USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1828, European-Americans discovered gold in the Appalacian Mountains of Georgia. This land was part of the Cherokee Nation. Members of the Nation first discovered this gold in the early 1700s and it remained virtually untouched for 100 years.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the late 1820s, gold was discovered on Cherokee land. Click on the image below to see a map of where it was found. People from the neighboring state of Georgia wanted that gold. Georgia passed laws that took away Cherokee rights and started giving away Cherokee land to Georgians.

Detailed explanation-3: -Once word spread, miners and fortune-seekers began to trespass on Cherokee land in search of the precious metal. Benjamin Parks was one of the first people to find gold in Georgia during the fall of 1829.

Detailed explanation-4: -So in the late 1820s, Georgia started passing what we call the harassment laws and they were a series of laws that were passed that extended its jurisdiction over the Cherokee Nation. Cherokees were not allowed to mine gold on their own land, they were not allowed to meet in council, it was considered illegal.