1842 Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation

The 1842 Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation was the largest slave escape to occur in the Cherokee. The revolt began when a group of African-American slaves owned by the Cherokee escaped tried and to reach Mexico where slavery was outlawed. They killed two pursuers at one point, but were later captured without resistance. Five of them were later executed.

Background

In the 1830s and 1840s, the United States government forcibly removed the Five Civilized Tribes including the Cherokee from their lands in The South to the designated Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The tribes brought with them practices learned from white settlers, which included slavery. Many tribes owned slaves, and they were also transported along the Trail of Tears to the new territory. The Cherokee nation was the largest slave holder of the Five Tribes with over fifteen hundred. Mixed-blood Indians, the offspring were the principal slaveholders in Cherokee and indeed all tribes, largely because their fathers had taught them the economics of slavery.

The Cherokee were considered efficient slave holders, however there were other instances of slave rebellion among the Cherokee, usually single slave escapes.

At the time of the slave revolt the Cherokee nation was suffering from dissent about the legitimacy of the Ross Party <ref name= Atot>