Tail of Tears
The moving of 125,000 Native American people by Jayla Loftis
The start of Trail of Tears
The trail of tears was the removal of 125,000 native American people from their homeland of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida. The trail of tears started out by the Indian problem which was white Americans living in the western frontier, who wanted the Native Americans land. To solve the problem George Washington thought the Native American should be civilized by converting them to Christianity and teaching them how to read and write in English. The Indian removal led to the Indian removal act. At the time President Andrew Jackson was an advocate for the Indian removal act which was that the federal government had the right to exchange land of their ancestors they would move to federal territory. The Indian removal act was a part with the Indian removal act the Cherokee people forced to give up land to white Americans and travel to Oklahoma . The white Americans wanted the land because the land was already cleared for growing. President Martin Van Buren was the involved with trail of tears removing the Indians he sent 7,000 soldiers to remove the Natives he was after President Andrew Jackson second term.
The People involed in relocating
George Washington started one of three parts of trying to fix the Indian problem because he wanted to civilize the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson was the one to pass the Indian Problem Act. Martin Van Buren was the one to carry out the Andrews plan of the removal which most of the blame to day goes to Andrew. Major Ridge, John Ross and Elias were the ones to sign the Treaty of Echota.
The Native Americans traveling
Treaty of Echota
Treaty of Echota people involved in trail of tears
Andrew Jackson
Overview of Trail of Tears
Five main tribes were relocating because of trail of tears the Creeks, the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, the Seminoles and the Cherokee nation. The Creeks, Cherokee, and Seminoles were the main ones to try not to get relocated to different part of land. The Chickasaws and Choctaws took the easy way out and decided to move to the west they accepted their treaties. The Creeks were moved to Alabama and across Mississippi; this took place in 1836. The Seminoles had war to fight over their land the war took place from 1835 to1842. Unfortunately, they lost the battle and had several thousand deaths. They had to relocate to land west of the Mississippi river. The Cherokee fought back by legal actions but wasn't taken into action that they could stay even if someone favored them. They were still forced to move and so while traveling many Cherokee people got sick and died because of disease and starvation. Over 15,000 Cherokee people were moved by U.S military. They were relocated because the land the Natives were living on was good for growing cotton and other crops which they could put slaves to work on. The trail they traveled on was 2,200 miles long and relocated in the winter. The Cherokee people are the largest native American group in the America. Treaty for relocation was signed and the Treaty of New Echota the Cherokee people lost their land and were given 5 million dollars to leave their land. The people who signed the treaty ended being murdered by the Cherokee people because they wanted revenge on the harsh conditions they were sent to travel on. Before being moved the Indians were moved into concentration camps in the summer. There was over forty treaties signed for the government to take their land and move the native Americans. John Ross, Major Ridge, and Elias were the ones to sign the Treaty of Echota the Cherokee rejected it and led to the removal. One of them had stated that the signing of the treaty would be the death of him.
The impact on America and the importance of it.
The relocation of the Native Americans is the expansion of the U.S the increase of slavery because of more land for plantations and money from growing land space. This led to the expansion of America south and west from taking their open land and the Indians lost their right to white Americans.
TRAIL OF TEARS
The years of relocation
The Choctaw was moved in 1831.The Seminole was moved in 1832. The Chickasaw was removed in 1837. The Creek in 1834. The Cherokee were moved in 1838.