The Trail of Tears, one of the largest genocides in history, is often overlooked. It is crucial to understand what Native Americans went through to fully appreciate the horrors of this time in American history. The English say that those who don’t understand their history will be condemned to repeat them. As we face the immigration, racial and other issues that are affecting our nation, it is vital that the American public remembers its past mistakes. We must learn from these so as to not make the same mistakes again and end up with a similar outcome. American Indians battled for their rights in American courts. Other than fighting for rights, their other goal was forced to move from their homes, west of Mississippi River, after they had been forced out.
Around 125,000 Native Americans began to live on the millions of acres that their ancestors occupied for generations in Georgia. In the Southeastern United States, Native Americans were scarce by the end of 1830. The federal government forced natives to leave the land they had lived on and to walk for thousands of miles across the Mississippi River to an “Indian Territory”. While the United States claimed it believed that if Indian tribes showed that they were civilized and that they could assimilate with the American population that they would allow them to remain on their own land, but the American public saw the land and took it using whatever force they needed. The Cherokees had already shown that they were willing to follow the treaties by signing the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
Andrew Jackson’s presidency marks the beginning of this period in American history. Jackson became famous as a warrior against the Indians and as a battle hero in New Orleans. He then moved to Tennessee and became a planter, slave owner and wealthy man. Jackson, like most white settlers of the time sympathized with land hungry citizens eager to seize Native American lands. Jackson was a believer in democracy. However, this did not include Native Americans. At the time, the law required that the government negotiate with natives removal treaties in a fair, voluntary, and peaceful manner. The President and other officials were not permitted to force natives out of their land.
Jackson’s government would often ignore this law by forcing Native Americans off lands where they had lived for generations. Jackson believed the most humane approach to dealing with Native Americans would be to force them out of their homelands to settle in an area west of Mississippi River. Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act, forcing thousands of Native Americans out of their homes. In winter 1831, the U.S. Army threateningly invaded the Choctaw. They were the first Native Americans evicted. The Choctaw moved westward by foot into the “Indian Territory”. Some natives marched in double-files while others were confined in chains. They were not given food or supplies by the government who forced them to leave their homelands. Thousands of natives had died on the journey, and so began the Trail of Tears.
Majorities of politicians in these states supported the Indian Removal policy. Georgia was one of several states that demanded the Cherokee Nation move west. The state was challenged in Cherokee Nation against Georgia (1831). The Supreme Court decided that Cherokees are not a nation foreign with the right of sueing in federal courts. In a separate case, Worcesterv. Georgia (1832) the court decided that Georgia’s laws were not valid within the Cherokee territorial boundaries. In 1835, the majority of tribes reluctantly agreed to comply with the Indian Removal Act. They moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, created in 1836 to help the Native American tribes that had been resettled, was established. In 1835, the Cherokees rejected resettlement on Indian land. In 1835, a small group of self-appointed Cherokee representatives negotiated The Treaty of New Echota. This treaty included the exchange of all lands east and west of Mississippi in return for $5,000,000, relocation assistance as well as compensation for loss property.
This was viewed by the federal government as a huge victory. Many Cherokees felt betrayed. Cherokee believed that negotiators represented neither the tribe nor anyone else. John Ross the Cherokee chief sent to the U.S. Senate a protesting letter against the treaty. It was accompanied by a nearly 16,000-signature petition from the Cherokees. Congress ignored the Cherokees’ efforts and approved it anyway.
In 1836, federal authorities drove the Creeks out of their home. The Trail of Tears was a journey that took 3,500 of 15 000 Creeks from Oklahoma to Oklahoma. The Cherokees were now divided. The main concern was how to deal with the government’s desire to take over their territory. Others thought it was better to give up and leave for the sake of money and other concessions.
Seminoles Seminoles were one of the tribes in Florida that fought to defend their land with slaves who escaped Georgia. Georgia sent militiamen in Florida to fight Indians, African Americans and slaves. Seminole War (1835-1842) saw a large number of casualties on both side. The Seminole were eventually forced to leave their homeland and move westward, just like other tribes. Conclusion (Foner, 2012). By 1840 all of the east coast was inhabited by Whites. The Indian Removal Act was a success. White people were now more prevalent and moved south. They did not see the American Indians in the same light as those who had been expelled from their homeland by the American Government, which was against the Constitution. Federal laws overruled state laws. As Americans moved further westward, the American Indians’ freedom to live peacefully was threatened.
After Andrew Jackson left office in 1838, the U.S. Army forcibly removed 15,000 Cherokees from Georgia. The Trail of Tears brought so many hardships that more than 4,000 Cherokees lost their lives.
