Trail Of Tears: Removal Of Native Americans

Words: 858
Pages: 4
Open Document
How would you feel if your homeland was taken away from you? This happened to the Cherokee Indians in the early 1800s. They fought to keep their land but they eventually lost the battles. They were then forced to embark on a journey known as the Trail of Tears where many families have died.
There were many events that lead to the removal of the Indian tribes. The first contact between the southeast American Indians and the Europeans was in 1540 during the expedition of Hernando de Soto. Right of the bat, the Native Americans weren’t treated properly.They were taken as captives for slave labor. Others were abused because they were deemed as savages. They continued living peacefully until the early 1800s when the U.S. started expanded into the …show more content…
There, they were separated into sixteen detachments of one thousand people each. They had to oversee their own removal that started in May of 1838 by General Winfield Scott and President Martin Van Buren. The Cherokee that lived on privately owned land before the act was implemented were not forced to move. The Trail of Tears started in Red Clay, Tennessee and it extended about 1,000 miles. It went through Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas,and finally into Indian Territory. The Cherokee had to travel by foot or rode on horseback. They also traveled by boat when the got to rivers like the Tennessee River, Ohio River, Mississippi River, and the Arkansas River. One Cherokee leader that walked the trail was John Ross. Most of the Cherokees died on the journey due to disease, malnutrition, and cold weather. They were not allowed in villages and towns along the way because of disease. This made the journey longer as they had to go around the towns. When the stream water was frozen, the Cherokees had to cut through it to get water for themselves as well as their animals. After about three months, the Cherokee settled in their territory which is modern day Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The other four tribes that belonged in the Five Civilized Tribes were forced to move. These tribes were the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and the Seminole. There were also a few removal of Indian tribes in the …show more content…
There was tension between the new Indians that had just arrived and the Indians who have already settled. They also sought to maintain their cultural identity. The Cherokees were being pressured into having some of their cultural beliefs changed, which eventually happened. They felt that they had to live by the foreign ways of life. They did, however, keep their use of herbal medicines. The Natives settled into hilly, wooded areas because it reminded them of their homeland. They had to also face the problem of adapting to their new environment and place in society. Thomas Jefferson believed that the Indians should be civilized. His definition of civilized was making the Indians convert to Christianity and making them become farmers. The Cherokees sought refuge from white interference on their land. The Indians filed a lawsuit against the government for $35 ($777.77 in today’s money) to bury the hundreds and thousands of Indians who died on the journey. This took place in a courthouse in Vienna. The Cherokee had to find new livestock because theirs also died on the journey. When the Civil War began, the Cherokee, along with other Indian tribes, sided with the south. They did this in hopes of getting their former land granted back to them. The Trail of Tears is a big part of Cherokee history. It caused a lot of changes and pain in their society. They had to alter their culture and traditions just to fit in with a group
Show More

Related Documents: Trail Of Tears: Removal Of Native Americans

How Did Andrew Jackson Affect America

Andrew Jackson; considerably one of the greatest influential leaders in American history. However, similar to the very country he helped form, Jackson’s life was full of contradiction. One of Jackson’s earliest biographers referred to him as a “ democratic autocrat” and an “atrocious saint” ("Legend | Andrew Jackson's Effect on America." The Hermitage ). Even today, while we know the abundance of feats Jackson accomplished, his lifestyle is still observed under a microscope. This paper will aid in…

Words 760 - Pages 4

Essay about Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears refers to a grim piece of Native American History in our country. This was at time of “relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the present-day United States”. (Wikipedia, p.1) The Native Americans were forced out of their own land by the white man to make way for the whites to grow and prosper. During this trek to a new land, many Native American’s lost their lives due to sickness and poor weather conditions. “One who…

Words 971 - Pages 4

History Page 2 Essay

The trail of tears was a horrible part of American history. “The forcible removal and transport in 1838 to 1839 of thousands of Cherokees from their ancestral homeland in the southern uplands.”(the way we lived, 156) “At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere…

Words 951 - Pages 4

Trail Of Tears Research Paper

Native American, American Indian, and Indigenous people, are all the names given to the people who inhabited the United States before the European settlers ceded their lands and began colonizing. Native Americans lived in harmony and peace along with their most important values including family, community, and connection, and survived by farming, hunting, and gathering. They respect and are attached to their lands and nature greatly and believe that all of the natural world is alive and in unity…

Words 1369 - Pages 6

Indian Removal Act DBQ

Introduction Did you ever wonder what was the Indian Removal Act and how it affected Native Americans and the United States in 1830? Well, you are in luck! Today, I am going to inform you about reasons the Indian Removal Act was created, events that occurred following the enforcement of this act and the impact it had on Native Americans and the United States. According to Gutschenritter's Like A Historian handout (2018), the Indian Removal Act was first introduced by President Andrew Jackson…

Words 663 - Pages 3

Trail Of Tears Research Paper

Trail of Tears Response Essay. The Trail of Tears was several forced movements of Indian groups in the United States after the Indian Removal Act. The nations that were removed include members of the Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, from their homes in the southeastern U.S. to a places west of the Mississippi River that was decided to be claimed as Indian land. Native Americans who chose to join in with the American’s culture were allowed to stay and become citizens of the U…

Words 402 - Pages 2

Trail Of Tears Research Paper

Onion, Amanda. “Trail of Tears: Definition, Date and Cherokee Nation | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 26 Sept. 2023, www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears This article dives into how Native Americans occupied millions of acres with in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida 1830s. Nonetheless, not many native people continued to live in the Southeast by the end of the decade. Native Americans were feared and despised by white settlers, especially those living on the western…

Words 805 - Pages 4

Indian Removal Act 1830

THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT “In the Senate of the United States, February 22nd, 1830. Mr. White, from the committee of Indian Affairs, reported the following bill which was read and passed to a second reading: A BILL to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories and for their removal West of the river Mississippi.” On May 28th, 1830, the Indian removal act was enacted by President Andrew Jackson, and it was not justified to do this. After that 100,000…

Words 501 - Pages 3

trail of tears Essay

Maria Dilling American History 15 June 2015 The Trail of Tears The Jacksonian Democracy and President Jackson’s vision on how America should be was what many say was, the most harmful and destructive, to the Native American population and their respective nations. The forced relocation of Native Americans in the early to mid 1800s is what is now known as the Trail of Tears (Editors). This paper will explore the events leading up to the relocation, the relocation itself, and the aftermath, and focusing…

Words 1499 - Pages 6

The Trail Of Tears

As settlers started to migrate to the Southern states of North America, they were continuously being faced by the five different Native American tribes. The Trail of Tears would become a major encounter between Native Americans and American settlers in the west during the 19th century. Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act was the primary reason as to why the Trail of Tears occurred. The Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw, and the Seminole tribes all occupied the land that the settlers were trying to…

Words 353 - Pages 2