What did the leaders of the Five Tribes think about Indian Territory joining the United States?

A. They wanted to merge with Oklahoma Territory and join the United States as one state.

B. They wanted representation in Congress but did not want to be a part of the United States.

C. They wanted to join the United States as a state separate from Oklahoma Territory.

D. They wanted to join the United States as five separate states, one for each tribe.

D. They wanted to join the United States as five separate states, one for each tribe.

Explanation:

Five Civilized Tribes, applies to five indigenous nations of the United States: the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Creek and the Seminole, considered "civilized" by the European settlers during the initial colonial and federal period because they had adopted many Western customs (among them, the possession of plantations and slaves) and had generally had good relations with their neighbors. The Five Civilized Tribes lived in the South of the United States before they were transferred to other parts of the country, mainly to the future Oklahoma.

The tribes were uprooted from their homes east of the Mississippi River in a series of forced transfers over several decades and moved to what was then known as the "Indian Territory" and which is now the eastern part of the state of Oklahoma. The most famous removal was the so-called Trail of Tears of 1838, in which President Martin Van Buren imposed the highly contentious Treaty of New Echota with the Cherokee Nation to exchange its properties for lands to the west.

The Five Tribes were divided during the American Civil War, with some taking one side and others taking the other side: the Choctaw and the Chickasaw fought mainly on the Confederate side, while the Creeks, the Seminoles and especially the Cherokees split between the Union and the Confederation. Being divided, the Cherokees clashed with each other during the civil war.

Once the tribes had been deported to the "Indian Territory", the United States Government promised them that their lands would be free of white colonies. The settlers later violated the agreement with impunity, even before 1893, the year in which the government allowed the colonization of the "Cherokee Territory" through the enactment of the Oklahoma Land Run. In 1907, the Oklahoma Territories and the "Indian Territory" were combined in the new state of Oklahoma; all the Five Civilized Tribes have a considerable presence there today.