The Trail Of Tears: The Worst American Tragedy

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.

First, the Europeans forced the Native Americans from their homes because the Europeans needed a place to live. The Europeans also found gold on the Cherokee land. This resulted in the Georgia Gold Rush. Nardo emphasizes that “By the 1840s, more than sixty thousand Native Americans had been removed from the Eastern United States” (Nardo 17). The Europeans did not just want the Native American land, but they did not want to live close by them. The article “An American Betrayal Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears” mentions, “Numerous little-known Europeans also emerged as brave defenders.” (17). As a result, the settlers wanted the government to force Native

The Europeans wanted the Native Americans’ land because the Europeans wanted to build cotton farms. Also, the Europeans discovered gold on Cherokee land. Another reason the Native Americans were forced to leave was because the Europeans did not want to live close to the Native Americans. The point that is being made is that the Trail of Tears is the most tragic event of American