Choctaw Indians And The Trail Of Tears

Most Americans have at least some vague image of the Trail of Tears, but not very many know of the events that led to that tragic removal of several thousand Indians from their homeland. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government, and Indians had to agree to removal to preserve their identity as tribes. Trail of Tears is an excellent snapshot of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the burgeoning American population. The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that signifies the callousness of American policy makers toward American Indians in 1839 and 1839.

The Choctaw Indians were an important tribe, and the largest of the Muskogean tribes. The Choctaws have two stories about their origins in their traditional homeland in central Mississippi. One is that their ancestors came from west of the Mississippi River and settled in what is now the homeland. The other is that the tribe is descended from ancestors who were formed by a spirit from the damp earth of Nanih Waiyah, a large mound in northeastern Mississippi. Either way, the Choctaws resided in places, holding most of Southern Alabama and Mississippi with adjoining parts of Louisiana.

Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Indians? Sure you have! Just as a reminder, they are the biggest tribe, and most known of out of all the Indian tribes there has ever been in the southeast. They are very important to American History and helped shaped us to be the Americans we are today, which is clearly what I 'll be explaining in this paper. Throughout the paper, I 'll tell you everything you need to know about the Cherokee Indians and continue to relate to the thesis.

Tecumseh’s biggest concerns were that his people would not live according to the Prophet which was casting off all elements of the Euro-American society. He believed that his people would turn to alcohol, firearms, and trade goods set out by English ways, which was what the Prophet said, would be detrimental to their ways. No matter what, Tecumseh was going to make sure the Indian way of life would continue forever. He led a revolution of young men who thought the leadership structure needed to be looked over again in order to survive. They fought to make sure The Indians East of the Mississippi to keep control over their home land. Tecumseh tried to visit neighboring tribes to form an alliance to protect the lands held by the Natives. He was successful in the way the Southern tribes would accept the alliance, but unsuccessful with others when some refused to join the reliance, such as the Iroquois tribe.

Throughout America’s History Native Americans have had their land taken away from them. This started with the Europeans landing in America with Native Americans, claiming they conquered the Americas. This was all allowed by the doctrine of discovery, that allowed European Christians to claim land if documented first (Meyers). Columbus and his crew took the claim of discovering the Americas, also labeling the Natives as Indians because he believed he landed in India. Europeans brought of countless diseases such as bubonic plague, chicken pox, pneumonic plague, cholera, diphtheria, influenza, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis, and whooping cough (Ojibwa).This caused countless Natives to die because they had no immunity to these diseases. Next one of the first treaties were broken which cause the Native Americans to endure a great journey and travel countless miles to their new land known as The Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was a part of Andrew Jackson 's Indian Removal policy, which made 15,000 Cherokees up and leave their land because whites wanted their land(Historical Documents: The Trail of Tears). During this journey, 4,000 out of the 15,000 Cherokee’s died because of lack of food, exhaustion,and diseases(Historical Documents:The Trail of Tears). The continuing mistreatment of Natives has not ended, it is still going on today.

Currently, when the losses suffered by the Cherokee Nation as a result of their forced removal are discussed, there is a focus on the loss in numbers. However, Russell Thornton’s “Cherokee Population Losses During Trail of Tears: A New Perspective and a New Estimate” clearly presents a new, suitably researched perspective that argues the focus should not be only on those that died, but also on those that never lived. Thornton is a professor at UCLA in the Anthropology department. He has a number of degrees related to this study, including a Ph.D. in Sociology and a postdoctoral in Social Relations from Harvard, and specializes in Native American studies. He is clearly appropriately acquainted with this field, and his knowledge of the subject matter is evident in this piece. However, he also cites a number of papers and books by other authors, so as not to rely purely on his knowledge.

One famous Indian tribe is the Cherokee. The Cherokee are original residents of the American southwest region, but now they occupy most of Oklahoma.There are three recognized Cherokee tribes. Most Cherokee people speak English today, but many still speak the Cherokee language. Children had jobs to do after school just like men and women had their own jobs. Many Cherokee Indians died when president Andrew Jackson forced them to leave their homes in Georgia. In the following essay I will be talking about the Cherokee life before,during,and after the Westward Expansion.

In the early 1830s, approximately 125,000 Native Americans thrived on millions of acres of land in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Alabama. In the next 10 years, a scarce number of natives lingered anyplace in the Southeastern United States. In 1838 and 1839, the Cherokee nation was brutally forced to give up its rightful land and travel on foot to designated “Indian Territory” in modern-day Oklahoma. Upon this involuntary journey, thousands of Indians faced exhaustion, disease, and famine. This heartbreaking event became known as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is important to the history of the United States because it is the wickedest human civil rights tragedy to ever fall upon the Native American population, and it was the beginning of the destruction of an entire people.

Thornton, Russell “Cherokee Population Losses During Trail of Tears: A New Perspective and a New Estimate.” Ethnohistory, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Autumn, 1984): 289-300

With the discovery of the New World came a whole lot of new problems. Native American Indians lived in peace and harmony until European explorers interrupted that bliss with the quest for money and power. The European explorers brought with them more people. These people and their descendants starting pushing the natives out of their homes, out of their land, far before the 1800s. However, in the 1800s, the driving force behind the removal of the natives intensified. Thousands of indians during this time were moved along the trail known as Nunna dual Tsung, meaning “The Trail Where They Cried” (“Cherokee Trail of Tears”). The Trail of Tears was not only unjust and unconstitutional, but it also left many indians sick, heartbroken, and dead.

The trails of tears, a grueling, nearly 1,000 mile walk in which about 4,000 Natives died. In 1838 and 1839, in accordance with President Jackson’s Indian Removal act, the Cherokee Indians gave up their land in the East. This was in exchange for land in the west and peace with the Unites States. The trail of tears was a long journey, headed by an American General followed by an army sent by President Van Buren. Dictionary.com defines justified as, “to show a satisfactory reason or excuse for something done” and the Trail of Tears as “The route along which the United States government forced several tribes of Native Americans… Those on the march suffered greatly from disease and mistreatment.” The State of Georgia and the government of the United States of America were not justified in forcing the Indian Tribes east of the Mississippi River from their homelands and into Oklahoma territory due the infringement of the Treaty of New Echota, the cruelty subjected to the Cherokee, and the basis of all American politics.

Having little knowledge of the Cherokee removal and the history that took place in this moment in America’s past, the book Trail of Tears: Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle, offers an insight to the politics, social dynamics and class struggles the Cherokee Nation faced in the late 1830s. The book was very comprehensive and the scope of the book covers nearly 100 years of Native American History. Ehle captures the history of the Native American people by showing the readers what led to the events infamously known as the Trail of Tears. The author uses real military orders, journals, and letters which aid in creating a book that keeps

Most Americans have at least some vague understanding of the Trail of Tears, but not many know about the events that led to that tragic removal of thousands of Indians from their homeland. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government. The Indians had to agree to removal to maintain their tribe identities. Trail of Tears is an excellent example of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the rapidly growing American population. The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that indicates the callousness, insensitivity, and cruelty of American government toward American Indians in 1839 and 1839.

The authors’ name of the book called Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation is John Ehle. Trail of Tears was published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of random house, New York and in Canada. This book was published in September 22, 1989. This book has 424 pages.

Many people know the outcome of the Trail of Tears, but they are not aware of the events that came before. The idea of removing Native Americans gained momentum after the population of the colonies was expanding dramatically and whites wanted to settle into lands occupied by the Native people. Jefferson agreed with this idea so he created the Indian Removal Act, which gave payments for the Native Americans to move to the Okla territory. Leaders from the Cherokee and other tribes signed the treaty then fled, leaving behind 17,000 people who refused to honor the treaty. The government took action in 1838 when General Winfield Scott, accompanied by 7,000 troops forced the Cherokee to leave and as a result thousands of people died as they marched