Trail Of Tears Essay

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The Trail of Tears was a horrific time in history from the Cherokee Indians. May 18, 1830 was the beginning of a devastating future for the Cherokee Indians. On that day congress officially passed Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal act. This policy granted President Andrew Jackson the right to force the Cherokee tribe consisting of about 13,000 people off of their reservations consisting of about 100 million acres east of the Mississippi River in the Appalachian Mountains and to attend a long and torturous journey consisting of about 1,200 miles within nine months until they reached their new home, a government-mandated area with in present-day Oklahoma. They left their land which was home to the “Five Civilized Tribes” which were assimilated Elders and the sick were forced to move by gunpoint. The Indians had to grab what they needed and left their home within a matter of minutes, leaving behind their valuables and homeland which American thieves stole and took over their property. The journey of three groups of Indians began in the summer on 1838. The Indians traveled by railroad, boat, wagon, and foot through water and land routes. A group traveling over Arkansas suffered around five deaths a day from sickness and dehydration. Around 15,000 captive Indians continued to wait for their removal. Many died from overcrowding, poor sanitation, and drought. The Indians begged the push off the relocation until the fall when they would voluntarily move. This request was granted and they remained in camps until they could continue their journey. As fall approached, 12 groups each including about 1,000 Indians were now apart of the journey to the west. Fall brought heavy storms which made the journey a lot more difficult as the wagons would get stuck along the muddy trail. Food was running scarce and little to no plants or animals inhabited the route they trudged along. A survivor of the Trail of tears stated, " Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave Old Nation. Womens cry and make sad wails. Children cry and many men cry...but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much.". Fresh water was so scarce that Indians began drinking still water which resulted in a horrible disease. Survivors would live to tell stories of how they watched their father die from sickness, then their mother, then every single sibling in their family one by one each day until none other than they were left. The trip was particularly a rough journey for babies, children, pregnant women, and the elderly. Many of the pregnant women did

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