During the presidential terms of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Native Americans were allowed to remain on tribal lands but were encouraged to adopt the ways of their white neighbors. Five Indian nations in the East did just that—they built schools, printed newspapers, and adopted the farming methods of European immigrants. Early Americans called these groups the Five Civilized Tribes because they seemed to embrace many aspects of European culture, which made them more "civilized" in the eyes of the average American of the time.
Who were the Five Civilized Tribes, and where did live? Watch this video to find out.
The Five Civilized Tribes
The Five Civilized Tribes were five of the Native American tribes who made their home in the southeastern United States and, for the most part, adopted the lifestyle of their American neighbors.
The homelands of the Cherokee were originally found in Georgia, the Carolinas, and other parts of the southeastern United States. Part of the Iroquoian language group, the Cherokee writing system was developed in the 19th century by the Cherokee scholar, Sequoyah, who applied English to Cherokee words and created the Cherokee syllabary.
The Choctaw peoples of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana were descended from the sophisticated Hopewell and Mississippian cultures. The Choctaws often allied themselves with both the French and British, but actually chose to fight with the Colonists in the Revolutionary War.
The Chickasaw peoples made their home in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Members of the Muskogee language family, the Chickasaw were a matrilineal tribe, meaning that leadership positions were passed down the female line of ancestry.
The Creek people, also known as the Muscogee, lived on their homelands in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The Creek/Muscogee people allied themselves against the United States during the War of 1812. The U.S. came down hard on the tribe and they were forced off their tribal homelands to eventually make the trek to Indian Territory.
The last of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Seminoles, made their home in Florida. Descended from the Creek/Muscogee tribe, the Seminoles established their own independence and made their own treaties and wars with the United States and European states until they were also forced to move to Indian Territory.
