An American Betrayal Analysis

President Andrew Jackson’s actions regarding the treatment of Native Americans has been a highly researched topic among historians. Daniel Smith reevaluates how Cherokees responded to the Indian removal policy and how those responses divided Cherokee Nation among the leaders. Smith also questions the goodness of patriotism of the Cherokee Nation as well as the land itself. The love of the Cherokee people and the love of the land they cultivated and cared for are at odds when the treat of removal is at hand. In An American Betrayal, Smith attempts to answer his main question: to be a patriot do you look out for just the homeland or do you protect the people within the homeland? What makes this research unique is that Smith focuses on the fighting among the Cherokee people and not necessarily the outside forces pushing on the nation. It is a striking new history and a fresh perspective of the Cherokee people as well as the Trail of Tears. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the research is Smith’s willingness to analyze the inter-fighting among the the Cherokee leadership. Smith skillfully develops …show more content…
However, Smith does not ignore the role that Jackson played as well as other white officials or settlers. Smith pays special attention to the role of missionaries. He recorded the accounts of a Baptist missionary Evan Jones, one of only three white missionaries who walked the Trail of Tears with the Cherokee. Smith continues with his analysis of the missionaries after the Trail of Tears. He explains how the once assimilated Cherokee people felt that the, “…white man’s religion the missionaries peddled had lost favor ever since forced removal,” (243). However, there was a growing problem of liquor among the Cherokee and the missionaries tried to solve the problem by a moral crusade. Smith begins to discuss the aftermath of the