Essay On 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 Trail of Tears occurred in 1838 and about a fourth of the Cherokee nation perished during it. Out of the 12,000 Cherokees that traveled along the northern route, 4,000 were killed. The Long Walk of the Navajo occurred between 1863 and 1866, where hundreds of Navajos died from disease, starvation, and exposure. Both of these events played a major role in the history of America and the history of Native Americans. Although the Cherokees and Navajos are very different, they share a similar goal of wanting to survive. They both had a culture that focused upon hunting and gathering, but they also had to focus on finding an eventual homeland. The government of the United Sates

supported a man by the name of Andrew Jackson who was running for President of the

In 1830, gold was found in Western Georgia. Unfortunately, The Cherokee had lots of land there. Settlers ignored that and began to invade western Georgia. President Andrew Jackson then decided to sign the Indian Removal Act, because he believed that assimilation wouldn’t work. This act gave him power to order the removal of any tribe at any time. In 1835, The Treaty of New Echota was signed, which said that the Cherokee would leave their land and walk to Oklahoma. They refused to leave so after two years, they were forced out. Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Government had many reasons for the removal of the Cherokee people, but the Cherokee also had many reasons for why it shouldn’t have happened. Eventually, their removal had devastating effects on the Cherokee culture.

On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed. It stated that the Native American were to be removed from the Southern states (Indian Removal Act). The act ended the Native American’s right to live in the states under their own traditional laws (Indian Removal Act). They were given the options to assimilate and acknowledge the United States’ laws or leave (Indian Removal Act). They were forced to leave their land, their homes, everything they ever knew or face the consequences. They were forced to go to a land that they knew nothing about, and hope that they would be able to survive where ever they ended up. When the Cherokee were forced to leave, out of the 18,000 that left 4,000 died on the way (Primary Documents) As a result of all of the death on the trail, it was named the Trail of Tears (Primary Documents).

Westward expansion was the “God Given” right to the whites that would allow them to expand westward. Many settlers turned their attention to wealth and conquest more than they had before and because of this greed, memorable impacts were left behind. As settlers moved westward, they started to affect the living of the Native Americans. Native Americans did not like how the settlers came to their home to take over and when westward expansion became a trend, conflict and tension occurred. This tension and conflict led to the Trail of Tears, which was part of Andrew Johnson’s Indian removal policy. The Native Americans were forced to give up their land and migrate to another area. During the Trail of Tears most of the Native Americans died all

The Cherokee are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Although they were not considered states at this time, they would have been in present day Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. However, in 1938 the Cherokees found an abundant amount of gold which left the United States in a scramble. Thus, President Johnson signed the removal act, which forced the Cherokees East of the Mississippi into the Great Plains and then went into dig up gold. The Cherokees thrived in the Great Plains, becoming farmers and excellent hunters. They settled along the Arkansas River, becoming fisherman. Just as it happened in 1938 the Cherokees were eventually forced off their lands and into the Oregon Territory. This trail they walked along was called the trail of tears, many Cherokees died because of food deprivation or various diseases. Today, this Trail of Tears is seen as the worst displays of discrimination in the history of the United States. Thus, we gave the Cherokees Reservations to live on in the Western United States. This journey they faced is arguably the hardest journey any tribe has ever faced and the way the Cherokees overcame this and turned their tribe into what it is today is what makes it special.

The Trail of Tears is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the United States for many reasons. This chain of expulsions forced Indian populations from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States to settle in a region west of the Mississippi River that had been selected as Indian Territory. Encouraged by white settlers, the U.S. government suddenly ruled that it was time for the Indians to sacrifice land that they had called home for thousands of years. Stricken with a hunger for gold and a thirst for territorial expansion, the Anglo people betrayed their Indian neighbors. The sequence of forced removals were made possible by numerous government powers

Jackson had been fighting Native Americans for their land before he became a president. In 1788, Jackson and several white settlers tried to force the Cherokee Indians off their homeland in Georgia.2 The Cherokees fought to keep their land from white settlers and they even brought their case to the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, the United States government must negotiate with the tribe leaders before seizing their land. Many political figures tried to bribe, threaten, or use military force to make tribe leaders sign the treaty so they would leave, however some of them would not budge so easily. Some political

In 1832 gold was found on the land of Native American tribes. The government wanted to get the gold for themselves, so that pains many Native Americans for their land. One group of Native Americans, the Cherokees, refused to give up their land. There was a court ruling in the case Worcester vs. Georgia which officially made it unconstitutional to remove the Cherokees from their land. After the ruling Jackson was quoted in saying "John Marshall has made his decision now let him enforce it." Jackson then brought military forces into the Native Americans land and force them to walk to reservations. The trail that they walked to get to their reservations is now called the trail of tears because an estimated 7,000 to 13,000 Cherokees died along the path.

In 1831, the Cherokee nation went to court against the state of Georgia. They were disputing the state’s attempt to hold jurisdiction over their territory. Unfortunately, because they are not under the laws of the constitution, the Indian’s right to court was denied. It was not until 1835 that the Cherokee finally agreed to sign the treaty, giving up their Georgia land for that of Oklahoma.

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 Trail of Tears is a historical title given to an event that happened in 1838.In this event, the Cherokee community of Native Americans was forced by the USA government to move from their native home in the Southern part of the contemporary America to what is known as the Indian territories of Oklahoma. While some travelled by water, most of them travelled by land. The Cherokees took 6 months to complete an 800 miles distance to their destination.

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.

Americans main purpose was to spread civilization as well as knowledge. Many Indians were moved from their lands and a lot of deaths and killing took place in this process. Moving the Indians " lead to the "Trail of Tears." The Trail of Tears was a "series of forced removals of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian territory." In 1851 the discovery of gold also became very huge that also caused the west migration.