The Trail of Tears
Westward expansion project
Why was it created?
The Trail of Tears commemorates the forced removal of the cherokee people from their homelands.
When did it start?
In 1838, the Cherokee people were forcibly removed from their lands in Southeastern United States to the Indian territory in the Western U.S.
What tribes were forced to leave?
Many of these tribes could not do anything about being forced out of their land, but the Cherokee, however used legal action to resist. Few native leaders clung to the hope of peaceful co-existance anymore.
Some native leaders had said this about their land "We obtained these lands from the living god above, I would willingly die to preserve them." This is showing how much the natives care for their land, and what they would do to save it.