1868 Freedmen’s Petition for Rights Under the 1866 Treaty With the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Senate Doc. 82.

Rare petitionary document reflecting Reconstruction-era Black–Native legal conflicts

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1868 Rights of Freedmen Under Choctaw & Chickasaw Treaty, Senate Doc. 82

Official 5-page Senate printing of documents relating to the implementation failure of the third article of the April 28, 1866 treaty between the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, with a detailed petition by freedmen seeking enforcement of their rights. Issued as Senate Executive Document No. 82 (40th Congress, 2nd Session), the letter from the Secretary of the Interior, dated July 23, 1868, forwards materials from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the freedmen’s delegates, urgently requesting that Congress act on the treaty’s provisions.

The 1866 treaty obligated the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to emancipate their formerly enslaved people, grant them full citizenship rights within the tribes, or allow them to emigrate—compensated by a $300,000 payment held in trust by the U.S. government. The nations’ failure to pass required legislation nullified the conditions under which the payment could be disbursed. The freedmen’s delegation, representing dozens of signatories, asks that they be removed from tribal jurisdiction and that the unexpended funds be used by the U.S. government for their benefit.

Among the signatures are numerous individuals identified with “his mark,” underscoring both the communal agency and legal awareness of the freedmen. The accompanying texts include formal letters from the Department of the Interior, the Office of Indian Affairs, and a resolution from a council held at Boggy Depot, Indian Territory, on June 10, 1868.

Titled as issued: Letter of the Secretary of the Interior, communicating Papers relating to the rights of freedmen under the 3d article of the treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of Indians, concluded April 28, 1866. July 24, 1868.—Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed.

Price: $125.00