Confederate versus Union Relations with Native Nations in Indian Territory: Constructions of Race and Ethnicity by the Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln Administrations in 1861

As Abraham Lincoln struggled to retain the loyalty of border states, why did he alienate Native Americans and abandon so much land? Lincoln did not see Indians as citizens to be enticed, but as contested Americans. He saw them mainly as impediments to a growing white population that needed land. The Republican ideology of Free Soil was based on taking Indian land. Some of the worst atrocities ever to take place occurred during the Lincoln presidency, but it was the Homestead Act and the Transcontinental Railroad that had the most devastating impact.  In evaluating Lincoln on this 150th anniversary of his election, historians must put Indians front and center if they want to
understand him and his party. In contrast, Confederate President Jefferson Davis realized there was little immigration into the South, and that the population was not growing. Therefore, he wanted to gain control of the West not by offering it as new soil for white settlers, but by alliances with Indian nations. For Confederate leaders who were desperate for allies, it was no great leap to offer Indians the same States Rights guarantees that
they offered the States. Davis offered Indian Nations more self-government than the United States has ever offered tribes, from the time of Washington right up to today. The first Indians to sit in the halls of an American Congress sat in the Confederate Congress. Tribal courts had full jurisdiction over Indian Territory. Davis issued an order warning all white men that if they intruded on Indian lands they would be at the full mercy of tribal police. With policies like this, native nations could have held onto their lands and evolved into Indian-governed States. In many respects, Confederate policy is a model
for nation-state governments today who are dealing with indigenous
peoples.