The Causes Of The Black Hawk War

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.

Native American’s greeted the new colonists in a friendly, welcoming manner from the start. The new colonists considered this a sign of weakness, stating how easy it would be to dominate the native people. When Columbus arrived, there were 12-15 million Native Americans in the Americas, in 1890 there was under 250,000, with 98% of the population gone. With the belief in Manifest Destiny, the colonists forced the Native American’s off their own land, farther and farther from where they originated from, and eventually onto reservations, removing them from their way of life and their culture. During the transition from their homeland to reservations, many of the Native American’s died due to disease, cold, hunger, and the hardships of travel. Along with the annexation, the colonists demanded assimilation.

The Black Hawk war lasted from April to August in 1832 and was between the United States and Native Americans (“Black Hawk War”). The Treaty of St Louis of 1804 was a treaty that described how Black Hawk and his people moved across the Mississippi River to reclaim land that was lost in 1804 (“Black Hawk War”). Black Hawk and his people were not okay with this. So then his people made a merged together and went in to reclaim the land that was once theirs. At the time, white settlers were living there and it began to startle

During the Holocaust, the Nazi government would implement a set of laws called Nuremberg Laws, which would take away all human rights. The laws meant that Jews could not marry, keep their business, or move away. Jews would also lose their houses and be put in ghettos and concentration camps. Homes would be looted and taken, and the Jews who lived there would be forced to march or board trains to get to their concentration camps. If a Jew wasn't lucky enough to go to a concentration camp, he would be killed by either mobile gas vans, gas chambers, or the SS. The Indians in the Trail of Tears had many factors that lead to their dehumanization as well. Just like the Jews, Indians would be forced into concentration camps, and the Indians would have to march to their destination. Indians had to deal with the weather factors during the winter months and the summer months. In the winter, the Indians would freeze to death because they had no cover to keep them warm. While in the hot summer months, Indians would die from walking through the heat with no water. The Indians would have to march across states to get to their destinations; they had to march 1,000 miles. Indians would also lose their homes. The U.S. soldiers would ransack the Indians homes, take their crops, and steal their land for starting their own

In 1830, the Jackson administration instated the Indian Removal Act. This act removed the Native Americans from their ancestral lands to make way for an increase of additional American immigrants. This act forced many Native American tribes from their homes including five larger tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes had populations were estimated to be around 65,000 people strong that lived in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. (Foner, 2012) The American Indians fought for their rights and beliefs through the American court system. Their other objective other than fighting for their rights was but in the end, they were forced out of their homes to move

After the war, the remaining Indians that had survived the battle were used for slavery. Subsequently, during the new time for the Indians to be slaves, there were many disputes while colonists sought to settle in America; many women and children were killed because of it. Margret Ellen Newell states,” For some Indians, servitude lasted only until the age of 24. But others were bound to masters for indefinite periods. Indian slaves and household servants appear on census rolls and court records well into the 18th century.” (Newell 2001, paragraph 14). Many of the other

Native Americans were deeply effected by colonization. It was extremely unfair of the Europeans to destroy Native American way of life. If the Native Americans had the weapons, like guns and disease, that the Europeans did, then maybe they could have fought for what was theirs. Europeans came to America and changed the Native Americans lives forever. This contact between the Native Americans and Europeans was called the Columbian Exchange. While both Native Americans and Europeans received advantages and disadvantages from the Columbian Exchange, Native Americans definitely suffered more while the Europeans were benefited

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).

When the Europeans and Spaniards first “discovered” North America all was well. The Indians at first were truly intrigued with the white man as the brought all sorts of new stuff to trade. Matter a fact the first set of settlers would not been able to survive without the help of the Indians. Unfortunately, the settlers had very little respect for the land and resources. The Europeans then starting using violence to get what they wanted and as the number of settlers increased the Indians new that they were in over their heads. With all the new settlers came diseases such as small pox and measles. These diseases hurt the Indian tribes severely, and with the ignorance the settler’s wars began; the Indian Wars, the Indian Removal Act, Wounded knee, and the trail of tears are only a few of the many. The U.S. Government took it upon themselves to start relocation programs, with these programs the Indians were ripped from their homes, required to speak only the language of the settlers and robbed of their customs. The children of the tribes were taken away and sent to special schools to Americanize them and forget about their heritage. Then in the late 1800’s the government started

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.

All the hardships the Cherokees had to endure ultimately led to the Trail of Tears, which was the journey from the Cherokees’ homeland of Georgia to present-day Oklahoma. During the entire trip, the Cherokees were treated as prisoners by the soldiers. The Indians were not allowed to take anything with them except the clothes they had on. Women and children were all weeping, as their property and identities were being stripped. When rounding up the Cherokee families, the Cherokee daily life was interrupted. Families were stopped in the middle of their dinner, men were taken out of the fields, women were seized from the wheels, and children were dragged out of their play. The “orderly” removal soon became a mess, as children were often separated

The Native Americans were forced to move out of their territory that they lived in before the Americans came. Jackson forced them to move west of the Mississippi River. One tribe, the Cherokee, tried to not be removed by adapting to the Americans culture. Jackson took this to court in a case called Worchester V. Georgia. The court ruled that the Cherokee could stay, but Jackson ignored this and made them move. They had to walk 800 miles to the new territory, which was called the Trail of Tears. Almost one fourth of the 18,000 Cherokee died. “By persuasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and others have left but remnants,” was said in source #3. Jackson caused pain and suffering to the Native

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.

In early 1848, cries of gold findings flooded the West. White settlers flooded the area like a hurricane in search of riches never seen before to the common man. It was the single greatest migration of people in a shortest amount of time. The gold rush was a very dark period in American history and it shouldn’t be celebrated; the Native American’s were slaughtered in American thirst for gold Explosions of violence from both natives and settlers were common in this environment of prejudice and greed. Between 1850 and 1890 eighty percent of the total number of Native Americans in California died due to murder and massacre, disease, starvation, and forced migration from their native lands. The destruction of the culture and lives of the people native to California and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Greed changed the morals and values of the miners and Americans alike in the Gold Rush. The gold rush brought riches and highlighted racism of white Americans, while systematically destroying Native Americans in that region.

The black hawk war a brief but bloody war from April to August 1832 between the United States and Native Americans led by Sauk Chief Black Hawk a 65 yrs old warrior who in early April led about 1,000 Sauk,Fox, and Kickapoo men,women, and children, across the Mississippi River to reclaim land in Illinois that White Men had surrendered to the U.S. in 1804. Some 450-600 indians and 70 soldiers and settlers were killed during the war. By 1837 all surrounding tribes had fled to the west, leaving most of the former Northwest Territory to white settlement. Among those who participated in various roles during the war were a number of men who figured prominently in U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Zachary Taylor, long time military leader and