Trail%20of%20Tears

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Trail of Tears
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Cherokee culture

• Before contact, Cherokee culture had developed
  and thrived for almost 1,000 years in the
  southeastern United States--the lower Appalachian
  states of Georgia, Tennessee, North and South
  Carolina, and parts of Kentucky and Alabama.

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Background information

• Since first contact with European explorers in
  the 1500s, the Cherokee Nation had been
  recognized as one of the most progressive among
  American Indian tribes.
• What does the term progressive mean?

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Cherokee life until 1710

• Life of the traditional Cherokee remained
  unchanged as late as 1710, which is marked as the
  beginning of Cherokee trade with the whites.

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Frontier contact

• The period of frontier contact from 1540-1786,
  was marked by white expansion and the cession of
  Cherokee lands to the colonies in exchange for
  trade goods

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Cherokee interaction

• After contact, the Cherokees acquired many traits
  of their white neighbors
• Some even intermarried.
• Soon they had shaped a government and a society
  that matched the most "civilized" of the time.
• What is meant by civilized?

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Sequoyah

• Cherokee culture continued to flourish with the
  invention of the Cherokee alphabet by Sequoyah in
  1821.

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Cherokee migration

• Migration from the original Cherokee Nation began
  in the early 1800s as Cherokees wary of white
  encroachment moved west

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A government decision

• The white communities turned on their Native
  American neighbors
• The U.S. Government decided it was time for the
  Cherokees to leave behind their farms, their land
  and their homes
• What was the reason for this sudden change of
  heart?

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Indian Removal Act

• In 1830 the Congress of the United States passed
  the "Indian Removal Act."
• Although many Americans were against the act,
  most notably Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett,
  it passed anyway.

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The bill became law

• President Jackson quickly signed the bill into
  law.
• The Cherokees attempted to fight removal legally
  (the white mans way)
• by challenging the removal laws in the Supreme
  Court
• by establishing an independent Cherokee Nation.
• They followed the laws set by the white man

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Court ruling

• In 1832, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of
  the Cherokee
• Worcester v. Georgia
• In this case, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled
  that the Cherokee Nation was sovereign, making
  the removal laws invalid.
• The Cherokee would have to agree to removal in a
  treaty. The treaty then would have to be ratified
  by the Senate.

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Chief Justice John Marshall
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Reaction to the Courts Decision

• Chief Justice John Marshall has made his
  decision. Now let him enforce it.
• Andrew Jackson
• What is wrong with this statement?

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A divided nation

• By 1835 the Cherokee were divided and leaderless
• Most supported Principal Chief John Ross, who
  fought the encroachment of whites

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The will of a minority

• However, a minority (less than 500 out of 17,000
  Cherokee in North Georgia) followed Major Ridge,
  his son John, and Elias Boudinot, who advocated
  removal.

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Removing the Cherokees

• The Treaty of New Echota, signed by Ridge and
  members of the Treaty Party in 1835, gave Jackson
  the legal document he needed to remove the First
  Americans.
• Jackson was able to make this legal!!!

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Ratification of the treaty

• Ratification of the treaty by the United States
  Senate sealed the fate of the Cherokee.
• Among the few who spoke out against the
  ratification were Daniel Webster and Henry Clay,
  but it passed by a single vote.

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The removal of the Native Americans began

• In 1838 the United States began the removal of
  Native Americans
• to Oklahoma,
• fulfilling a promise the government made to the
  minors and settlers in Georgia
• Why did the whites want this land?

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General Wool protested the move.

• General John Wool was ordered to move on the
  Cherokee
• He did not agree with this order
• He resigned his command in protest, delaying the
  action.
• People knew what was happening was wrong.. Yet..

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General John Wool
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The invasion of the Cherokee nation.

• Some men wanted to advance their careers
• His replacement, General Winfield Scott, arrived
  at New Echota on May 17, 1838 with 7000 men.
• Early that summer General Scott and the United
  States Army began the invasion of the Cherokee
  Nation.

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General Winfield Scott
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Marching to Oklahoma.

• In one of the saddest episodes of our brief
  history, men, women, and children were taken from
  their land, placed in makeshift forts with very
  little supplies and food, then forced to march a
  thousand miles,
• US troops moved 18,000 Cherokee at gunpoint 800
  miles from 1838-1839
• 25 of Cherokee died - most elderly and children

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Loss of life

• Under army commanders (who did not care about the
  Cherokee people), human losses for the first
  groups of Cherokee removed were extremely high.
• Any loss of life by forcibly removing them from
  their land is wrong!!!

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Reorganization of Cherokees into smaller groups

• John Ross made an urgent appeal to Scott,
  requesting that the general let his people lead
  the tribe west. General Scott agreed.
• Ross organized the Cherokee into smaller groups
  and let them move separately through the
  wilderness so they could forage for food.

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John Ross
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Arriving in Oklahoma

• The parties under Ross control left in early
  fall, and arrived in Oklahoma during the brutal
  winter of 1838-39
• He significantly reduced the loss of life among
  his people.
• About 4,000 Cherokee died as a result of the
  removal.

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The Trail Where They Cried

• The route they traveled and the journey itself
  became known as "The Trail of Tears" or, as a
  direct translation from Cherokee, "The Trail
  Where They Cried" ("Nunna daul Tsuny").

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Map of the Trail of Tears
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April 1839

• Cherokees built houses, cleared land, planted
  crops and began to rebuild their nation.
• Lets look at the land they were given
• Oklahoma!!
• Is this land suitable for farming?
• Thanks America, for giving the Cherokee this
  wonderful opportunity!!

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Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

• Those who were able to hide in the mountains of
  North Carolina or who agreed to exchange Cherokee
  citizenship for U.S. citizenship, later became
  the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of Cherokee,
  N.C.
• The descendants of the survivors of the Trail of
  Tears comprise today's Cherokee Nation with
  membership of more than 165,000.

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Lasting Effect

• Because of the tragedy that Andrew Jackson caused
  these people, some refuse to hold a 20 bill
• They take two tens instead
• Some called for his status as President to have
  an asterisk next to it, indicating he should have
  been impeached

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These are White Lands Now
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Trail of Tears Assignment

• Write a three entry diary about your experiences
  on the Trail of Tears and how your life was/will
  be affected by the move from Georgia to Oklahoma.
• Each entry must be at least 5 paragraphs long
• Entry One - Before you leave (court case)
• Entry Two - On the Trail (struggles during the
  trip)
• Entry Three - When you arrive in Indian
  Territory (how life has changed)
• Details earn points - Create a cover, show
  emotion, fear, pain use colorful adjectives and
  adverbs
• Due