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Domestic News March 10, 1827

New Hampshire Statesman And Concord Register

Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire

What is this article about?

Governor Troup of Georgia defies federal threats from Secretary of War Barbour over surveying Indian territory, citing prior treaties, and orders state officials to resist arrests of surveyors and prepares militia against potential invasion.

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(From the Georgia Journal.)

GEORGIA AND THE UNITED STATES.

If Mr. Adams supposes he can intimidate the authorities of this State, by threatening them with the military force of the Union, he is very much in error, as he will see distinctly by the following letter, and orders of Gov. Troup. Georgia does not value a straw either Mr. Adams, or his handful of regular troops, when they undertake schemes unauthorized by law, or the constitution, as in the present instance. And we should like to see him make a levy of the militia of any of the adjoining States for a similar purpose. Let him try that if he chooses. He will find that Mr. Troup knows something of the present state of feeling on this subject in the States concerned.

Letter from the Governor of Georgia to the Secretary of War of the United States.

Executive Department, Georgia.

Milledgeville, 17th Feb. 1827.

SIR—I received this afternoon, from Lieut. Vinton, your letter of the 29th Jan. and read within the same hour both it and the copy of it as published in the National Intelligencer of the 7th inst. No room was left to mistake the meaning of this dispatch. Lieut. Vinton announced himself, in an introductory note, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, as the Aid of the Commanding General; and you are sufficiently explicit as to the means by which you propose to carry your resolution into effect.— Thus the military character of the menace is established, and I am only at liberty to give to it the defiance which it merits. You will distinctly understand, therefore, that I feel it my duty to resist to the utmost any military attack which the Government of the United States shall think proper to make on the territory, the people, or the sovereignty of Georgia, and all the measures necessary to the performance of this duty, according to our limited means, are in progress. From the first decisive act of hostility, you will be considered and treated as a public enemy, and with the less repugnance, because you, to whom we might constitutionally have appealed for our own defence against invasion, are yourselves the invaders, and, what is more, the unblushing allies of the savages, whose cause you have adopted.

You have referred me for the rule of my conduct to the Treaty of Washington, "which, like all other Treaties, which have received the constitutional sanction, is among the supreme laws of the land," and which the President is therefore bound to carry into effect, "by all the means under his control." In turn, I take the liberty to refer you to a Treaty of prior date, and prior ratification, concluded at the Indian Springs, a copy of the Proclamation of which under the sign manual of the President, I have the honor to enclose. On a comparison of dates, the President may think proper to remind the Congress that the old grant claims preference of the new, and that when vested rights have passed, the old Treaty, like the old grant, has preference of the new.

You have deemed it necessary, to the personal safety of Lieut. Vinton, to impose on him the injunction of profound secrecy, in the execution of your orders, whilst you cause to be published at Washington the very instructions which disclose those orders and enjoin that secrecy, and which in fact reached this place by the public prints even before Lieut. Vinton had had an opportunity to deliver your despatch. You mistake the character of the people of Georgia. Officers of the U. States, engaged in the performance of their lawful duties, have only to deport themselves as gentlemen, to find the same security and protection in Georgia, as under the aegis of the government at Washington. I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

G. M. TROUP.

Hon. James Barbour, Secretary of War.

Executive Department, Geo.

Milledgeville, 17th Feb. 1827.

ORDERED, That the Attorney and Solicitors General of this State, in every instance of complaint made of the arrest of any surveyor, engaged in the survey of the lately acquired territory, by any civil process, under the authority of the Government of the United States, do take all necessary and legal measures to effect the liberation of the person so arrested, and to bring to justice, either by indictment or otherwise, the officers or parties concerned in such arrestation, as offenders against the laws and violators of the peace and personal security of the public officers and citizens of this State— That they give professional advice and assistance in their defence against any prosecution or action which may be instituted against them as officers in the service of the state, and that they promptly make known to this Department their acts and doings in the premises. It is moreover enjoined on the civil magistrates of this State, having competent jurisdiction of the same, to be aiding and assisting in enquiring into the cause of every such arrest or detention as aforesaid, that the person may be discharged forthwith, if illegally or unjustly detained, and in affording such redress to the aggrieved or injured party as by law he may be entitled to receive.

By the Governor,

E. J. PIERCE, Sec'y.

HEAD QUARTERS.

Milledgeville, 17th Feb, 1827.

ORDERS.—The Major Generals commanding the 6th and 7th Divisions, will immediately issue orders to hold in readiness the several Regiments and Battalions within their respective commands, to repel any hostile invasion of the territory of this State. Depots of arms and ammunition, central to each Division, will be established in due time.

By the Commander in Chief.

JOHN W. A. SANFORD, Aid de Camp.

What sub-type of article is it?

Politics Indian Affairs Military

What keywords are associated?

Georgia Sovereignty Indian Treaty Dispute Federal Threat Governor Troup Militia Orders Territory Survey

What entities or persons were involved?

G. M. Troup James Barbour Lieut. Vinton Mr. Adams E. J. Pierce John W. A. Sanford

Where did it happen?

Georgia

Domestic News Details

Primary Location

Georgia

Event Date

17th Feb. 1827

Key Persons

G. M. Troup James Barbour Lieut. Vinton Mr. Adams E. J. Pierce John W. A. Sanford

Outcome

governor orders resistance to federal military actions, liberation of arrested surveyors, prosecution of federal officers, and preparation of militia to repel invasion; no immediate casualties reported.

Event Details

Governor Troup responds defiantly to federal letter threatening military enforcement of the Treaty of Washington regarding Indian territory surveys, citing prior Indian Springs Treaty; issues orders to state attorneys to free arrested surveyors and prosecute federal agents, and to military commanders to ready troops against invasion.

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