Should The Cherokee Move West?

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In the 1830’s President Andrew Jackson demanded that all of the Cherokee Indians must leave the land they have called home for thousands of years. They are faced with the decision to either leave, and make a dangerous journey west, or rebel against the government, and accept the consequences. The Cherokee have the best chance of survival if they accept their new tribal lands and move west, because If they resist the government and stay in their original lands, they will be punished by the United States, and if the Cherokee move west, the United States will pay them and give them many valuable resources.

To start, the Cherokee should leave their Georgia, because Major Ridge tells the Cherokee in 1835, “an unbending, iron necessity tells us we must leave (our territory)... Any forcible effort to keep (our territory) will cost us our lands, our lives and the lives of our children.” Major Ridge is saying that if they resist the government and don’t move, they will die, their children will die, and they would end up losing the land anyways. Also, On March 16th, 1835, Andrew Jackson said in a letter to the Cherokee, “Every year (that you don’t move to the West) will increase your difficulties… Punishment will follow.” This quote proves that the Cherokee should move West, because Andrew Jackson is saying in this quote that if they will punished if they stay, and the longer they stay, the worse the punishment …show more content…

He promised to give “The country (west of the Mississippi)... Payment to each individual… Rifles, blankets, and kettles… Four hundred thousand dollars (for the tribe)... schools, agricultural instruments, domestic animals, missionary establishments” and more. This means that if the Cherokee move west, the United States government will pay them, and give them a lot of important

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