Native Americans: Life After 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 was a journey of 900 miles that had took nine months to complete. After being taken out of villages and homes, the Cherokee were put in camps, where they had to wait for weeks before heading out in groups of 1,000, following different paths than others depending on the time of year and season.They would travel to a land unknown to them and have to survive off the land.

The Trail of Tears played a part in what is known as the Manifest Destiny, which was the expansion of the colonists to the west. Gold was found on the Cherokee land during the Georgia Gold Rush. The greed that it created was one of the leading causes of the Trail of Tears where thousands of Native Americans were forcibly relocated from their native lands (Cherokee.org). Little did the Native Americans realize that the new nation that was going to be forming around them would affect not only their lives but the lives of their descendants. Even though the Cherokee made efforts to keep their land through the court system and even attempted to assimilate to the American way of life it was to no avail. They tried to agree to treaties with the United States Government. Even though, they were eventually forced to leave their lands. By forcing the Native Americans to abandon their homes, robbing their lands, taking their freedom, and forcing them to adapt and to assimilate into a new land and culture showed how vindictive President Andrew Jackson was regarding the Native Americans. The Trail of Tears was an instance of the United States Government committing genocide against the Native Americans

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.

Most Indians were taken or killed on the trail, but not all; the ones that stayed join the society to escape moving to the west. Around 100,000 Native Americans were removed, not killed. The main tribes that were removed were the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole (“Trail of Tears”). In 1838 the first group was 3,000, but there was 12,000 remained in military camps (McGill). In 1837 the first tribe to be removed was the Choctaw, follow by the Chickasaw (Blackbarn). After the Chickasaw, the Cherokee were forced in 1838 to 1839, and the Cherokee were the last tribe (McGill).

The trail of tears was a dark period in US history. Fueled by greed and racism but rationalized through what we believed was best for our country, we took even more from people who had already lost so much. We deemed natives as incompatible with society because they did not share our beliefs and culture. Now in modern times, we face issues that are parallel to this era and there are many things that can and should be learned from our mistakes and generalizations from the past.

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

A rush of white settlers in America brought about a cause for the horrific trail. Many of the white men pushed the government to give them the Indian land, due to fertility of it, and the government gave it to them. According to History.com, the government was, “Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indian’s land…”(History.com staff 1). This example clearly highlights that the government was behind the Indian Removal and agreed with the settlers and their beliefs of giving land to the superiors, the whites. As a result of the greedy white settlers and the

In 1835, the Treaty of Echota was negotiated by President Jackson and Major Ridge along with self-appointed representatives of the Cherokee Nation (History). These representatives of the Cherokee Nation were known as the Treaty Party and totaled about 100 people. The council of the Cherokee Nation had previously passed a law that stated that anyone who gave up their ancestral land would be put to death. So by signing this treaty, most of the Treaty Party would be put to death upon arrival to their new land (“A Brief History”).

Cherokee Indians had a hard life during the trail of tears. They were forced to move out of their homes. They had to leave their land and farms. 4,000 Cherokee Indians died of hunger, or exposure of disease. The journey became cultural as the “Trail where they cried” for the Cherokees and other removed tribes.

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

The Tail of tears was an event that affected the Cherokee Indians very badly. There was a total over 8000 total Indians. There were over 4000 deaths from hunger, disease, and exhaustion. This was Indian Removal in the areas of Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. (History)

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.

This procedure consisted of taking all of the Indians, putting them in a concentration camp, burning their homes, and stealing their property. After their time in concentration camps, they were put in tight-fitting steamboats and railroad cars. Many Indians died due to the way the railroad cars were set up. After this, they went on the Trail of Tears. One document says, “Of the approximately 18,000 Cherokees who were removed, at least 4,000 died in the stockades along the way, and some say the figure actually reached 8,000.” Once the Indians were settled in the west, the government didn’t keep their promises. The Indians received few necessities. The Trail of Tears impacted the Indian population and it was one of the worst events in history for the Native Americans.