The Trail of Tears
Introduction
The Trail of Tears was a 1000-2000 mile journey that five tribes had to walk in order to get to their designated land that Andrew Jackson called “Indian Territory.” The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, were forced out of their homelands, not given any other option but to leave, or be killed trying to stay in their home where you made memories with families and friends. The trail was where thousands of people died from horrible sicknesses, starvation, and the harsh weather. The Trail of Tears, the migration of the Native Americans, is an important event in history because it created understanding of what the Native Americans had to go through, it commemorated their journey, and helps give awareness of the American policy in the 1800s. History In the 1830s Georgia law required the government to negotiate the removal act treaties voluntarily, peacefully, and fairly. It did not allow the president or anyone else to force the Native nations to follow his rules, because they had their own government (Ellis, Jerry). However, President Jackson generally ignored the law and forced troops into the Cherokees’ land to stop them from mining and told them they couldn’t testify against the white men, and they must follow the law of the white men. A principal Chief of the cherokees, named John Ross hired a famous lawyer to bring the case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Jackson 's laws were illegal, and he had to get the troops out of every single tribe 's land (Bealer, Alex W.) . However Andrew Jackson ignored what the Supreme Court said and in the winter of 1831, under threat of a raid by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be dislodged from their land altogether. They made the long and treacherous journey to Indian territory on foot some “marched in a consecutive line while being bound in chains,” one historian writes, and the natives would go without any food, supplies or help from the government. Thousands of people died on the journey. It was one Choctaw leader who told an Alabama newspaper it was a “trail of tears and death” (History). In 1834, John Ross and other traditionalists opposed giving up their land. Another leader of the Cherokees, Major Ridge, believed that the natives would move or die fighting the more vigorous Americans. So, he went to Washington and negotiated a treaty that would sell all Cherokee lands for $5 million ( History), and they would get compensation for lost property (Trail). It was signed by about 100 Cherokees known as the Treaty Party. Many of the Cherokees felt betrayed, but to the government it was already a done deal. When Major Ridge returned, the Cherokee National Council quickly rejected the treaty, but Congress agreed to …show more content…
The landscape had shaped the culture and the history of these people in their original homelands, and now they had to adapt to a new environment west of the Mississippi River. As the tribes entered their new lands, the one thing they wouldn’t do was move beyond the hills, even though it was the southeastern part of Territory that resembled their homelands in the southeast. They had lived further west, which was treeless, had little rain, and was completely foreign to their experience. In addition, it was there where the Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, and Apaches, who were buffalo-hunting, highly mobile societies. Who would raid anyone that would settle on the Southeastern tribes. Although the treaties guaranteed their rights to lands all the way to the Arkansas, Red, and Canadian Rivers, the environment in the west made a natural boundary beyond which the southeastern tribes would not move …show more content…
Some would always have images of savage cruelty and a lot of them would live with survivor 's guilt for the rest of their lives. Their lives consisted of mistrust for white authority and the government. They didn’t see their possessions as their own but as the government 's . Life after the trail was filled with mistrust. They were scared of never being allowed to live on their own property, without the government coming in and taking it away, and had a sense of resentment towards all white men (What
Introduction
The Trail of Tears was a 1000-2000 mile journey that five tribes had to walk in order to get to their designated land that Andrew Jackson called “Indian Territory.” The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, were forced out of their homelands, not given any other option but to leave, or be killed trying to stay in their home where you made memories with families and friends. The trail was where thousands of people died from horrible sicknesses, starvation, and the harsh weather. The Trail of Tears, the migration of the Native Americans, is an important event in history because it created understanding of what the Native Americans had to go through, it commemorated their journey, and helps give awareness of the American policy in the 1800s. History In the 1830s Georgia law required the government to negotiate the removal act treaties voluntarily, peacefully, and fairly. It did not allow the president or anyone else to force the Native nations to follow his rules, because they had their own government (Ellis, Jerry). However, President Jackson generally ignored the law and forced troops into the Cherokees’ land to stop them from mining and told them they couldn’t testify against the white men, and they must follow the law of the white men. A principal Chief of the cherokees, named John Ross hired a famous lawyer to bring the case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Jackson 's laws were illegal, and he had to get the troops out of every single tribe 's land (Bealer, Alex W.) . However Andrew Jackson ignored what the Supreme Court said and in the winter of 1831, under threat of a raid by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be dislodged from their land altogether. They made the long and treacherous journey to Indian territory on foot some “marched in a consecutive line while being bound in chains,” one historian writes, and the natives would go without any food, supplies or help from the government. Thousands of people died on the journey. It was one Choctaw leader who told an Alabama newspaper it was a “trail of tears and death” (History). In 1834, John Ross and other traditionalists opposed giving up their land. Another leader of the Cherokees, Major Ridge, believed that the natives would move or die fighting the more vigorous Americans. So, he went to Washington and negotiated a treaty that would sell all Cherokee lands for $5 million ( History), and they would get compensation for lost property (Trail). It was signed by about 100 Cherokees known as the Treaty Party. Many of the Cherokees felt betrayed, but to the government it was already a done deal. When Major Ridge returned, the Cherokee National Council quickly rejected the treaty, but Congress agreed to …show more content…
The landscape had shaped the culture and the history of these people in their original homelands, and now they had to adapt to a new environment west of the Mississippi River. As the tribes entered their new lands, the one thing they wouldn’t do was move beyond the hills, even though it was the southeastern part of Territory that resembled their homelands in the southeast. They had lived further west, which was treeless, had little rain, and was completely foreign to their experience. In addition, it was there where the Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, and Apaches, who were buffalo-hunting, highly mobile societies. Who would raid anyone that would settle on the Southeastern tribes. Although the treaties guaranteed their rights to lands all the way to the Arkansas, Red, and Canadian Rivers, the environment in the west made a natural boundary beyond which the southeastern tribes would not move …show more content…
Some would always have images of savage cruelty and a lot of them would live with survivor 's guilt for the rest of their lives. Their lives consisted of mistrust for white authority and the government. They didn’t see their possessions as their own but as the government 's . Life after the trail was filled with mistrust. They were scared of never being allowed to live on their own property, without the government coming in and taking it away, and had a sense of resentment towards all white men (What