Treaty of Dewitt's Corner

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The Treaty of Dewitts Corner ended the initial

South Carolina, the treaty instead laid the foundation for the decades long Cherokee–American wars fought between the European-Americans and the Chickamauga Cherokee people
.

Background

In 1773 the

Province of Virginia. Although these agreements violated British law, they nevertheless became the basis for a colonial takeover of those areas.[1]

Unexpected attacks

Feeling threatened by colonial encroachment upon their hunting grounds, the Cherokee joined with tribes from the north (the

Georgia, and Virginia in an effort to push settlers from their lands.[2]

By July 1776,

Muscogee and Choctaw allies on all the "over mountain" settlements (colonial enclave settlements located west of the Appalachian Mountains). The frontier-wide attacks, however, elicited a vigorous response from both militia and regulars from the southern colonies
, which largely took place during September and October of that year.

Colonial response

Major Colonel

Francis Locke), to do the same in that state, taking part in the coordinated attack which later became known as the Rutherford Light Horse expedition,[3] at the end of which Cherokee regional power was broken; their crops and villages destroyed; and their warriors largely dispersed.[3]

"In May 1777 a delegation of roughly 600 Cherokee and representatives from South Carolina and Georgia met near this spot to engage in negotiations that would end fighting in the Second Cherokee war, 1776-1777. On May 20, 1777 the parties signed the Treaty of DeWitt's Corner, which provided for an end to hostilities, prisoner returns, and large land concessions by the Lower Cherokee...

[Historic monument] Erected 2015 by Abbeville County Visitor's Council."[4]

The treaty

Defeated in skirmishes and with their towns in ruins, most of the Cherokee town leaders thereafter sought peace. Several

Charleston to negotiate a peace.[2] In May 1777, Colonel Williamson led a South Carolina delegation to Dewitt’s Corner, near present-day Due West in Abbeville County to settle the requested peace terms.[2] Georgia also sent delegates. As a result of the treaty negotiations, the Cherokee were forced to surrender vast tracts of territory in North Carolina and South Carolina.[2][1]

The Treaty of Dewitt’s Corner differed from previous Cherokee treaties, in that this time, South Carolina dictated its terms to an enemy defeated in combat.[2] The victorious colonials set a boundary line between South Carolina and the Cherokee running along the crest of Oconee Mountain, and mandated that American law had precedence over Cherokee law in dealings between the two peoples. The Cherokee lost nearly all of their land in South Carolina. Most of present-day Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens Counties comprise lands given up by the Indians in the treaties. In return, South Carolina pledged to regulate trade and travel moving into and out of the remaining Cherokee territories in their jurisdiction.[4][5][2][6]

Aftermath

By the end of 1776, the majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the American colonists. Following the signing of the Treaty of Dewitt's Corner, Dragging Canoe and his large group of followers moved further down the

Chattanooga
), an association which caused them for a time to be referred to as the "Chickamauga Cherokee."

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Cherokee Wars and Treaties"; Britannica; retrieved March 2017
  2. ^ a b c d e f Treaty of Dewitt's Corner Between the Cherokee Nation and South Carolina, 1777; "Teaching American History in South Carolina;" teachingushistory.com website; accessed March 2017
  3. ^ a b The Cherokee Expeditions; Carolana.com; accessed March 2017
  4. ^ a b Monument Text; Text of the Historic Monument; Marker ID: SCHM 1-20; Located at Due West Rd (State Highway 20) north of Brock Rd, Honea Path, South Carolina; Abbeville County; (Coordinates: 34° 20.083′ N 82° 23.223′ W); accessed June 2017
  5. ^ Revolution: The Treaty of Dewitts Corner; "The American Revolution in South Carolina;" accessed March 2017
  6. ^ Historic Marker; Abbeville Historical Society, viewed June 2017
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