Ares M. Vranka
Dan Mader
US History & Geography
24 March 2023
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was a horrible and genocidal act towards the “civilized tribes'' of the southern regions. The Trail of Tears was an act for western expansion put into effect by Andrew Jackson in his “Indian Removal Act''. Jackson wanted to continue western expansion by any means necessary and thus the trail of tears was set into motion in the early 1830s. The Trail of Tears was overall a dreadful act of forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and unwarranted death towards the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes.
Americans were focused on western expansion in the name of manifest destiny, they thought that god wanted them to have the land.
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So much of their culture was connected to the land they had lived on for thousands of years. The Cherokee were farmers for over a thousand years before the Trail of Tears living in permanent villages. The Chickasaw had a highly developed system of laws and religion and conducted successful trade. Like the Cherokee the Choctaw and Creek were big on agriculture, specifically corn, beans, and squash mostly used for trade. The Creek tribe was resourceful and self-sufficient living in harmony with the land, not taking advantage of it. The Seminole tribe had mixed origins of a branch of Lower Creeks and runaway black slaves from nearby plantations. The Tribes known for farming were moved to land that was considered too arid and nowhere near as fertile as the south. All of the tribes were stripped from their culture, moved to brand new land away from everything that had made their land home. Sacred places gone, villages gone, agriculture gone, and tribe members gone, …show more content…
The river routes were quite notorious for people contracting disease and having disease spread quickly due to close proximity with those who had fallen ill. Being on a raft/canoe in close proximity to other people who are sick with deadly diseases is a recipe for disaster because there's nowhere to go, no medical care whenever anybody gets ill. Disease runs rampant through the overland routes as well along with food scarcity and brutally hot or cold weather. There was little shelter/ coverage from the hot and cold, and little food to go around to everyone who was hungry. Due to the estimated 4,000-8,000 Cherokee, 4,000 Choctaw, and 3,500 Creeks who lost their lives the Trail of Tears was not only a trail of tears but a trail of
The cherokee (chair-uh-kee) tribe was a tribe located in the southeastern part of the United States in states like Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Descendants now mostly live in Oklahoma. Many of the descendants now live in Oklahoma because of the Trail of tears which was the removal of Native americans by forcing them to Indian reservation, and if the tribes didn’t go by will the american army would force them.
Lindsey Hernandez Johnson U.S. Honors 28 September 2015 The Indian Removal Act & Trail of Tears Picture this; someone is in their home with their family, they are the first people to ever settle in this land, Native American, with their own language, religion and one day white people come. The white people are treated with kindness and welcome, not out of dignity but out of fear. There is peace.
The Trail of Tears is undoubtedly one of the most inhumane events in U.S history. It all started with the Indian removal act enforced by President Andrew Jackson. The U.S military were ordered to forcefully evict many innocent people and have them walk extremely long distances during excruciating weather. Many Indians dropped dead in the midst of the trail causing grief for the Indians hence, its name Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was an abomination for the U.S due to the fact that this act was unconstitutional,caused mass genocide, and the land had originally belonged to the natives.
Robert Lindneux painting, Trail of Tears, depicts this unequal opportunity quite well showing miles of Cherokee Indians traveling along a narrow, treacherous road after being expelled from their ancestral homelands as a part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy. These migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion, which eventually killed around 4,000 of the original 15,000 Cherokees. This migration of the Indians was caused by the colonists greed and desire own the Indians fertile and prime land located in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. These colonist’s greed led them to steal Indian livestock; loot and burn their houses and towns; as well as establish property on their land.
So much of their culture was connected to the land they had lived on for thousands of years. The Cherokee were farmers for over a thousand years before the Trail of Tears living in permanent villages. The Chickasaw had a highly developed system of laws and religion and conducted successful trade. Like the Cherokee the Choctaw and Creek were big on agriculture, specifically corn, beans, and squash mostly used for trade. The Creek tribe was resourceful and self-sufficient living in harmony with the land, not taking advantage of it.
Thousands of Indians were killed by this act, and it was known as the “Trail where they Cried”, which is how the Trail of Tears got its name. Though the Trail of Tears greatly impacted Westward Expansion by opening up new lands to white settlers, it killed thousands of Natives by forcing them off the land. Problem Even before the Indians were legally forced off their
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.
The Trail of Tears was a cold hearted crime committed against innocent people in order to obtain the riches of the land the Native Americans had settled upon. The Native American’s refusal to leave resulted in the death of around 4,000 Cherokee people due to hunger, disease and long exposure to the cold. The Trail of Tears was the greatest crime against the indigenous people. The Trail of Tears began when President Andrew Jackson authorized the removal of the Indian removal act of 1830.
Between 1838 until 1839, 100,000 Native Americans took the journey west on what is now known as The Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was a tragic event in American history, involving the forced removal of many Native American tribes from their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi River and migration to what is now present-day Oklahoma. Affecting Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, they suffered with hunger, disease, and exhaustion, which resulted in the deaths of 4,000 people along the way. It had profound impacts on their cultures, communities, and ways of life. In this essay, we will explore the background, causes, and significance of the Trail of Tears.
The Trail of Tears is a dark period in American history, referring to the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma in the 1830s. This relocation was part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, which aimed to clear the way for white settlement of these lands. The Trail of Tears was a traumatic event that led to the deaths of thousands of Native Americans, and had long-lasting effects on their communities and cultures. One of the most heavily impacted tribes during the Trail of Tears was the Cherokee Nation. In 1835, a small group of Cherokees signed the Treaty of New Echota, which ceded all Cherokee lands in the southeastern United States to the federal government in exchange for land in Indian Territory.
Under influence of president Andrew Jackson, the congress was urged in 1830 to pass the Indian Removal Act, with the goal of relocated many Native Americans in the East territory, the west of Mississippi river. The Trail of tears was made for the interest of the minorities. Indeed, if president Jackson wished to relocate the Native Americans, it was because he wanted to take advantage of the gold he found on their land. Then, even though the Cherokee won their case in front the supreme court, the president and congress pushed them out(Darrenkamp).
Throughout history, there have been many events that have washed away the innocents of mankind. The Trail of Tears is a true historical horror scene, targeting one race, the Native Americans, and removing them from civilization in the most “humane” way. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, wanted land that was already owned. The signing of the Treaty of New Echota ceded Cherokee land to the United States in exchange for compensation. In 1838 and 1839, the Indian removal policy forced the Indians to give up their land and walk to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
Many tribes had cultural ties to the environment itself. When the Americans established the Indian Removal Act, the Native Americans were forced to leave these cultural grounds. Those who refused to leave their original homeland had to conform to the ways of colonial life instead
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.