Trail Of Tears History

There has been many black spots throughout American history, one that frequently comes to mind would be the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears refers to the period of time in which the Federal government forcibly removed thousands of Cherokee, along with the members of other Indian tribes. The Cherokee was succumbed to disease, lack of food, foul weather, mistreatment of soldiers, and much more. The removal process and the actual journey cost thousands of lives, extinguishing a large portion of the tribal population. The term Trail of Tears came from the Cherokee term Nunna dual Tsung, which translated meant “Trail where we cried” (Thornton 289). Ever since European colonization, Indian tribes had to accustom to a new way of life. Through
Many believed this was a humane solution since the Cherokee could avoid the ever growing encroachment of white settlers (Magliocca 891). However, this law was widely debated due to the question of whether states had the constitutional right to extend their laws over Indians, because it would conflict with treaties that guaranteed Indian sovereignty (Davis 55). Nevertheless, after much debate, Andrew Jackson was able to get congress to pass the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1930. The Cherokee nation tried to fight against this continued attack against them by bringing their case to the supreme court. They did this by having a missionary named Samuel Worcester sue the state of Georgia, due to the actions they set forth against the Cherokee. Worcester’s attorney argued that Georgia’s actions violated several treaties guaranteeing Indian sovereignty, along with infringing on the 1802 Trade Intercourse Act (Davis 61). The decision, stated by Chief Supreme Judge Marshall, of Worcester v. Georgia is as
Many still died while trying to reestablish themselves as a nation in Oklahoma, due to lasting epidemics and other contributing factors. It was believed that over four thousand individuals died due to the actions that led to the trail of tears. However, new research has suspected that there were more than eight thousand deaths, double than the originally estimate (Thornton 289). “Departure of the Cherokee population left only scattered indigenous groups in the Southeast. By 1842 most of the Five Civilized Tribes- the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole — had been removed from their prosperous farms and plantations and resettled on the southeast to government-assigned lands in Oklahoma. The last of the Seminoles of Florida were removed in 1858” (Carson). The Cherokee eventually reestablished itself in Oklahoma, enacting a new constitution and capital which is still present in Oklahoma today. The Trail of Tears was eventually designated as a National Historic Trail by Congress