trail of tears

It is documented that the Cherokee Indians migrated south from the Great Lakes region around the 15th century or later. The Cherokee tribe was one of the largest Native American tribes eventually settling and occupying the southeast portion of what was to become the United States. The tribe was highly religious and spiritual. They considered warfare to be a polluting act and warriors were required to go thru a purification ritual by a priest before they could reenter the Cherokee village. In 1830, the Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed from their homeland by the very government the Cherokee Indians had supported during the Revolutionary War. The Cherokee had fought alongside the Tennessee Militia under then Colonel Andrew Jackson. It was President Andrew Jackson, who through his Indian Removal Act, forced the Cherokees on a 1,000 mile march to the land where they were ordered to live. This journey was later called the Trail of Tears. This paper will tell how the Cherokee lived before their removal, look at events that led up to their removal, explain the conditions of travel, and tell what has happened to the Cherokee after the Trail of Tears.

The native people of the North America lived for hundreds of years in peace. However, in 1540 the every day lives of the Native Americans came to an alarming halt. It was in that year that Hernando de Soto came in contact with the native people of North America. From then on the natives, known as Indians, would come in contact with settlers from around the world that would be after their land. They would eventually adopt some of the foreigners’ ways. They would even go as far as to involve themselves in some of the colonial wars. This would not prove good for some because the Indians on...

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...e Indians died. However, it was recently calculated that the removal may have cost the Cherokee over 10,000 lives; lives that may have been saved if they would have stayed put.

The Trail of Tears had a horrible effect on the Cherokee. The American government forced them out of their homeland so that they could use the land. Historian Richard White put it the best when he said “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the west by Indian people. They do everything they were asked to do except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately are, they may be Christian, they may be literate, they may have a government like ours, but ultimately they are Indian. And in the end, being Indian is what kills them.”