Treaty of Tuscaloosa

The Treaty of Tuscaloosa was signed in October 1818, and ratified by congress in January 1819. endorsed by President James Monroe. It was one of a series of treaties made between the Chickasaw Indians and the United States that year. The Treaty of Tuscaloosa was represented by Senator Andrew Jackson and ex-governor Isaac Shelby to the Chickasaw. It resulted in the acquisition of the Jackson Purchase (which included extreme western Kentucky and most of the West Tennessee division).

On October 19, 1818, state senator Jackson and former Kentucky governor Shelby, as plenipotentiaries for the state of Kentucky, completed negotiations with the Chickasaw on what was to become known as the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, one of several treaties consummated in 1818 which resulted in the Jackson Purchase.^[1] The treaty targeted land that had been recognized as Chickasaw territory by the 1786 Treaty of Hopewell; that is, the lands in Tennessee and Kentucky that were west of the Tennessee River, an uninhabited woodland area of about 10,700 square miles of territory that the tribe controlled.^[1]

Prior to the signing of the treaty, Levi Colbert (Itawamba Mingo), who along with his brother George (Tootesmastube), had inherited the leadership of the Chickasaw tribe, had agreed to this transfer of the tribe's hunting grounds.^[2] This was purportedly due to the acceptance of a bribe by the Colberts.^[1] The expanse of land between the Mississippi River and the western valley of the Tennessee River was traded for $300,000, to be paid in twenty annual installments.^[1] Other Chickasaw leaders party to the treaties were Chinubby and Tishomingo.^[3]

The 1946 history of Madison County, Tennessee summarized the negotiation and outcome:

"When the Chickasaws reported to Jackson that they had 'no lands either to exchange or sell,' he sent them back word that the 'Citizens had been kept out of possession of those lands for thirty-odd years and individuals who had bought and paid for it demanded possession of this land, and their father the President will be compelled to give it to them...to take the land allowing the Indians such compensation for their right of occupying their land as hunting grounds.' This treaty at Old Town of the Chickasaw, near Tuscumbia, Alabama, was an important one in the history of the Southwest—that land of opportunity in the first half of the nineteenth century. After twenty days of negotiations and even arguments between the leaders themselves, the treaty was signed on October 19, 1818. By this treaty, the Indians were to receive $300,000 in fifteen installments and personal gifts to sundry chiefs who kept the details of the negotiations secret, for they personally had profited at the hands of their tribesmen...Some of the treaties with the Indians are spoken of as 'heart-breaking treaties.' Those land-hungry Americans wanted the land so badly that they found various excuses for trespassing upon lands and breaking treaties with the red man. James Malone was of this opinion for he thought that the chiefs and leaders understood the terms but that the average Indian was at the mercy of the white man. For example, the leaders knew what interest meant, but it was with the greatest difficulty that this could be explained to the rank and file of the Chickasaws..."^[4]

The Treaty of Tuscaloosa was ratified by the Congress and Senate of the United States, and confirmed by President James Monroe on January 7, 1819.^[3] With the acquisition, the state of Kentucky gained about 2,000 square miles, and Tennessee was enlarged by about 6,000 square miles.^[3]

There was an immediate rush of settlement to the area, sometimes called the Chickasaw Purchase, and within Kentucky, the Jackson Purchase. Jackson, along with John Overton and James Winchester, founded Memphis soon after. By 1824, there were sixteen counties established in the acquired region.^[1] In 1825 Jackson made a speech in Jackson, Tennessee about the success of the settlements in the "western lands," crediting Shelby of Kentucky for his role in the negotiations and stating, "To me an inestimable satisfaction is derived from the evidence now offered that the haunts of the Savage man have been exchanged for the cultivated farm," and toasted at a banquet to "the town of Jackson where but lately roamed wild beasts and savages; behold now the abode of civilization, refinement, and hospitality."^[5]

• James Brown (Chickasaw)

• Treaty with the Chickasaw: 1818; "The Avalon Project – Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy"; Lillian Goldman Law Library project; Yale Law School; accessed November 2020.