The Consequences Of The Trail Of Tears: The Trail Of Tears

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“We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others” – Will Rogers (Quotes 1). One of the biggest events that took place was called the Trail of Tears; over 60,000 Native Americans - including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations were invaded. This took place from 1830 to 1838. This relocation resulted in the death of thousands of Native Americans, and was an outright failure by American citizens to exercise their responsibilities, the effects towards the Indians during the horrid event, and the long-term implications on the American Indians.
The reaction among Indian tribes clearly shows that the Indians felt the forced relocation was a violation of their rights; the response by the Americans reveals their unethical tactics used to take away the Native Americans’ rights. The Cherokee and the Seminole, two groups of the Five Civilized Tribes who were both affected greatly, chose to react in different ways, contrasting deeply from the other affected groups. The Cherokee resisted the removal of their tribe by using the governmental laws. Georgia planned for their removal in order to collect the gold found on their land. In 1830, Georgia wanted to regain control of the Cherokee. Georgia sought to invalidate the Cherokee constitution by saying that the Cherokee laws were void as of June 1, 1830. Then in order to win back their rights that were taken away, sought an injunction to repeal the voiding of those laws, but that injunction was denied (Baker 3). Later, another attack on the government’s power was launched through the case of Worcester vs. Georgia. Worcester argued against the constitutionality of the Indian Removal Act. This document placed in 1830 planning ...

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...the Removal as their holocaust” (Baker 3). The Native Americans will never forget the most horrific journey of their life, as it made such an impact on the way the Native Americans went about their daily life. They had to create new lives out of nothing, rebuilding the houses and schools that the merciless Americans had burned down.
The long term influence on the American Indians, the impact on the Indians during the contemptible event, and the responses of the Indian tribes all epitomize the idea that the action of the removal of American Indians was a violation of the tribes’ rights and was an extremely abysmal failing by the American citizens in their responsibilities. As measured by Will Rogers, Americans regrettably fell short of having a true civilization. And, in the words of Nelson Mandela, “to deny their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”

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