“The Trail of Tears”
1. What was the Trail of Tears
2. What was life like before the Trail of Tears
3. What is the Indian Removal Act of 1830
4. What is life like on the Trail of Tears
5. What was life like after the Trail of Tears
​
http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears
Have you ever thought about just leaving your home with nothing, just you and what you’re wearing on your back to survive? Well for you it may just have been a thought but for the Cherokee Indians it was a reality. They were forced to leave the land they call home and take a very long and hard journey to a new land. This was called the Trail of Tears and for the Cherokee's, their lives would never be the same.
The Trail of Tears was a 2,200 mile walk starting in Georgia and going to Oklahoma. There were five Native American tribes that were forced to move by the Indian Removal Act (Birchfield). The tribes were Cherokee, which was the most famous of all the removals, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Muskogee, and the Seminole. They traveled in 1838 -1839. 60,000 Native Americans were forced to move west. The long and hard trial killed 4,000 people (Birch field). They were put into thirteen groups of 1,000. The Cherokee leader, John Ross, lead his tribe to what would be the hardest time of their lives.
Before The European settlers came the Cherokees had a good and simplistic life. When the settlers came the Cherokees taught them how to fish, hunt, farm, and how to survive in the “new world”. For the time era that the Cherokees lived in they were pretty advanced (Learn NC). They were all mostly farmers because they did not move around; they were a stationary tribe meaning stayed in one place. They lived in log cabins and had fancy clothing, furniture, and foreign articles of luxury. Cherokee culture consisted of harmony, consensus, community power, and individual power. Before the move their language was made up of a variety of symbols called Iroquoian (Learn NC). They wrote their own constitution and even had a capital in New Echota, Georgia.
The Indian Removal Act was a treaty signed by the U.S. government to move all Native Americans to Indian reserves. The act was to have two parts. First to get the Native Americans to fall into debt so they would have to leave the area. Second was to populate the Mississippi River area with whites so that the Native Americans would feel out of place and uncomfortable. When the Louisiana Purchase was made it made it a lot easier to remove the Native Americans because they had a place to make them move (Birchfield). The Georgian people wanted them removed most of all because the Cherokees were on their land. However the Native Americans planned to fight back against the forces that were making them move. The plan was set up by Tecumseh the Shawnee tribe leader but when he went of to war and was killed in war the plans died with him (Birchfield). The first act was signed in 1820 for the Choctaw to be removed. But by 1830 all treaties were signed and all five Native American tribes were forced to move west.
Life on the Trail was very long and hard for the Cherokees. Not only was it long and hard it was very demanding on their bodies and minds. They were highly watched and put in line by guards. The weather was very severe from heat waves in the summer to below freezing temperatures in the winter. They were only given two cups of hot water, one piece of cornbread, and on Turnip for the entire day (Trail of Tears). They caught many diseases some intentionally spread by the settlers. 4,000 people died on the Trail. When someone died you had to just leave them, you could not bury or move the bodies. If you tried to move or bury the bodies you would get shot or whipped. You were also only allowed to wear and use what you brought with you.
Life after the trail was still very hard and rough and it was hard to adapt to the new life. When they got to their Indian reserved they created a new constitution and were allowed to govern themselves. They formed their own school system. Schools taught the Sequoya alphabet. Some tribes developed their own nation within the Indian territory. During the Civil War the whites swept through the Indian territory (Gareth). When the war ended the U.S. government told the new found Americans that they could move to Indian territory. The Americans rushed through the land claiming their territory and pushing the Indians off to side. The U.S. government broke many promises, they promised that they would provide food and farming tools to the Native Americans but never did. The Native Americans had to make best with what they had. In 1907 the Native Americans were forced to become U.S. citizens and had to give up their right for U.S.A’s rights (Gareth).
As you can see the life for the Cherokee Indians was very difficult and very hard. Their lives would be forever changed by this forced removal and as you can see it was also very grueling to try to regain what they had lost. From having a great life to having nothing the Cherokees had managed to come back just to be out down again when the new found Americans swept through Indian territory claiming it for themselves. This long and hard journey they went through will forever be known as the Trail of Tears.
Works Cited
"10.1 The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears." The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears - North Carolina Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
Birchfield, D. L. The Trail of Tears. Milwaukee: World Almanac Library, 2004. Print.
​
"Life on the Trail." Trail of Tears. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
Crewe, Sabrina, and D. L. Birchfield. The Trail of Tears. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Pub., 2004. Print.
Picture Cited
​
People walking on the Trail of Tears. Digital image. Trail of Tears. Genealogy Trails History Group, n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.
​
Trail of Tears Map. Digital image. Trail of Tears Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.
