The 1826 Treaty of Washington was a treaty between the United States and the Creek Confederacy, led by Opothleyahola. The Creek National Council ceded much of their territory bordering Georgia to the United States. The Creek Confederacy was a confederation of nations with diverse customs and histories. Over several decades, they had ceded small portions of their vast territory to the United States in various treaties. They had been allies with the Great Britain in the War of 1812. The 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson which ended the Creek War stipulated that the Creeks would cede 23 million acres (93,000 km2) of prime territory to the United States, leaving the Creeks a tract around the Chattahoochee River. The Creek Confederacy enacted a law that made further land cessions a capital offense. However, by mid-1820s, both political parties in Georgia favored the total removal of Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. Democratic Governor George Troup aggressively moved to resolve the situation. The Lower Creek Council, a small faction led by Troup's first cousin, William McIntosh, signed the Treaty of Indian Springs on February 13, 1825, ceding a large amount of Creek territory to the United States. However, the other chiefs and warriors (particularly the Upper Creeks) protested the treaty, stating that the signatories did not have the sovereign authority to act on behalf of the Creek Nation. McIntosh was executed on May 31, 1825, for violating Creek law prohibiting unauthorized territorial cessions. President John Quincy Adams did not consider the treaty to be valid, and pressured Troup to stop white incursions onto Creek territory. Creek leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. to negotiate a peace treaty. A new treaty was negotiated between the United States and a widespread gathering of various Creek leaders, unified under the leadership of Opothleyahola. It voided the Treaty of Indian Springs and ceded to the United States all Creek territory on the east side of the Chattahoochee River for a one-time payment of $217,600 and a yearly annuity of $20,000. The treaty stipulated that the signatories of the Treaty of Indian Springs would have the same privileges as those who signed the new treaty, and made funding allowances for the Lower Creeks under the late William McIntosh to send a five-person deputation to explore lands west of the Mississippi River for potential resettlement. The United States would then fund the relocation, as well as providing for