Proclamation on Extinguished Indian Title (Statutes at Large Appendix)

What it is

This is a proclamation issued in the name of the President of the United States, printed in the Statutes at Large as Appendix No. I. It was issued under an act of Congress of June 7, 1836, and it is signed in Martin Van Buren's name as President. The text is a Wikisource transcription of the printed document.

The proclamation states that the act of Congress would take effect only after the President declared that Indian title to the lands had been extinguished, and after Missouri assented to the act. It notes that the Missouri General Assembly passed such an assent on December 16, 1836.

Why it matters

Government proclamations like this one show how land was transferred from Native nations to the United States and then to states. The document records the legal steps by which that transfer was declared complete. It reveals the role of the president in carrying out acts of Congress in the 1830s.

Look closer

• Whose title to the land is being declared extinguished, and what does the text say about them?
• Which institutions had to act before the proclamation could take effect?
• What does the document leave out about the people who lived on these lands?