Date of Award

7-14-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

James Ross

Second Advisor

Daniel Littlefield

Abstract

After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 by Congress, thousands of Native Americans were moved from their homelands in the Southeast to lands west of the Mississippi River. Along their long and difficult journey across the country, many white Americans profited from the process. After Arkansas was granted statehood on June 15, 1836, the General Assembly passed legislation that established the Arkansas State Bank and the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas. Between 1836 and 1843, these banks were run by men who utilized their positions at the bank and as agents for the Office of Indian Affairs, to engage in various forms of fraud at the expense of Indian tribes being removed through Arkansas. Members of both political parties were implicated, none were convicted. This thesis examines the peculiar relationship between Arkansas banking, its statehood, and the removal and subsistence of various tribes afterwards in Indian Territory.

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