They were called the five “Civilized Tribes,” proposed in 1790 by George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox as models for the “cultural transformation.” Washington and Knox suggested that when indigenous people (such as these) learned American customs and values, they would be able to merge those customs with their own tribal traditions and join society. They viewed this as the best possible future for Native Americans and the Anglo-European settlers of North America. While living alongside one another, these five – the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole – also simultaneously maintained their status as autonomous nations. As “civilized” peoples, many lived in houses, educated their children in U.S. schools, and wore the same clothes as their white neighbors. The Cherokee, for example, had even developed a written…
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All About History Book of the Founding of the United States (Digital) - 1 Issue, Vol 4