The Trail of Tears was a struggle between the United States of America and Native Americans that occupied an area now known as the deep south of the United States. The white settlers saw Native Americans as uncivilized, barbaric, odd, alien, and very foreign. In the beginning Americans thought that they could cohabitate with the Native Americans. White settlers thought this could be achieved by educating the Native Americans in their own customs and culture. This included teaching the Native Americans English and converting them to Christianity. A European economic system was also taught too them where each person could own property, land, and even slaves in some areas. There were five tribes that were subscribing to these practices for the most part. These five tribes were the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw who became recognized as the “Five Civilized Tribes.”(History Education, 1996)
More and more white settlers continued to move to the Deep South which presented a problem. The territories of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida where many Native Americans were living were very valuable to the Americans as well. This land was an excellent place to grow cotton and other agriculture which motivated Americans to take the land from Native Americans no matter what the cost may be.(NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006) Becoming civilized in the eyes of white men was no longer an acceptable reason to share the land with them. Native Americans began having their livestock taken and property burnt to the ground. White settlers also stopped and squatted on property that was not theirs to take ownership. (History Education, 1996)
Government played a role in the Trail of Tears as well. Several state governments created laws in which the rights of Native Americans were limited giving settlers even more reason to invade the land of their unwelcome neighbors. These practices were declared illegal by the United States Supreme court in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) where it was ruled that Native Americans had their own sovereign nations. Georgia was not allowed to force them out but this did not stop the encroachment by the white settlers. In 1832 President Andrew Jackson believed that if the Supreme Court rulings were not enforced then they would be “…still born.” (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
The removal of Native Americans had been popular up to this point and Andrew Jackson was always a supporter of it. He was an Army General and led many offenses against the Seminole tribe in Florida along with the Creek tribe in Alabama and Georgia. Farm land amounting in the hundreds of thousands was transferred to white farmers as an outcome of these battles. To push this cause even further Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28th, 1830 while President of the United States. The Indian Removal Act allowed the federal government to relocate Native Americans from land east of the Mississippi river, which was known as the “Cotton Kingdom,” to land west of the Mississippi.(The Library of Congress Researchers, 2010) The new “Indian territory” is what is known today as Oklahoma. At that time it was called the “Indian colonization zone” and was obtained by the United States of America through the Louisiana Purchase. Native Nations and their people were not to be forced out under the Indian Removal Act but be negotiated with fairly and peacefully with treaties and negotiations. It was supposed to happen peacefully according to the law yet the law was not followed in its entirety at that time even by the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. The U.S. Army then began to forcibly remove the Choctaw tribe in the winter of 1831. Native Americans were placed in chains, lined up by twos, and then marched to the “Indian Territory” with little provisions. The Choctaw chief informed an Alabama newspaper that his tribe had be forced into a “trail of tears and death” while thousands died on the path. Out of 15,000 of the Creek tribe 3,500 lost their lives as they travelled to the “Indian Territory” in 1836. (History Education, 1996)
Native Americans had a tough road in front of them and were trying to decide the best course of action in dealing with the white settlers. One option was to stay and fight which would be a bold choice when outnumbered and without the technology of the then modern firearms. The other popular option was to leave the land that they had been on for generations in exchange for goods, supplies, money, and an assortment of other items. The Treaty of New Echota was negotiated by the United States federal government with several self-appointed people who represented the Cherokee Nation. The treaty stated that the Cherokee Nation would receive five million dollars, money for previously lost territory, and help relocating. The federal government would in turn receive all land owned by the Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi River. The United States jumped at the opportunity to make this deal final. Not all Cherokee agreed to this and had a strong feeling of betrayal along with feeling misrepresented. In response to the idea of the Treaty of New Echota the principal chief of the Cherokee, John Ross, created a petition. John Ross wrote to the United States Senate saying “We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people.” He also said “The instrument (the Treaty of New Echota) in question is not the act of our nation.” The self-appointed negotiators did not give official representation for the Cherokee Nation or their tribal government. The signature of 16,000 Cherokees was gathered for the petition of John Ross. The United States did not mind following through with approving the treaty and enforcing it. (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
Around 2,000 Cherokees arrived in the Indian Territory from Georgia by 1838. President Martin Van Buren picked up where Andrew Jackson left of in the effort to remove Native Americans from the Deep South. General Winfield Scott was appointed the job of continuing the Cherokee removal. He brought 7,000 soldiers with him who had the Native Americans at bayonet point to march while their property was seized and pillaged. About 5,000 of the 7,000 Cherokee people forced to walk the Trail of Tears died as a result of the journey of over 1,200 miles. Cholera, dysentery, typhus, whooping cough, and starvation ran rampant over them while relocating. (History Education, 1996)
The states in the Deep South had been rid of tens of thousands Native Americans who were forced to move west of the Mississippi. It was promised by the United States federal government that Oklahoma would always and forever remain an “Indian Territory.” That did not hold true though. White settlers continued to creep further and further west while the land of Native Americans continued to become smaller and smaller. Oklahoma joined the United States of America in 1907 permanently disbanding the “Indian Territory.” (History Education, 1996)
More and more white settlers continued to move to the Deep South which presented a problem. The territories of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida where many Native Americans were living were very valuable to the Americans as well. This land was an excellent place to grow cotton and other agriculture which motivated Americans to take the land from Native Americans no matter what the cost may be.(NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006) Becoming civilized in the eyes of white men was no longer an acceptable reason to share the land with them. Native Americans began having their livestock taken and property burnt to the ground. White settlers also stopped and squatted on property that was not theirs to take ownership. (History Education, 1996)
Government played a role in the Trail of Tears as well. Several state governments created laws in which the rights of Native Americans were limited giving settlers even more reason to invade the land of their unwelcome neighbors. These practices were declared illegal by the United States Supreme court in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) where it was ruled that Native Americans had their own sovereign nations. Georgia was not allowed to force them out but this did not stop the encroachment by the white settlers. In 1832 President Andrew Jackson believed that if the Supreme Court rulings were not enforced then they would be “…still born.” (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
The removal of Native Americans had been popular up to this point and Andrew Jackson was always a supporter of it. He was an Army General and led many offenses against the Seminole tribe in Florida along with the Creek tribe in Alabama and Georgia. Farm land amounting in the hundreds of thousands was transferred to white farmers as an outcome of these battles. To push this cause even further Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28th, 1830 while President of the United States. The Indian Removal Act allowed the federal government to relocate Native Americans from land east of the Mississippi river, which was known as the “Cotton Kingdom,” to land west of the Mississippi.(The Library of Congress Researchers, 2010) The new “Indian territory” is what is known today as Oklahoma. At that time it was called the “Indian colonization zone” and was obtained by the United States of America through the Louisiana Purchase. Native Nations and their people were not to be forced out under the Indian Removal Act but be negotiated with fairly and peacefully with treaties and negotiations. It was supposed to happen peacefully according to the law yet the law was not followed in its entirety at that time even by the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. The U.S. Army then began to forcibly remove the Choctaw tribe in the winter of 1831. Native Americans were placed in chains, lined up by twos, and then marched to the “Indian Territory” with little provisions. The Choctaw chief informed an Alabama newspaper that his tribe had be forced into a “trail of tears and death” while thousands died on the path. Out of 15,000 of the Creek tribe 3,500 lost their lives as they travelled to the “Indian Territory” in 1836. (History Education, 1996)
Native Americans had a tough road in front of them and were trying to decide the best course of action in dealing with the white settlers. One option was to stay and fight which would be a bold choice when outnumbered and without the technology of the then modern firearms. The other popular option was to leave the land that they had been on for generations in exchange for goods, supplies, money, and an assortment of other items. The Treaty of New Echota was negotiated by the United States federal government with several self-appointed people who represented the Cherokee Nation. The treaty stated that the Cherokee Nation would receive five million dollars, money for previously lost territory, and help relocating. The federal government would in turn receive all land owned by the Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi River. The United States jumped at the opportunity to make this deal final. Not all Cherokee agreed to this and had a strong feeling of betrayal along with feeling misrepresented. In response to the idea of the Treaty of New Echota the principal chief of the Cherokee, John Ross, created a petition. John Ross wrote to the United States Senate saying “We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people.” He also said “The instrument (the Treaty of New Echota) in question is not the act of our nation.” The self-appointed negotiators did not give official representation for the Cherokee Nation or their tribal government. The signature of 16,000 Cherokees was gathered for the petition of John Ross. The United States did not mind following through with approving the treaty and enforcing it. (NC Trail of Tears Association, 2006)
Around 2,000 Cherokees arrived in the Indian Territory from Georgia by 1838. President Martin Van Buren picked up where Andrew Jackson left of in the effort to remove Native Americans from the Deep South. General Winfield Scott was appointed the job of continuing the Cherokee removal. He brought 7,000 soldiers with him who had the Native Americans at bayonet point to march while their property was seized and pillaged. About 5,000 of the 7,000 Cherokee people forced to walk the Trail of Tears died as a result of the journey of over 1,200 miles. Cholera, dysentery, typhus, whooping cough, and starvation ran rampant over them while relocating. (History Education, 1996)
The states in the Deep South had been rid of tens of thousands Native Americans who were forced to move west of the Mississippi. It was promised by the United States federal government that Oklahoma would always and forever remain an “Indian Territory.” That did not hold true though. White settlers continued to creep further and further west while the land of Native Americans continued to become smaller and smaller. Oklahoma joined the United States of America in 1907 permanently disbanding the “Indian Territory.” (History Education, 1996)
Photo
Max D. Standley. (1995). The Trail of Tears. Retrieved from http://www.maxdstandley.com/trail_of_tears_series/the_trail_of_tears.html
Content
History Education. (1996). Trail of tears — history.com articles,
video, pictures and facts. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
NC Trail of Tears Association. (2006). The story | trail of tears
national historic trail. Retrieved from http://www.nationaltota.org/
Max D. Standley. (1995). The Trail of Tears. Retrieved from http://www.maxdstandley.com/trail_of_tears_series/the_trail_of_tears.html
Content
History Education. (1996). Trail of tears — history.com articles,
video, pictures and facts. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
NC Trail of Tears Association. (2006). The story | trail of tears
national historic trail. Retrieved from http://www.nationaltota.org/