Cherokee. For instance, the chief John McGillvray was the son of a fur trader and had a Cherokee mother.Descendants of a Cherokee father and white mother, however, could have no true place in the tribe. In 1825 the Council passed a law enabling children of such unions to have full Cherokee citizenship, as if of Cherokee descent on their mother's side. By this time, Ridge's cousin Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...
(the oldest son of David Watie) had announced his engagement to another New England woman. Given the high status of the two young men, the new ruling made a place for their families and protected their children within the Cherokee Nation.
As clerk of the Cherokee National Council, Ridge was part of delegations to Washington from the Council; in 1831 they protested Georgia's illegal annexation of that part of the Nation which lay within its territory. In 1832, the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled in the associated case, Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Indians from being present on Indian lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional.The...
, that Georgia's unilateral extension of its laws over Cherokee territory was illegal and unconstitutional. It ruled that the Cherokee Nation had sovereign status and appropriately would deal only with the US government. The delegation were dismayed to learn that President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
still supported removal of the Cherokee to lands west of the Mississippi River. Ridge reluctantly began to see the point of removal, which he had previously opposed.
Ridge and Boudinot both became leaders of the "Treaty Party," a group that advocated negotiation of removal under a treaty in order to protect Cherokee rights. They had begun to believe it was the only way to preserve the Cherokee Nation, as European-American settlers were encroaching on their lands in present-day Georgia. They believed they had to give up the Cherokee land illegally annexed by Georgia. The majority of the Cherokee sided with the Principal Chief John Ross in opposing removal. Ross still hoped to make a settlement with the US allowing the Cherokee to stay in the east. Ridge hoped gradually to persuade the Nation of what he saw as the only way out of its dilemma, given the encroachment of European Americans.
Together with his father and Boudinot, Ridge signed the Treaty of New Echota
Treaty of New Echota
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, known as the Treaty Party...
in 1835 after final negotiations with a delegation in Washington City, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
They were part of the National Council's delegation, headed by Principal Chief John Ross, who still was trying to negotiate staying in the East. Since the treaty surrendered all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River and against their wishes, the Ross faction, known as the National Party, regarded the Ridges and Boudinot as traitors. Despite the known opposition within the tribe and the lack of signature by the Principal Chief Ross, the US Senate ratified the treaty. President Jackson used it to justify the forcible Cherokee removal, in what is now known as the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
.
The treaty provided for Cherokees who wished to remain in the east to do so. They would have to become citizens of the states where they resided and give up their Cherokee tribal status. This provision was widely ignored during the removal, and the US Army rounded up most Cherokee and their slaves from Georgia to take west. Among the Five Civilized Tribes
Five Civilized Tribes
The Five Civilized Tribes were the five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—that were considered civilized by Anglo-European settlers during the colonial and early federal period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good...
, the Cherokee held the most slaves.
Relocation
After the treaty signing, Ridge moved with his family, and those of his father, most of his siblings, his uncle (David Watie), and Watie cousins to what is now Indian TerritoryIndian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
. This was years before the forced removal of most of the Cherokee in 1838. The Ridges and other families joined the "Old Settlers" of the Cherokee Nation West under Principal Chief John Jolly
John Jolly
John Jolly, ; , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West when the 1828 constitution was adopted...
. Some of them had migrated west in the 1820s from North Carolina or Alabama.
On June 22, 1839, a group of 25 pro-Ross partisans of the "Late Comers" assassinated Ridge, his father, and Boudinot for having signed the treaty to cede the Cherokee lands. They attacked Stand Watie, but he survived. The attackers stabbed John Ridge 48 times, jumped on his chest, and kicked him repeatedly, all before his wife and children.
The attacks contributed to a wave of violence among the Cherokee that went on for years among the various partisan groups. The US representatives tried to negotiate a peace between the groups. Some of the enmity over the treaty was reflected in Cherokee alliances during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. As it developed, Ross and a minority supported the Union. Stand Watie and a majority of the Nation (including most slaveholders) were pro-Confederacy
Confederacy
Confederacy may refer to:A Confederation, an association of sovereign states or communities. Examples include:* Confederate States of America, eleven southern states of the United States of America between 1861 and 1865...
and he served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. The pro-Confederacy faction were forced to accept conditions of a new treaty in 1866 after the United States won the war.
Sources
- Wilkins, Thurman. Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge family and the Decimation of a People. Norman, OK: U of Oklahoma Press, 1986; ISBN 0-8061-2188-2 (1989 paperback edition).
External links
- "John Ridge Family", Paul Ridenour genealogy website