Trail+of+Tears

=Trail Of Tears=

Introduction
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The Trail of Tears has become infamous for being the genocide by the United agains the native american indians. Thousands of

indians of the Choctaw, Creek Indians which

included the Seminole and Chickasaw people,

and Cherokee tribes were forced to leave

their homes and lands to relocate hundreds of miles

away. This is considered a death march because many indians, men, women and children

died due to exposure to the elements, starvation, disease, and fever.

The indians that survived the march landed in Oklahoma only to discover new challenges.

Choctaw Removal
 It all began with the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Andrew Jackson, who was the United States president at the time, passed this act to

allow settlers to move into the Indian territory and take over. The first to be removed were the Choctaw Indians. George Gaines was in charge

of getting rid of the Choctaw people. He decided to begin with 3 phases over the course of two years, 1831-1833. The people were packed

up in wagons when a winter’s elements stopped them dead in their tracks. Floods made the Choctaw indians forced to take a different route

to this new place. Steamboats were provided to take the indians to their destination. However this was no vacation. Food supplies were short

for the passengers and the temperatures were freezing. Around 17,000 Choctaws made it to the Oklahoma “Indian Territory”. The death toll of

this journey was approximately between 2,500-6,000 Choctaw Indians.

Creek/Seminole Removal
 The Creek Indians included the Seminole peoples; they both took different approaches in order to avoid leaving their lands. The

Seminoles used violence. They proclaimed war on the government and fought for ten years. Because of their persistence and and defiance,

they eventually were left alone. They never signed any kind of treaty with the government. Although they were left alone eventually many

Seminoles were killed by this long war. The Creeks went the complete opposite way in terms of tactics to get their lan d. The Creeks were the

only indian tribe to have success in the United States courts. The Treaty of Washington was nullified. They worked hard to go through the

United States courts system to make their opinion official however ultimately the government did not listen or care. The Governor of Georgia,

Governor Troup dismissed the fact that the treaty was nullified and started to remove the Creek indians anyway. The Creeks were forced to

move from their lands in Georgia to make room for white settlers. It was a rough trip to move the Creek people and many died.

Cherokee Removal
 The most famous removal was of the Cherokee people. More than 15,000Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed from their lands

in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota which was created by Ma jor John Ridge,

said that the Cherokee Indians must emigrate west towards Oklahoma. It said that

the Cherokee Indians would be granted $4.5 million if they left their land

peacefully. Although most indians opposed this treaty, some indians actually

wanted this compromise and they were known as the “Ridge Party”. On December

30, 1835, twenty-one cherokee indians, that had no power in the tribe, signed the

treaty to give away their lands in return for this sum of money that was promised to

them. According to the treaty the indians had two years to move west towards

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">“indian territory” or else the US government would be forced to remove them from

the lands. None of the Cherokee council members had signed this treaty that was intending on moving 15,000 Cherokees. The United States

government did not care that none of the Council members of the Cherokee were involved. They used this treaty to get their way with the

indians which was their land and the resources that it contained. Gold was found on Cherokee land. As a valuable resource the government

and the settlers wanted access to this gold without having to worry about the indians. They wanted the gold to have and sell among

themselves to make lots of profit. The indians did not w ant to give up their lands to let the white settlers and government. Most of the indians

did not listen to the treaty and in 1838 were mandated to start the journey of death that is now known as the trail of tears.

The Journey
<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> The indians were made to walk 1,200 miles away from their homes into new unfamiliar land. It took the survivors of the journey

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">between 104 and 189 days to complete this death march of horrible conditions. Some whites disagreed with the removal. General John Wool

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">quit because he did no believe that it was right to remove the Cherokee indians. Soldiers of the United States also knew that this relocation

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">was a terrible thing. One soldier from Georgia said, “I have fought

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">through the War Between the States and have seen many men shot, but

the Cherokee Removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” However in

the summer of 1838, a new, willing general came to fulfill orders of the

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">government. General Winfield Scott came to the Cherokee nation to

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">begin the invasion and removal of the Cherokee people. Because the

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Cherokee was divided and scattered on this issue, they had no chance

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">of avoiding the removal. General Winfield brought along 7,000 men to

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">make sure that the indians obeyed his wishes. Walking 1,200 miles in

perfect weather into new land is tough on its own. Imagine that the Cherokee people walked that whole way against their own will, being

exposed to harsh weather conditions and fighting starvation. People died of extreme rain, ice storms, severe cold and snow. It was a terrible

winter. Out of the 15,000 indians that were pushed on this journey over 4,000 of them died.

United States Government Redemption
<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> The Trail of Tears is seen as a dark blemish on early United States history. The intentional removal of a race of people with knowing

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">what the results of the action will be death is horrible. Years after the United States government and it’s people recognized their mistake,

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">financial compensation has been tried to make amends with the tribes that where affected by this horrible tragedy. The indians have received

this money yet it can not undo the pain and struggle that they had to go through.

Trail of Tears as a Historical Landmark
<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Today the trail of tears is a historic landmark. It is a popular event now to ride motorcycles on the same trail that the indians took years

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">ago. Many people want to experience the road that these indians went on. It is enjoyable to ride the trail and see the history. Along the way

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">there are signs and events that allow riders to connect to the story of the trail of tears.