Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears, a footprint in American history. The Trial of Tears was the relocation of thousands of Native Americans west of the Mississippi river under the order of President Andrew Jackson. It is estimated that two to six thousand Native Americans lost their lives in the move. Most of the Natives were moved to Oklahoma and parts of other states. The Trail of Tears could be considered an American tragedy or a mass genocide of thousands of innocent people. The Proclamation of 1763 forced colonists to remain east of the Appalachian Mountains, and all land west of this natural barrier was reserved for Native Americans (McGill). By the eighteen hundreds American cities were growing …show more content…
A few thousand were removed like this but it was the hottest part of the year and sickness was prone on the small boats (Russell). The natives got permeation to move in the fall when the sickly season was over, but they had to remove themselves or face military force. The road to their new homes was very traitorous. Most of the natives traveled over land in large groups, which made sickness spread very easily. A lot of Natives died on the way to the reserve. Between disease, exposure, starvation, injury, and wild animals, it was likely that body count for the dead would be large. Most people agree that the death count was around four thousand and a total of 16,000 moved from their homes. The suffering and turmoil did not end when the Natives got to their new homeland (Russell). They had no medicine or doctors in their new home so many carried over diseases from the journey and they spread like wild …show more content…
No action taken by the United States Federal government was justifiable. Thieves, the United States government were thieves, stealing land that did not belong to them. Andrew Jackson was the main cause for this, half genocide half relocation and we praise him so much we decided to put him on the twenty dollar bill! People were so overwhelmed with power, money, and land, they just took what they wanted and in the processes destroyed an entire generation of people. The only good thing that came out of the Indian removal act was insured survival of the Cherokee Native Americans and other tribes relocated like them. If they had been allowed to stay. It would have been war. Removal allows the Cherokee to avoid destruction and retain their identity as a tribe. The misery it caused will become another part of the Cherokee heritage
The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians was written by Anthony F.C. Wallace. In his book, the main argument was how Andrew Jackson had a direct affect on the mistreatment and removal of the native Americans from their homelands to Indian Territory. It was a trail of blood, a trail of death, but ultimately it was known as the "Trail of Tears".
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was an abuse of power exerted on the Indian tribes residing in America by the people of the colonies as well as presidents at the time of their removal. Many Indians affected lost their lives, their loved one’s lives’, and the land they thrived on dating back years to their ancestors. This act would be later named “the trail of tears” because of the monumental loss the Indian tribes had endured during their displacement, and the physical and psychological damages of these people (TOTWSR).
Unfortunately, this great relationship that was built between the natives and the colonists of mutual respect and gain was coming to a screeching halt. In the start of the 1830s, the United States government began to realize it’s newfound strength and stability. It was decided that the nation had new and growing needs and aspirations, one of these being the idea of “Manifest Destiny”. Its continuous growth in population began to require much more resources and ultimately, land. The government started off as simply bargaining and persuading the Indian tribes to push west from their homeland. The Indians began to disagree and peacefully object and fight back. The United States government then felt they had no other option but to use force. In Indian Removal Act was signed by Andrew Jackson on May 18, 1830. This ultimately resulted in the relocation of the Eastern tribes out west, even as far as to the edge of the Great Plains. A copy of this act is laid out for you in the book, Th...
In May 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which forced Native American tribes to move west. Some Indians left swiftly, while others were forced to to leave by the United States Army. Some were even taken away in chains. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, strongly reinforced this act. In the Second State of the Union Address, Jackson advocated his Indian Policy. There was controversy as to whether the removal of the Native Americans was justified under the administration of President Andrew Jackson. In my personal opinion, as a Native American, the removal of the tribes was not in any way justified.
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The act authorized him to negotiate with the Native Americans in the Southern Non- Native Americans supported the act heavily. Christian missionaries opposed this act was future President Abraham Lincoln, future New Jersey Theodore Frelinghuysen and Congressman Davy Crockett spoke against the legislation. It later was passed by Congress. Due to the Indian Removal Act the current Native American population is very low. --The Removal Act of 1830, section I, in The American Indian and the United States, A Documentary History, ed. Wilcomb E. Washburn, vol. 3 (New York: Random House, 1973) 2169"That in the making of any such exchange or exchanges, it shall and may be lawful for the President solemnly to assure the tribe or nation with which the exchange is made, that the United States will forever secure and guaranty to them, and their heirs or successors, the country so exchanged with them and if they prefer it, that the United States will cause a patent or grant to be made and executed to them for the same: Provided always, Those lands shall revert to the United States, if the Indians become extinct, or abandon the same." (http://www.columbia.edu/~lmg21/BC3180/removal.html).
Perhaps the worst aspect of Jackson 's administration was his removal and treatment of the natives. Specifically, Andrew Jackson forced the resettlement of several native american tribes against the ruling of the Supreme Court. The Indian Removal Act drove thousands of natives off their tribal lands and forced them west to new reservations. Then again, there are those who defend Jackson 's decision stating that Indian removal was necessary for the advancement of the United States. However, the cost and way of removing the natives was brutal and cruel. The opposition fails to recognize the fact that Jackson’s removal act had promised the natives payment, food, and protection for their cooperation but Jackson fails to deliver any of these promises. Furthermore, in “Indian removal,” an article from the Public-Broadcasting Service, a description of the removal of the Cherokee nation is given. The article analyses the effect of the Indian Removal Act, which was approved by Jackson, on various native tribes. “The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the Treaty of New Echota. The leaders of this group were not the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees -- led by Chief John Ross -- signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly removed. By 1838 only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000 remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee
The United States government's relationship with the Native American population has been a rocky one for over 250 years. One instance of this relationship would be what is infamously known as, the Trail of Tears, a phrase describing a journey in which the Native Americans took after giving up their land from forced removal. As a part of then-President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act, this policy has been put into place to control the natives that were attempting to reside peacefully in their stolen homeland. In the viewpoint of the Choctaw and Cherokee natives, removal had almost ultimately altered the culture and the traditional lifestyle of these people.
Along the way 4,000 Indians died because of the harsh terrane and the cruelty of the soldiers and many of them are buried in unmarked graves along the trail of tears. The trail of tears has been Know according to a white Georgian the “Cruelest work I ever knew”(Tindall pg 343).A few Cherokees Indians hide in the mountains and became knew as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Later the Creeks and the Chickasaws went back to try to take back control of their lands. During the trail of tears nearly 100,000 Indians were forced to relocate to the west. The government during that time sold about 100 million acres of Native American lands, and most of the land was prime cotton growing
Can you imagine walking over 900 miles to find a new home? Native American tribes such as: the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, and etc. were forced from their homes. Many left peacefully and others would not leave without a fight. Native Americans were forced from their homes in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida; then, were forced to walk to present-day Oklahoma to find new homes. The Trail of Tears is the worst American tragedy because the Native Americans were forced to leave their homes, to travel across the country just to find a home, to establish their own civilizations, tribe leaders began to betray their tribes, and many died due to the genocide.
1830 saw the instatement of the Indian Removal Act, a forced relocation of several Native American tribes. This spurred what is now known as the “Trail of Tears.” The Five Civilized Tribes, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole were forced to relocate after resisting assimilation with American civilization. Over 17,000 tribe members were removed and sent to what is now Oklahoma by the order of President Andrew Jackson. Despite the ruling of Chief Justice John Marshall, Jackson set in motion the Trail of Tears. Many perished on the way, and many perished after. (“Q&A: The Trail of Tears”)
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
The removal of the Cherokee Indians from their lands in the southeast is the largest Indian relocation in American history (Sides 362). It was unjust for the Americans to seize Indian land in order to make room for more Americans and immigrants. The Indians had done nothing to deserve this type of brutal treatment. These Indians had no way of fighting back to the Americans, so it was both unfair and unjust. The Trail of Tears, or as Indians called it The Trail where the Wept, was a trail of sickness and despair (Ehle 385). No person should ever have to go through what the Cherokees and other tribes went through. Even though the Americans had some viable reasons to desire the Indian land, they had no right of forcibly removing the Indians out without all of their consent.
When we think of the first people in America, whom do we think of? Of course, Christopher Columbus comes to mind. Yet, the first people to step on land were the native people. The native people were the first people to set foot on this soil, long before any white person. Regrettably, they were brutally attack, and removed from their homes. This how the Trails of Tears began. This paper will discuss the effects of The Trail of Tears had on the Indians.
The Trail of Tears was a hard battled journey for the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee were driven to move west. They had to compromise and sign treaties, which drove them out of their land by the U.S. government. This was unfair to the Cherokees; the white settlers wanted the land for gold. Trail of tears is historically monumental because it shows the U.S. government cruelty to the Native Americans. It was unfair rights because they basically stole Cherokees land to satisfy their hunger for gold.
It had previously been the policy of the American government to remove and relocate Indians further and further west as the American population grew, but there was only so much...