In the early 1830’s, the Native Americans’ consisted of about 125,000 people living in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. America, their homeland had been invaded by white settlers. Unfortunately the settlers’ greed won the moral battle. The federal government made the executive decision to introduce the “Indian Removal Bill”, which led to the extrication of the Native Americans by a long forced journey-by-foot known as the trail of tears. The trail of tears was a brutal attack on the Native people of America; a show of abominable, savage, lawless, inhumane, and merciless behavior.
The Indian people weren’t thought of as people, but rather, obstacles. Not only did the white people fear the Indians, but they did not value them as fellow man. Once it was discovered that there was gold under the Indian land, the “White Man” was adamant on getting the land by any means possible. To attempt and fix the “problem” of native people wanting to keep their land, they thought forcing the Native Americans to assimilate themselves to civilization would fix the initial problem of their mere presence.(Humphrey)
Shortly after Native Americans attempting to adapt in the early 1800’s, the settlers weren’t satisfied and wanted to have them out of the south for good. The president at that time, Andrew Jackson, led campaigns for their removal as an Army General; winning over thousands of acres for farmers. As president he continued this crusade and signed the “Indian Removal Bill.” Despite the laws in place meant to protect the native people, President Jackson ignored the law. He chose to do as he pleased. (Humphrey)
The Indian removal began with the Choctaw indians with a three step process in the winter of 1831 under threat of the US Army. This was arranged by the secretary of war, Lewis Cass. Cass appointed george Gaines to be in charge of the Indian removal. The Choctaw indians were the first native people to be completely expelled from their land. They were forced to make the journey on foot, some chained in a double file line. They had received no help from the government and lacked food and supplies; thousands of people died along the way. If any of the Indians tried to stay, they faced legal conflict, intimidation and harassment. Their houses were burned down and their fences destroyed. (nmai)
The next to go were the Creek Indians in 1836. 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks did not survive this journey. The Cherokees attempted to civilly rectify the situation by making a trade. $5 million dollars and compensation for their land. Although the deal was made, President Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the Indians removal process. The soldiers had the Indians at bayonet point and raided their homes. Hardly compliant with the previous pact made. The soldiers marched the Cherokees more than 1,200 miles away from their homes into a new and foreign land. Countless diseases and starvation were the cause of the deaths of over 5,000 Cherokees. After the Indian Removal act was completed in early 1840, the land promised to the Indians shrank quickly and in 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian land was gone for good. (History.com)
The trail of tears was a brutal attack on the Native people of America; a show of abominable, savage, lawless, inhumane, and merciless behavior. This type of treatment could 've been avoided from the beginning if the government officials had held a tighter reign on their appointees. It was incredibly unprofessional and unamerican of them to try and trump the Indian people of their own land, when in reality, the pilgrims were the immigrants. It was a display of inexcusable behavior and we need to learn from this and change. Hopefully, the compensation that America had to give the natives of this land will be an incentive and lesson to treat other people right the first time.
Works Cited
http://nmai.si.edu/home/. Smithsonian Institute Inc. 2013
The Trail of Tears- Indian Removal. USHistory.org 2013
Trail of Tears. history.com. 2011
The trail of Tears. PBS Inc 2013
McNamara, Robert. Indian removal. history1800s.about.com about .com 2013
Cited: http://nmai.si.edu/home/. Smithsonian Institute Inc. 2013 The Trail of Tears- Indian Removal. USHistory.org 2013 Trail of Tears. history.com. 2011 The trail of Tears. PBS Inc 2013 McNamara, Robert. Indian removal. history1800s.about.com about .com 2013
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