Trail Of Tears Historical Perspective

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.

up Cherokee lands for very few dollars. This proposal had not been approved by the

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

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.

Currently, when the losses suffered by the Cherokee Nation as a result of their forced removal are discussed, there is a focus on the loss in numbers. However, Russell Thornton’s “Cherokee Population Losses During Trail of Tears: A New Perspective and a New Estimate” clearly presents a new, suitably researched perspective that argues the focus should not be only on those that died, but also on those that never lived. Thornton is a professor at UCLA in the Anthropology department. He has a number of degrees related to this study, including a Ph.D. in Sociology and a postdoctoral in Social Relations from Harvard, and specializes in Native American studies. He is clearly appropriately acquainted with this field, and his knowledge of the subject matter is evident in this piece. However, he also cites a number of papers and books by other authors, so as not to rely purely on his knowledge.

Trail of Tears/Indian Removal As a result of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830, thousands of Native Americans were forcefully removed from their tribal lands and transferred to lands west of the Mississippi River. Natives were held at gunpoint as they trekked the 800 mile “Trail of Tears” to the West and because of the harsh terrain and spread of disease, it claimed the lives of almost ¼ of the Cherokee Natives. Promptly after becoming president, Andrew Jackson and Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 due to the assimilation and protection of Natives being too costly. While Jackson’s support of Indian Removal was mostly to benefit America, he reasoned that it would benefit the Natives too. He believed that “to

The trail of tears occurred between 1838-1839 in which the United states forced native americans to move from their lands and relocate to the west of the Mississippi river ( which is modern day Oklahoma) The indians that migrated faced many adversities along the way such as: hunger,cholera, cold, starvation and disease during that forced march to Oklahoma. Due to this removal 4,000 out of 15,000 cherokees died on this lengthy march. The cherokees should have been permitted to stay because : it was part of their identity/ culture , they had signed treaties to maintain their land, and they were willing to become citizens and be resistant. To begin cherokees should have been permitted to stay because it was part of their identity/

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

Within United States History, there has been some horrible discrimination upon certain races of people. At the trail of tears native Americans were persecuted against heavily. Until 1828 the federal government had Cherokee rights to their land and in that same year Andrew Jackson was elected president and this all ended. On September 15, 1830, at Little Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Chiefs of tribes and representatives of the United States met to discuss a bill recently passed by the Congress. This day started with all the same good intentions of those today but ended with only a few Native Americans signing the treaty which allowing for the removal of all Indian peoples to the west of the Mississippi River. ( Brill, The Trail

“The U.S. government used the Treaty of New Echota in 1835 to justify the removal” ("A Brief History of the Trail of Tears”). The Cherokee were forced on a journey from their previous villages into Tahlequah, Oklahoma to start a new life. This journey became known as the Trail of Tears. They died of hunger, disease, dehydration, and exhaustion (“The Trail of Tears”). Life after the trail of tears was challenging at first because the tribe lost over 4,000 of its members during the journey. Once the Cherokees reached Oklahoma, the government still was not very friendly to them. The government contractor gave them some food, but it was contaminated with insects. The government was focused on enhancing their profit and did not care about the well-being and welfare of the Cherokee (Ojibwa, “The Cherokee After Removal”).

Trail of tears is a very devastating story. It's about Indians who were driven out of their homes. Not just by any soldiers but by the federal government. On the other hand, they've been planning to take them out for a long time. This story is sad because it's a battle that the Native Indians completely lost.

TRAIL OF TEARS: WE SHALL REMAIN – AMERICA THROUGH NATIVE EYES Before I took American History, movies about Indians and US Cavalry Troops influenced my childhood years. I even pretended as a US Cavalry trooper chasing Indians away and rescuing the settlers. The Cavalry represented strength, gallantry, and savior of the oppressed.

In 1838, the Cherokee along with other indian tribes, were forced to move from their homes in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to the new Indian territory known as Oklahoma in the west. There journey west was known as the Trail of Tears and it cost over four-thousand Indians their lives. One soldier by the name of John G. Burnett, saw that the Americans were being cruel and unjust towards the Indians, and he did anything he could to help the Indians during these tough times. The Americans had no justification to take the Indian’s land because the Indians were unwilling and unequipped to move from their homes, and the Americans violated many treaties that were created to set boundaries between the Indian’s and American’s land.

In 1791, the United States began negotiations with the Cherokee nation. However, Americans began moving onto Cherokee land and forcing them away due to want/need of land for farming and other purposes. This began a series of events that led to their removal. In 1828 the state of Georgia passed a law that stated, “as of June 1, 1830 the Cherokee Nation would be null and void, it would no longer be seen as a nation to the state of Georgia.”

The Trail of Tears was the forced relocation and movement of Native Americans, including many members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, and Choctaw nations among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States. The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.[1] Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while on route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee.[2]