by
prejudice and by law.

The Present And Probable Future Condition Of The Indian Tribes Which
Inhabit The Territory Possessed By The Union

Gradual disappearance of the native tribes--Manner in which it takes
place--Miseries accompanying the forced migrations of the Indians--The
savages of North America had only two ways of escaping destruction; war
or civilization--They are no longer able to make war--Reasons why they
refused to become civilized when it was in their power, and why they
cannot become so now that they desire it--Instance of the Creeks and
Cherokees--Policy of the particular States towards these Indians--Policy
of the Federal Government.

None of the Indian tribes which formerly inhabited the territory of New
England--the Naragansetts, the Mohicans, the Pecots--have any existence
but in the recollection of man. The Lenapes, who received William Penn,
a hundred and fifty years ago, upon the banks of the Delaware, have
disappeared; and I myself met with the last of the Iroquois, who were
begging alms. The nations I have mentioned formerly covered the country
to the sea-coast; but a traveller at the present day must penetrate more
than a hundred leagues into the interior of the continent to find an
Indian. Not only have these wild tribes receded, but they are destroyed;
*b and as they give way or perish, an immense and increasing people
fills their place. There is no instance upon record of so prodigious a
growth, or so rapid a destruction: the manner in which the latter change
takes place is not difficult to describe.

[Footnote b: In the thirteen original States there are only 6,273
Indians remaining. (See Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117,
p. 90.) [The decrease in now far greater, and is verging on extinction.
See page 360 of this volume.]]

When the Indians were the sole inhabitants of the wilds from whence they
have since been expelled, their wants were few. Their arms were of their
own manufacture, their only drink was the water of the brook, and their
clothes consisted of the skins of animals, whose flesh furnished them
with food.

The Europeans introduced amongst the savages of North America fire-arms,
ardent spirits, and iron: they taught them to exchange for manufactured
stuffs, the rough garments which had previously satisfied their
untutored simplicity. Having acquired new tastes, without the arts by
which they could be gratified, the Indians were obliged to have recourse
to