Faculty Sponsor
Dr.Andrew Hurley
Final Abstract for URS Program
Land back is a social movement of indigenous groups in North America. Land justice is a high-priority topic in current society. Exploring the indignities of indigenous removal from their tribal land in the United States implores us to open our minds and look closer at the methodology of westward expansion. Aggressive tactics for acquiring ownership of land from non-cooperative tribes and land trade clauses in treaty language allowed the United states government to lay the foundation for The Indian Removal Act of 1830. The St. Louis Treaty of 1804 ceded 50 million acres of Sauk and Fox tribal land to the United States government on November 3, 1804. An alleged murder of three white settlers just two months prior to the signing of The Treaty of St. Louis, provided the means for which the United States brought an uncooperative tribe to treaty negotiations in St. Louis. In my research, I primarily focused on establishing the credibility of the murder claims as an entity to be either proved or disproved. Then, I focused on the creditability of the persons involved in reporting the alleged murder based their financial benefits from Pierre Chouteau and how each person benefitted from the St. Louis Treaty of 1804. It is clear that without this alleged murder, there would not of been any treaty negotiations on November 3,1804 and this alleged murder was a means for coercion by the United States government to acquire the land of the Sauk and Fox tribes.
Presentation Type
Visual Presentation
Document Type
Article