The Trail Of Tears Essay Example For Students

The Trail Of Tears Essay The Trail Of Tears Essay, was it unjust and inhumane? What happened to the Cherokee during that long and treacherous journey? They were brave and listened to the government, but they recieved unproductive land and lost their tribal land. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Policy in the year 1830. The Indian Removal Policy which called for the removal of Native Americans from the Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia area, also moved their capital Echota in Tennessee to the new capital call New Echota, Georgia and then eventually to the Indian Territory. The Indian Territory was declared in the Act of Congress in 1830 with the Indian Removal Policy. Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge, and John Ridge and there corps accepted the responsibility for the removal of one of the largest tribes in the Southeast that were the earliest to adapt to European ways. There was a war involving the Cherokee and the Chickasaw before the Indian Removal Policy was passed. The Cherokee were defeated by them which caused Chief Dragging Canoe to sign a treaty in 1777 to split up their tribe and have the portion of the tribe in Chattanooga, Tennessee called the Chickamauga. Its the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson is mounting up forces against the Pro-British faction of the Creek Indians. The United States appealed for Cherokee support for aid in war against Tukumsa and another Indian known as Red Sticks. The Cherokee Nation replied with six to eight hundred of their best warriors. It was this war were the Indians fought side by side with Jackson. After a treaty in 1814 was forced on the Creek Indians, the Cherokees filed claims for there lose. There was no promise that their claims would be acknowledged. This would bring on the biggest betrayal on the Cherokee Indians, Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson demanded the session of twenty-three million acres of land to the United States. The Cherokee Nation, however, owned Four million acres of this land. The Cherokees protested again to Indian agent Jonathan Meigs in the War Department. Once again their former ally called these claims Cherokee intrigue. Andrew Jackson then suggested with troops already in the field that this would be the perfect time to remove Cherokees as well as Creeks out of Tennessee. The Indian Removal Act was introduced by Andrew Jackson and was passed by Congress in 1830. This act was to force the Indians west of the Mississippi River. This was largely carried out by General Winfield Scott and his army of approximantly seven thousand troops, in May of 1838. When the army arrived in New Echota Georgia thousand of Cherokee Indians would be rounded up with dragnets and penned up in wooden stockades. By June 5, 1838 it was estimated that only 200 Cherokee had escaped. There were between fifteen to seventeen thousand Cherokee held in these crude jails, where they would await their long brutal journey west. This route from Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and finally ending in Oklahoma, would later be referred by Cherokees as Nunna-da-ul-tsun-yi, or the trail on which they Cried. The journey on which the Indians traveled would bring many deaths due to starvation, droughts and disease. There were two main ways of travel, by land and river. River travel was difficult if not impossible because low river levels due to the drought. All in all it took 645 wagons, 5000 horses and oxen and river vessels used primarily for the ill. Grant Foreman, Dean of Indian Historians, recorded this appalling period. He stated that the weather was extremely hot, there was a drought, and water was scarce and there were suffocating clouds of dust mixed with the oxygen. He also stated that at least three but, up to five people died per day on the trail. By the end of June 1838 two to three hundred Indians were sick. On June 17, 1838 General Charles Floyd of the Georgia militia wrote to Governor Gilmen of New Echota that they were convinced that there were no longer any Cherokee in Georgia. This would hold true that they succeeded in removing the Cherokee from the state, but not completely from the east. This would bring on a great supporter of the Cherokee people, a white man by the name of John Ross. .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .postImageUrl , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:hover , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:visited , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:active { border:0!important; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:active , .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2 .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0767dea7c643c5b6dc70da3aa501dae2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Fed and Interest Rates Dave Pettit of The Wall EssayJohn Ross campaigned heavily for the Cherokees. Ross was part of the immigration management committee. Ross persuaded General Scott to approve a budget for the captive Indians of Seventeen cents per Indian per day. This was double the amount figured by congress. This money was .