Although American legislation declared an end to Cherokee sovereignty, most of those remaining in the Nation continued to resist. In December 1835, however, a small party of Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota.
The agreement promised that the Cherokee would quit their land and relocate to the Indian Territory within two years of the laws ratification by two-thirds majority, in May 1836. The majority of Cherokee, however, fought to overturn the false treaty.
"The instrument in question [Treaty of New Echota] is not the act of our Nation; we are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people. The makers of it sustain no office nor appointment in our Nation, under the designation of Chiefs, Head men, or any other title, by which they hold, or could acquire, authority to assume the reins of Government, and to make bargain and sale of our rights, our possessions, and our common country." - Principal Chief John Ross to the United States Congress, September 1836
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