Final answer:
In 1838, Gen. Winfield Scott was involved in the enforcement of the forced removal of the Cherokees, known as the Trail of Tears, which reflected a blend of compulsion and a facade of consideration stemming from broader U.S. policies that prioritized expansion over Native American rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gen. Winfield Scott attempted to relate to the Cherokees in 1838 with a manner that combined compulsion and a facade of legal and moral consideration, in the context of the forced removal policy known as the Trail of Tears. This policy was a result of increasing pressures from the state of Georgia following the discovery of gold and the subsequent Georgia Gold Rush, leading to the assertion of state laws over Cherokee lands. Despite previous rulings such as in Worcester v. Georgia, which recognized the Cherokees' sovereignty to some degree, President Andrew Jackson did not enforce these regulations, leading to the mass relocation and significant fatalities among the Cherokee population.
The Cherokee had, to some extent, adopted White culture, establishing their own newspaper in both English and the Cherokee language and engaging in farming and property ownership, but these adaptations did not sway public opinion or policy. In the broad context of U.S. Native American relations at the time, the treatment of the Cherokee by General Scott mirrored a broader governmental approach that often favored expansion and settler interests over indigenous rights and sovereignty.