From George Washington to the United States Senate, 18 January 1792
To the United States Senate
United States [Philadelphia], January the 18th 1792.
Gentlemen of the Senate.
I lay before you the communications of a deputation from the Cherokee Nation of Indians now in this City.1
And I request your advice, whether an additional Article shall be made to the Cherokee treaty, to the following effect—to wit.
That the sum to be paid annually by the United States to the Cherokee nation of Indians, in consideration of the relinquishment of lands, as stated in the treaty made with them on the second day of July 1791, shall be one thousand five hundred dollars, instead of one thousand dollars, mentioned in the said Treaty.2
Go: Washington
DS, DNA: RG 46, Second Congress, 1791–1793, Records of Executive Proceedings, President’s Messages—Indian Relations; LB, DLC:GW.
1. For the enclosures, see Henry Knox to GW, 17 Jan. 1792.
2. The Senate read GW’s message and papers this day after Tobias Lear delivered them. It also read the addresses of the Seneca chiefs of 9 Dec. 1790, 10 Jan., 7 Feb., and 17 Mar. 1791. The Senate then appointed Pierce Butler, Caleb Strong, Roger Sherman, John Henry, and Rufus King a committee to consider GW’s message, along with “all the papers, messages, and information on the subject of Indian affairs, now before the Senate,” and “all the negotiations and transactions now subsisting, or that may have taken place between citizens of the United States and Indians, or Indian tribes.” On the advice of the committee the Senate resolved on 20 Jan. 1792 to increase the annual payment to the Cherokee to $1,500 ( 1:98–99). Lear sent Knox the resolution later on 20 Jan. and informed him that “The President wishes to see the Secretary before he communicates this matter either to the Cherokee’s, or to the Interpreter,” James Carey (DLC:GW). GW met with Knox on 21 Jan. (see GW to Knox, 22 January). For the conclusion of the business with the visiting Cherokee chiefs, see Knox to Lear, 16 February.