Chronology of American Indian History

1800

January 18

Congress passes the Peace Preservation Act.
Intended to stop European settlers from encouraging
Indians to war against Americans, the Peace Preserva-
tion Act imposes high fines on anyone who incites
Indian attacks on the western frontier. It also allows
for the imprisonment of people convicted of eroding
an Indian tribe’s loyalty to the U.S. government.

1802

The United States agrees to remove Indians
from Georgia.
Georgia cedes to the United States its claims to
lands to the west of the present-day state. In ex-
change, the United States promises to relocate all
Indians living within the state’s borders. The agree-
ment will lead to the Trail of Tears—the removal
of the Cherokee tribe to Indian Territory—34 years
later (see entry for MAY 1838).

The Tlingit raid a Russian trading post.
Angered by their treatment by Russian traders (see
entry for 1784), the Tlingit capture a Russian post
near present-day Sitka, Alaska. In their surprise
attack they kill about 20 Russians and 130 Aleut
working for them and make off with more than a
thousand furs. The Tlingit will hold the fort until
two years later, when they will be routed by shells
from a fleet of Russian ships. The Indians, however,
will continue to stage periodic attacks on the Rus-
sians for the next 65 years.

March 30

Congress restricts Indian liquor sales.
With the passage of the second Trade and Intercourse
Act (see entry for 1790), Congress gives the president
the right to regulate the sale of liquor to Indians. The
law, which will remain in place for nearly 150 years
(see entry for 1953), will do little to discourage non-
Indian traders from dealing in alcohol.

1803

March 22

The Nootka attack an American ship.

A group of Nootka Indians led by Maquinna sets

upon the U.S. merchant ship Boston anchored off

Vancouver Island and kills all the crew except for

two men. The Nootka are angry that American

traders have begun to trade directly with inland

tribes, thus cutting out the middleman role that the

Nootka have played in the sea otter fur trade (see

entry for 1778).

April 30

The United States buys Louisiana

from France.

In exchange for approximately $15 million, France

signs a treaty to sell the United States the area

known as Louisiana in exchange for approximately

$15 million. Although the boundaries are not pre-

cisely set, the region purchased encompasses some

828,000 square miles bordered on the east by the

Mississippi River, on the west by the Rocky Moun-

tains, on the north by the Canadian boundary, and

on the south by the Gulf of Mexico.

With the Louisiana Purchase, the size of

the United States doubles. The acquisition also

gives the United States control of the Mississippi

River. Perhaps even more important to President

Thomas Jefferson, the purchase offers a solution

to conflicts between Indians and whites in the

East. One of the first supporters of what would

later become known as the Removal policy (see

entry for MAY 28, 1830), Jefferson sees Louisiana

as a place where eastern Indians can be relocated,

allowing their former lands to be opened to white

settlement.

The Louisiana Purchase also has great sig-

nificance for the Indians who live in the acquired

region. When France claimed the land, it did

not have the resources to settle it. The United

States, however, will soon begin encouraging its

citizens to move into area and onto lands the