1007303
Martin Van Buren
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Van Buren, then Vice President, asks a State Department official to ”remain at the Presidents to assist in copying the message,”
likely Andrew Jackson's message to Congress regarding the removal of Native Americans from the southeastern United States
Martin Van Buren, 1782-1862. 8th President of the United States, 1837-1841. Autograph Letter Signed, MVB, as Vice President, one page, 7½" x 12½", [Washington, D.C.], October 27, [1830].
This letter very likely refers to President Andrew Jackson's policy of removing Native Americans from the southeastern United States—the policy that Van Buren continued as President, leading during his administration to the infamous “Trail of Tears" because of the thousands of Native Americans who died as a result of it.
Jackson announced the government's execution of the policy in a message to Congress on December 6, 1830. This letter, written in late October, apparently relates to work on the message. Van Buren writes to "Mr. Vail" at the State Department, in full: ”I wish you would call a Major Donelson as soon after five this afternoon & remain this evening at the Presidents [sic] to assist in copying the message.” He hand-addressed the letter on the address panel on the reverse, and the absence of postal markings or a formal address shows that the letter was delivered by hand.
Jackson's 1829 State of the Union message had called for the "voluntary" withdrawal of Indian tribes from the occupied states because of their refusal to submit to the laws of the states. Congress subsequently passed the the controversial Indian Removal Act in May 1830 to open up for settlement those lands still held by Native Americans in states east of the Mississippi River, primarily Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Florida. White inhabitants of Georgia were particularly anxious to have the Cherokees removed from the state because gold had been discovered on tribal lands, and violence therefore was commonplace in Georgia.
Jackson justified the removal policy in his message to Congress on December 6, 1830. He declared that removal would “incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier" and said that clearing Alabama and Mississippi of their Native American populations would “enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power." He reasoned:
The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community.
As noted above, removal of the Indian tribes continued beyond Jackson's presidency into Van Buren's. The most infamous of the removals occurred in 1838, during Van Buren's administration, when the United States military forcibly removed the Cherokees. The Cherokee journey west became known as the “Trail of Tears" because of the thousands of deaths along the way.
Van Buren likely wrote this letter to Aaron Vail, a State Department employee who later served as United States Charge d’Affaires to Great Britain in Jackson's second administration and, thereafter, as Charge d’Affaires to Spain and Special Diplomatic Agent to Canada. In addition, Van Buren undoubtedly refers to Jackson's nephew, Major Andrew Jackson Donelson, who served as Jackson's private secretary. Hence it is clear that the letter dates from the period of Jackson's presidency, when Van Buren was Vice President.
Van Buren has dated the letter “Tuesday,” which he then obliterated and wrote “Wednesday" alongside a cryptic “Oct 27." The “O" looks a bit like a corrected “D" that Van Buren may have started to write, thinking about the pending release of the message in December. December 27 never fell on Wednesday during Jackson's presidency, but October 27, 1830, was a Wednesday, and 1830 was the only year that October 27 fell on Wednesday during Jackson's presidency. The letter shows signs of Van Buren's haste in two other places, first writing “Tuesday" instead of “Wednesday" and first writing the name of a recipient other than “Vail,” so this could easily signify a mistake as well.
This is a nice, bright letter. It has typical intersecting vertical and horizontal folds. The writing on the address panel on the back bleeds through a bit, but not obtrusively. Overall the letter is in very fine condition.
Unframed.
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