The Trail of Tears was a very sad historical time for the Indians. It effected the respect that the Indians had for the Americans. President Thomas Jefferson wanted everyone to be Americans, but president Andrew Jackson wanted the money and land. Therefore on December 29, 1839 a new treaty was signed saying the Cherokee had to give up part of their land and that's how this all began.The Trail of Tears effected the way the Indians view the Americans.
During the American Revolution war the battles came to a Cherokee village the Cherokee joined forces with the British because they were trading partners. So the Americans seeker revenge. So they. Went through Cherokee towns burning buildings and destroying crops. The villages were starving and some fled for the woods. The Cherokee basically needed to start over. Between 85 different tribes there was about 250,000 Cherokees living between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The government could not afford to police such a huge reign so they decided to make peace with the Indians. As long as they became civilized. George Washington said “The Indians
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That is less than 1/3 of one percent of there original territory. Chief Ross was very mad that John made a deal with the federal government to move the Cherokees out west. The Cherokee didn't like the west because the west to them was “The Darkening Land.” Where the spirits go when they die. So for the Cherokee, heading west meant heading to death. December 29, 1839 signed a paper about the treaty that the Cherokee had to give up their land in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee and leave for there new territory which is now modern day Oklahoma and they had two years to do so. Some of the Cherokee were traditional and did not want to leave the land that their ancestors were from. While others seek to start a new life and be
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 law was passed that all Natives had to leave. Cherokees believed even if they stayed they would still have to deal with all the troublesome White neighbors, therefore their best option was to leave. There was nothing they could do because the whites were too powerful as said in doc 5. “It is argued that they can never remain quiet where they are;n that they will always be infested by troublesome whites; and that the states, which lay claim their territory, will always preserve in measures to vex and annoy them.” The Natives didn’t understand why the white people wanted them gone so bad, because the white people tried so hard to change the Natives culture to make them act like the white people. The Natives changed they way they acted, worked, and how they looked. In doc 7 it says “ The Cherokees have been reclaimed from their wild habits. Instead of hunters, they have become the cultivators of the soil instead of wild and ferocious savages, thirsting for blood, they become the mild “citizens.” The Cherokees were really upset, because not only were they leaving what had now become their norm they were also leaving their land which had been passed down through their family. The Cherokees started a petition to the United States asking for them to fulfill their treaty they had made. In doc 9. It says “ Cherokee people used no violence but humbly petitioned the Government of the United States for a fulfillment of treaty
The Cherokee Indians were one of the most heavily populated of the southeast and did not agree to simply give up their land. The Cherokee Indians had been harmonious to the Americans so they inquired for some help. It was decided that the Cherokee Indians could be able to keep their land. Regardless President Andrew Jackson and his army
They were declared a dependent sovereign state and only the federal government had any say so in their affairs. Treaties were signed and land was sacrificed in order to retain some semblance of independence but the states got greedy and wanted it all. It was the Indians who followed the treaties and never went after their lost land or left their borders but the Americans continued to encroach on them. The Memorial Of the Cherokee Nation explained how Indians were tricked into selling land that belonged to the Nation so that Indian territory became American territory despite the people having no right to sell land given to the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee government fought the breaks in the treaties but the judicial decision was overruled and the Cherokees were still forced to move. Besides the breaches in the treaties, the Cherokee tribe was one of the five assimilated tribes meaning they adopted European customs and religions. The Cherokee had become civilized as was the European’s goal and they fought their battle through the legal system not in a war. In this sense, the Indian Removal was unjust and
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.
Since international law said that England had discovered the American colonies, they therefore owned all of the land. That meant that the natives or "uncivilized" people no longer owned the land. This group of the "uncivilized" consisted of many Indian tribes which were forced out of their homeland, including the Cherokee.
The Cherokee removal process dates back as early as the times of the first European encounters. When the explorers arrived in the New World, lack of immunity from disease played a role in decimating the native population. Smallpox, measles, and typhus spread everywhere and eventually, only around sixteen thousand natives remained by the 1700's. Even with the overwhelming victory of the British during the French and Indian war, the Cherokee were able to preserve many aspects of their society such as their own local governments and maintaining their crops. Nevertheless, the monarchy still ruled the region and even by the end of the Revolutionary War when the Americans had won, Constitutional policies were implemented to contain and control the native peoples. Peaceful relations existed in the beginning, but it was not until powerful resistance from the Cherokee that forced change among the settlers who kept pushing for westward expansion.
Until 1828, the federal government agreed that Cherokee had rights to their land, but when Andrew Jackson was elected President, that all ended. Jackson refused to believe that the tribes were sovereign and thus viewed Indian treaties, as an absurdity
The Trail of Tears is part of the immoral history of the United States. The information in this paper will be about the causes, history, deaths, and the hopes that were lost. There were at least four causes for the Indian removal act of 1830. The history of the trail discussion about the Native Americans, and what happens to them when they were moving to their new home in the west, as well what happened after the removal act.
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
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 Choctaw were the first tribe to be encouraged to located to Indian Territory after the 1820 Treaty of Doak’s Stand. The Choctaw that did decide to move to Indian Territory peacefully found that many white settlers were living on the land that was promised to them. The Choctaw Boundary Treaty helped to get rid of the white settlers and establish a boundary in what is now Oklahoma. The Choctaw that stayed behind in the Mississippi area were starting to realize that removal was the only way to survive, due to the State laws and government favoring the whites. In 1830 The Choctaw gave away all of their land and made their way to Indian Territory. On November 1st 1831, the Choctaw started their journey. Roads became rough due to heavy
He wanted to end negotiations with the Cherokee Indians. Jackson alongside other politicians pressured the federal government into extinguishing the Indians and removing them from Georgia. The Treaty of New Echota, which is another factor that contributed to the removal of the Indians. A latter group consisting of Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinat, signed the treaty without the consent of the Cherokee Indian representative, or the Cherokee government. This treaty requires the Indians to relocate the Cherokee nation from Georgia, to and Indian reservation in 2 years. Regardless that the treaty was not signed by anyone affiliated with the Cherokee government, the treaty was still ratified. The movement was enforced by soldiers and was known as the Trail of
Their methods ranged from racist attitudes, broken treaties, false promises, and threats of military challenge. The settlers plan was to relocate the Cherokee community into the great desert that lied west of the Mississippi River. In addition, the white settlers who arrived in America from the Sea annexed much of the Cherokee’s land possessing large pieces of land as they advanced inwards. Some of them even attacked and burned the Cherokee villages in order to send them away from their fertile lands.
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.