This general history of the Cherokee Nation and the treaty relations
that had existed with the colonial authorities from the period of
their first official contact with each other is given as preliminary
to the consideration of the history and provisions of the first treaty
negotiated between commissioners on the part of the United States and
the said Cherokee Nation, viz, the treaty concluded at Hopewell, on the
Keowee River, November 28, 1785, an abstract of the provisions of which
is hereinbefore given.[44]
The conclusion of this treaty marked the beginning of a new era in the
relations between the whites and Cherokees. The boundaries then fixed
were the most favorable it was possible to obtain from the latter
without regard to previous purchases and pretended purchases made
by private individuals and others. Although the Indians yielded an
extensive territory to the United States,[45] yet, on the other hand,
the latter conceded to the Cherokees a considerable extent of territory
that had already been purchased from them by private individuals or
associations, though by methods of more than doubtful legality.
The contentions between the border settlers of Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, as well as of the authorities
of those States, with the Cherokees and Creeks, concerning boundaries
and the constantly recurring mutual depredations and assaults upon
each other's lives and property, prompted Congress, though still
deriving its powers from the Articles of Confederation, to the
active exercise of its treaty-making functions. It was, therefore,
determined[46] to appoint commissioners who should be empowered under
their instructions, subject, of course, to ratification by Congress, to
negotiate a treaty with the Cherokees, at which the boundaries of the
lands claimed by them should be as accurately ascertained as might be,
and the line of division carefully marked between them and the white
settlements. This was deemed essential in order that authoritative
proclamation might be made of the same, advising and warning settlers
against further encroachments upon Indian territory.