The Cherokee nation, located in North Carolina before their removal, now locate it in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. A great city of great and wonderful people. The trail of tears, which means the place where they cried, does not only describe the removal of the Cherokees from their land, but it also describes the death of so many of them and the loss of their traditional and gorgeous houses. Nowadays, Cherokee descent had created a play that describe what happened to their removal of North Carolina across the Mississippi river to Oklahoma. Even though, they try to describe all the drama, the sadness, tears and blood that was shed, they will never be able to revive what happened because the trails where they had to walk are green with so much flowers that have blossomed and are hiding all the terror that the Cherokees had to live. There had been removals of Native Americans before the Cherokees in the United States. In other parts of North America also have existed the removal of citizens for example, the expulsion of the French Acadian from Nova Scotia by the British. This types of events have affected the world, the United States and the Cherokees.
They cried, they wept, they grew stronger. It was a story of hope, courage, and survival. This was the Trail of Tears. Many events led up to the Cherokee’s removal. The Indian Removal caused the Cherokee indians to move west. A man named Major Ridge struck lots of bargains with the United States. This man, Major Ridge, was one of the native sons, born in 1771, that lived in the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee’s lived in the Christians Eden because they believe their ancestors once lived in the same area. Throughout Major Ridge’s youth years, the Shawnees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the United States endangered the Cherokees. Mr. Ridge and his family watched his town get burnt down by riflemen due to picking the wrong side during the American Revolution. The Cherokees watched their world change all around them. The Cherokee population dwindled to 12,000 in 1805, and lost over half their precious land. The United States wanted the Cherokees land, and for them to move west. The Americans offered a path for them to walk down. The Americans developed a policy called civilization which taught the Cherokees how to grow wheat; how to eat meals at regular set times instead of when ever they pleased, how to dress; how to speak English; how to pray in church at certain set times. The United States wanted all the tribes to be equivalent of their white neighbors. Thomas Jefferson states that they could be equal to the whites. John Ross was the future Cherokee chief; he grew
They advisory council came together to create this petition in order to stop them. The Cherokee women stated, “God gave us [this land] to inhabit and raise provisions.” This council viewed the land as sacred for God and for them to cultivate the land. Also, I thought that it was interesting that the women referred to the warriors and headmen as their “children.” I believe this gave the influence of a maternal figure, to make them seem as if they were warrior’s
War, the Ultimate Proving Ground: The black troops persevered in the face of hardship, prejudice, and discrimination. They fought in spite of atrocious treatment and in the face of bitter challenges, believing they could make a difference.
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 Battle of Fort Wagner consisted of two battles the second being the most deadly and the most famous of the battles. There were several events and terrain features that cost the Union these battles during the attempted siege of Fort Wagner. Even though the Battles were a complete loss there’s several things that came from the battles that had lasting impacts on the war and America.
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.
…I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west… …One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Chief John Ross led in prayer and when the bugle sounded and the wagons started rolling many of the children rose to their feet and waved their little hands good-by to their mountain homes, knowing they were leaving them forever... (Burnett).
Most of the Indians didn’t go willingly; rightfully so seeing as they had already had a treaty and now the United States was breaking it. The Native Americans were different from the white settlers because they spoke a different language and they had a different skin color. Even though the United States has been through some independent issues and they’ve even helped countries and states that needed to gain independence, for example, Cuba from Spain or Texas from Mexico, they still have problems with accepting people that are different. So, it is hard to believe that the U.S. could allow the slaughter of thousands of innocent women and children and husbands, but they did. No one could stand up to Andrew Jackson and his removal policy, and for that it cost the Indians dearly. The Second Seminole War was an
While they had no official ally, they accepted bribes from both sides and profited. Additionally, in this first section of the chapter, the author informs the reader that Patriots took utilized Indian raids as propaganda opportunities to urge colonial unity. Even if the raids were carried out without British assistance, clever authors spun the stories to blame the mother country for the deaths of innocent Americans. By 1777, the British recognized that allying with the Natives was in their best interests and encouraged all tribes to raid Patriot settlements. The southern Indian nations hesitated, due to the recent defeat of the Cherokee in Georgia, but most of the northern nations agreed. Most Native American leaders thought the British would win the war and maintain trade relations with them. Additionally, the Indians wanted to regain the land they had lost to the colonists. Other Indians, however, saw the British as “the lesser of two evils”. Taylor writes that some saw the manipulative tendencies of the British and the fact that their strategies endangered Natives more than their own
John Burnett witnessed the helpless Cherokees pulled from their homes and driven at bayonet point. They were herded into wagons and headed westward. Most of the Cherokee people did not have sufficient cover to protect against the harsh climate. By the time the westward journey ended, four thousand Cherokees had died all because the whites wanted their land. The Cherokee sent an envoy to Jackson to which Jackson decreed that all of their land must be given to the white people [Doc 3].
Most of us have learnt about the Trail of Tears as an event in American history, but not many of us have ever explored why the removal of the Indians to the West was more than an issue of mere land ownership. Here, the meaning and importance of land to the original Cherokee Nation of the Southeastern United States is investigated. American land was seen as a way for white settlers to profit, but the Cherokee held the land within their hearts. Their removal meant much more to them than just the loss of a material world. Historical events, documentations by the Cherokee, and maps showing the loss of Cherokee land work together to give a true Cherokee
The defeat of the first United States army by a coalition of Native Americans is the focus in Collin Calloway’s The Victory with No Name. In this historical account, Calloway addresses what occurred on November 4th, 1791, when an Indian army consisting of a variety of Indian tribes, led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, ambushed the first American army near the Wabash River to protect themselves from American expansion of the Northwest Territory. The American army, led by Revolutionary War veteran Arthur St. Clair, was ill-equipped with men, horses, and weaponry, and ignorant about Indian whereabouts and tactics. Calloway organizes his argument by describing America’s desire for land, the invasion and settlement of Indian land, and the resistance formed by Native Americans. Calloway continues by illustrating the defeat of the American army and the aftermath of the battle between Native Americans and the U.S. By drawing on extensive historical evidence that illustrated the events before, during, and after the battle, Calloway presents a detailed historical narrative that challenges the idea that “winners write the history…even when they lose” and offers a narrative that shows both the Native American and the U.S. perspective, ultimately giving credit to the Indians for their victory. However, Calloway provides information that is irrelevant to his argument and the book, which makes it difficult to follow along throughout the story.