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Democratic Committee Leaflet

 Collection
Identifier: MS-3597

  • Staff Only

This four-page leaflet, addressed to Pennsylvania Democrats, explains and defends Andrew Jackson's decision to not send the militia to Georgia in order to free two jailed missionaries. It defends his record on Indian rights and on religious matters, gives an account of the missionaries' case, and provides an extensive survey of pertinent cases to show that calling in the militia would be unconstitutional. The missionaries, Mr. Butler and Mr. Worcester, had been working in the Cherokee nation without a license, and were jailed. The Supreme Court overturned their conviction, but provided no charge for enforcing it. The leaflet is signed in type by 21 members of the Democratic Committee of Correspondence for the city of Philadelphia.

Dates

  • 1832 October 29

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet

Abstract

This four-page leaflet, addressed to Pennsylvania Democrats, explains and defends Andrew Jackson's decision to not send the militia to Georgia in order to free two jailed missionaries. It defends his record on Indian rights and on religious matters, gives an account of the missionaries' case, and provides an extensive survey of pertinent cases to show that calling in the militia would be unconstitutional.

Biographical/Historical Note

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Born in 1767 in the frontier settlement of the Waxhaws in South Carolina, Jackson moved to Salisbury, NC in 1784 and received his license to practice law in 1787, beginning his practice in North Carolina's Western District in Washington County (now a part of Tennessee). In October 1788, he moved to Nashville, where he met his wife Rachel. After serving as the major general of the Tennessee militia for twenty years and earning recognition as a military leader in the War of 1812, Jackson was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1823 and to the presidency in 1828. After serving two terms as president, Jackson returned to the Hermitage, his Nashville home, in early 1837. Eight years later, in 1845, Jackson died at his home at the age of 78.

Samuel Austin Worcester was a Presbyterian minister who was known as the Cherokee Messenger. He was born on January 19, 1798, in Peacham, Vermont to Leonard and Elizabeth (Hopkins) Worcester. His first wife's name was Ann Orr, and they had seven children together. In 1842 he married Erminia Nash and they had a daughter named Sarah. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1819 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1823. While at Andover, he met a Cherokee who had changed his name from Buck Oowatie to Elias Boudinot. Worcester's career as a missionary took him to Brainerd, Tennessee in 1825 and then to New Echota, Georgia in 1827. In Georgia, Worcester and Boudinot translated the Bible into Cherokee, and published the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper. Worcester also advised the Cherokees about their legal rights, so Georgia passed a law against whites living in the Cherokee Nation. Worcester and Butler decided to challenge the law by staying. After years of court cases and jail time, the new governor, Wilson Lumpkin, persuaded them to accept a pardon and leave jail in 1833. In 1835, Worcester moved to Oklahoma to prepare for the Cherokee removal. He died on April 20, 1859 in Indian Territory.

Elizur Butler married his first wife, Esther Post, in 1820. His second wife's name was Lucy Ames, and his daughter's name was Esther. After his missionary service in Georgia, he accompanied the Cherokees during their removal and then worked at the Cherokee Female Seminary. Butler died in 1857 in Arkansas.

Arrangement

This collection consists of a single folder.

Acquisition Note

This document is the property of Special Collections.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480