Native Americans Experience On The Trail Of Tears

The Genocide: Trail of Tears/ The Indian removal act During the 1830s the united states congress and president Andrew Jackson created and passed the “Indian removal act”. Which allowed Jackson to forcibly remove the Indians from their native lands in the southeastern states, such as Florida and Mississippi, and send them to specific “Indian reservations” across the Mississippi river, so the whites could take over their land. From 1830-1839 the five civilized tribes (The Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw) were forced, sometimes by gun point, to march about 1,000 miles to what is present day Oklahoma.

The Disregard for Human Life At some point in everyone’s life, they have been brought to their lowest point, then kicked while down. Human life is precious, however some people feel inclined to take another human being’s life in their own hands and destroy it at their will. In Night, by author Elie Wiesel, Wiesel writes of the Holocaust and the terrors that came with it.

The Trail of Tears is an important and controversial part of American history. John Ehle really digs deep into the happenings during this time. Ehle’s purpose of writing this book is to enlighten people that do not know much of the removal of the Cherokees from their land. He wants to inform and make people aware of the politics, changes in society, and the struggles of the Cherokees back in the 1800s.

On their way there they had faced many cons and had lost many of their families that either died of disobeying Congress or of sickness from traveling on foot or traveling on water. This harsh and inhumane action of them traveling so far for land was called The Trail of Tears. Many things had happened when the Cherokee were forced to move from their land. When they were told to move some Indians left respectfully and many did not. Most stayed for their land which was passed by Andrew Jackson to move and force the Indians away.

In addition, “The people who suffered on the Trail of Tears were the thousands of uncelebrated Cherokee farmers, who had left behind small cabins and few possessions, were those who trudged the almost 900 miles in icy rain”. Many of the successful politicians and congress did not have to worry about being forced out of their homes only those who weren't financially stable. Many people from the Cherokee nation died of hunger, thirst, and weariness. It was said that those who weren’t able to keep up had to be moved alongside the road where they were killed. It was a historical tragedy for the Cherokee nations, especially since one of their

(PBS) This terrible treatment towards the natives led to the future hatred of Americans, and just added onto reasons why the white people should not be trusted. “...the sufferings of the Cherokee were awful. The trail of exiles was a trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire.

In the autumn of 1838, the U.S. government, now under Van Buren, commanded the vigorous removal of the Cherokees from Georgia to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Of the 18,000 that began the 1,000 miles, 116-day trek, 4,000 perished on the way of illness, cold, starvation, and depletion. For this reason, the journey is known as the Trail of Tears. Regardless of who was responsible, however, the circumstances of suffering and death remain a tragic chapter in American history. In all, between 1831 and 1839 about 46,000 Indian people were relocated across the Mississippi River.

government had had enough of these protests against the Removal Act, so they began to enforce it. The Choctaw were the first to travel on foot towards Indian Country without food, supplies or their promised help from the government, and had been threatened by the U.S. The Creek Indians were threatened by the U.S. and made their long perilous journey over the border in 1836, but only 3,500 of 15,000 survived. This trail was quickly referenced as the “Trail where they cried”, or Trail of Tears. Only 2,000 Cherokee had left their home by 1838, so President Van Buren sent the army was sent to round up Natives to prison camps. Soldiers forced the Cherokee from their homes, but did not fight back under their chief’s orders.

In 1838, the Cherokees were forced to give up their lands and to migrate to present-day Oklahoma, due to the signing of The Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokees were deported from their homes, betrayed by the government whom they treated with respect, separated them from their land that they nurtured; the Cherokee struggled to understand how to make a new life. The Indian Removal led to thousands of Cherokees to die due to starvation, diseases, and exhaustion during their march known as The Trail of Tears. This paper will discuss the effects it had on the Cherokees and what has happened during the trail.

Trail of Tear In the 19th century, the U.S. decides to expand it territories into the homelands of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole (also known as the “Five Civilized Tribes”). Destroying the homes of the natives all for growing cotton. Such an unlawful act for a selfish reason. Starting with Andrew Jackson and the Indian removal act leading to tension rising between the tribes. Contributing to the to the split of the cherokees at pea ridge and the battle of Wilson's creek.

In the 16th century, the Cherokee Indians were classified as the one of the most socially and culturally advanced Native American Tribes. The Trail of Tears forcefully removed the innocent Cherokee tribe from their homelands. In this paper, I will explain the how the Trail of Tears affected the Cherokee Indians. I will do this by explaining the Cherokee Indians life before, what happened during the Trail of Tears, and the Cherokee life after.

The primary question presented by the Trail of Tears, is whether or not the forced removal qualifies as genocide. To answer that question, the history of events before, during, and after the removal must be analyzed to fully understand the situation. Since European settlers continuously settled in Native American owned land, growing tensions escalated to the point that the US government sought action. The Cherokee sought to find peaceful resolutions in order to maintain rights to their land and to prevent further conflicts. However, as more European settlers arrived the Cherokee traded, intermarried, and adopted European customs all while being “…pressured to give up traditional home-lands,” (Johnston, 2003).

It was said that "they never bow to whatever other animal". When they would speak amongst each other, they did as such each one in turn. At the point when the speaker was done he or she would stop talking and look for the next to begin. At the point when Europeans started to make advances on the scene, the Cherokee began to call them, "monstrous whites". Cherokee men wanted to do three things they saw as important: take care of business with other groups, go fishing, and fight.

The Cherokee lived at the border of the Carolinas and Tennessee on both sides of the Appalachian mountains. Creek Indians had been divided into two tribes, the upper and lower, their members lived either in southern Georgia or Northern Alabama. The Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes lived on either side of the Mississippi (Foreman 548). The Indian Removal Act was put into place in 1830 by president Andrew Jackson, in order to move the tribes into the unowned territory. Initially, the removal was intended for the purchase of the land of the willing tribes, but it turned into forcibly removing these people from their homes.

Whitmire states that white settlers came to, “the Indian's homes, drove off their cattle, horses, and pigs, and they even rifled the graves for any jewelry, or other ornaments that might have been buried with the dead” (Whitmire). Whitmire shows how the Cherokees were oppressed by the fact that not only were the white settlers forcing them to leave their homes, but that they also destroyed their ancestors burial sites for their riches which was both disrespectful as well as mortifying for their family