When it came to land, America would do anything for it, even if it meant sending an entire population of people away from their homeland. The Trail of Tears was a two-month long trek though freezing harsh terrain resulting in one third of the Cherokee Nation being wiped out. Some say the US removed the natives from their land because they were a different race. However, the main reason the US wanted the land so bad was purley out of greed. The US saw profit in the native lands. The US wanted the land because it was on the Mississippi River which had many economic benefits because land on the river was more accessible for trading. In the text, Transcript of Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it states; "First to encourage them to abandon hunting, to apply to raising stock...and thereby prove to themselves that less land and labor will maintain them in this... Secondly: to multiply trading houses among them." The US is trying to encourage the natives to transition into a lifestyle more like theirs which involves more farming and less hunting. By switching, the natives will need less land because they won't need to hunt anymore. The US had plans to open more trading houses for the natives so they could make a profit off of farming. Before the US tried getting the natives to indulge in trading houses, the government tried buying the land from the natives. The natives were becoming nervous and irritated because their land was
states having legalised it. The main similarities between the past of Native Indians and the LGBT people is pegged on the persecution that this people underwent. The Native Indians were persecuted by the Whites while the LGBT people were persecuted by the people who felt that gaysim was evil earlier on (Haider,2016). The differences between the past and the present of the Native Indians and LGBT groups is pegged on the persecution agents. The
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.
To the Cherokee Nation, the journey west, called by them “The Trail Where We Cried,”
Another cause for poor relations between Native Americans and European Settlers was the constant push for acquiring new land by the Colonists. The Native Americans did not just want to give up their land and this resulted in war between the Indians and the Colonists. During this time Native Americans were sold into slavery belittled and removed from their land, due to the fact that the Colonists had more advanced technology and weapons. One of the major wars was the French and Indian War which resulted in the removal of Native Americans from their land and many casualties on both sides. Over time many battles were fought over land, even after America was an established country with presidents, laws, and court systems. Native Americans were continually pushed out of their land for hundreds of years while they were forced to move west. The constant push of Native Americans out of their land would cause an event known as the Trail of Tears where thousands of Indians were removed from their land by the Indian Removal Act. “In 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act." Although many Americans were against the act, most notably Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, it passed anyway. President Jackson quickly signed the bill into law. The Cherokees attempted to fight removal legally by challenging the removal laws in the Supreme Court and by establishing an
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 Natives did not leave at the same rate and in the same group, because only 2,000 agreed to leave at the desired time and the rest refused. Their refusal caused the president to send in soldiers to move them out. While the soldiers moved them out on a route known as “The Trail of Tears,” a vast majority of the population of Natives contracted diseases and died on their movement to their designated lands. After the first group moved, in 1840 tens of thousands of Natives had been driven off their land in the South and were then forced to move across the Mississippi Indian territory. Even though the federal government had promised that the Natives could still continue to own their land, it ended up being a lie. As the Indian settlement traveled further to the West the “Indian Country” got smaller and smaller over time. It resulted in Oklahoma becoming a state and the Indian Territory gone
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
On the Trail of Tears worksheet Document B states, “We will never let our hold on this land go...to let it go it will be like throwing away…[Our] mother that gave [Us] birth”. (1) This explains that the U.S. was expanding so the natives were pushed out of their homes because of the new lands being farmed and the factories being built.
Before the Eastern World knew that the America’s were there, natives to the American lands were already here and thriving. As the land was discovered, more and more people from the European side of the Hemisphere traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to stake a claim for land in this newfound world. Throughout these Europeans settling in, and making new homes and lives for themselves these natives stayed to their own ways, and were slowly pushed westward. The problems between the Indians and now Americans were brought to the forefront as the population of the states grew, and there was a need for expansion. When the Louisiana Purchase was struck between the United States and France, the land previously inhabited by the natives were now under the control of the United States government. As the population continued to climb in numbers, individuals along with the United States government decided to take actions for the removal of these natives. Throughout the book, The Long, Bitter Trail, Andrew Jackson and the Indians by: Anthony F.C. Wallace, the events leading up to, during, and the effects of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Individuals such as Andrew Jackson along with the government used different methods to remove these Indians from the southeastern lands of the United States. Starting in the beginning of the 1800’s,
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 was a route that the Cherokee Indians had to travel on when they were forcibly removed from their homes in the southern Appalachian Mountains. They were made to travel miles and miles away from their homes, so the residents of Georgia could begin looking for gold. All of this began because in 1829 when someone found gold on Cherokee land. The Cherokee were going to be forced out of their homes so they decided to take their case to court. The case went all the way up to the supreme court and was then voted on in the Cherokee's favor, but President Andrew Jackson went against the courts ruling and allowed the Cherokee to be removed from their homes. The Trail of Tears is a terrible route where over 2,000 Cherokee lives were lost, and many became sick and injured. Even though the Cherokee had the rights to the land and they even had their own constitution, still Jackson ignored this and allowed them to be removed. This was a terrible time in American history because it showed how malicious one of our presidents was in allowing these peaceful Indians to be taken away from their homes, just so we could find some gold.
In the 1830’s America was expanding its border and completing manifest destiny. The one thing standing in the way of Americans moving west was the Native Americans. President Andrew Jackson had a dilemma on his hands. Jackson wanted to create a plan that would make everyone happy. But in the end, Jackson had the Native American removed from their land and led to the “Trail of Tears” where many Native Americans would lose their lives. Looking at the articles by F.P Prucha, Mary E. Young and Alfred A. Cave each one says that the Indians needed to be removed from their land for a different reason.
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 trail of tears, which was the forced relocation of different Indian tribes after the Indian removal act of 1830, was definitely a dark point in our nation’s history. In today’s society it would be in direct violation of the Constitution. I say today’s society, because back in the 1830’s when the act was signed into law, Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens, therefore the constitution would not apply to them. Now was it morally right? Not in my opinion. I don’t believe anyone has any right to strip people from their own homes unwillingly and force them into smaller areas to live. It is not what America is about. It is about freedom for all. The Federal government, like many times, had overreached their limitations and restricted
Native Americans were forced to move from their homelands mostly so that settlers could have that land. Many people believe that the removal of Natives saved them from extinction because the other option instead of moving was to be killed. (Horn) The Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed this to happen under American laws. The first big wave of removing natives was the Five Civilized tribes removal (Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Cherokees, and Seminoles). (Horn) Later on was what was named the Trail of Tears in which the Cherokee people were forcibly removed from their lands and resisted causing about 4,000