The Trail of Tears
The Cherokee Trail of Tears occurred in 1838, in response to the Indian Removal Act of the 1830’s. The forced Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, under the supremacy of Andrew Jackson. Jackson had long despised the Native population and went to great lengths to exclude them from their sovereignty. Shortly after, the U.S. government passed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835 to justify the policies of the removal. The treaty was the result of a mutual agreement between a local Cherokee leader, along with a small constituency of Indians known as the Treaty Party, and the United States. When these Cherokees signed the Treaty of New Echota, most of them signed their own death warrants because the Cherokee Nation Council …show more content…
They were given no choice but to unwillingly give up their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated area labeled “ Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. Federal troops were sent to Georgia to forcibly remove the standing tribes, who had yet to vacate their lands. As a result, a few of the Cherokees agreed to accept western land and payment in exchange for relocation. This agreement, known as the Treaty of New Echota, was enforced in 1835 and gave Jackson the utmost power to order the Cherokee removal. However, other Cherokees, under the leadership of Chief John Ross, resisted the policies formed under the treaty and held out until the bitter end. About …show more content…
In 1832, a gaggle of Sac and Fox Indians, led by Chief Black Hawk, returned to Illinois only to be driven back by militia members across the Mississippi River. In contrast, the Seminole resistance in Florida proved to be more formidable and resulted into a war that lasted until the 1840s. As opposed to exerting force, the Cherokees of Georgia used legal action to resist. The Cherokees by nature were humble Natives and by no means frontier savages. By the 1830s, they established their own written language and formed a representative government with the election of officers. Thus, when the government of Georgia denied to render them their autonomy and threatened to seize their lands, the Cherokees presented their case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won favorable concessions, as mentioned earlier, under the jurisdiction of John
The Cherokee Trail of Tears occurred in 1838, in response to the Indian Removal Act of the 1830’s. The forced Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, under the supremacy of Andrew Jackson. Jackson had long despised the Native population and went to great lengths to exclude them from their sovereignty. Shortly after, the U.S. government passed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835 to justify the policies of the removal. The treaty was the result of a mutual agreement between a local Cherokee leader, along with a small constituency of Indians known as the Treaty Party, and the United States. When these Cherokees signed the Treaty of New Echota, most of them signed their own death warrants because the Cherokee Nation Council …show more content…
They were given no choice but to unwillingly give up their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated area labeled “ Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. Federal troops were sent to Georgia to forcibly remove the standing tribes, who had yet to vacate their lands. As a result, a few of the Cherokees agreed to accept western land and payment in exchange for relocation. This agreement, known as the Treaty of New Echota, was enforced in 1835 and gave Jackson the utmost power to order the Cherokee removal. However, other Cherokees, under the leadership of Chief John Ross, resisted the policies formed under the treaty and held out until the bitter end. About …show more content…
In 1832, a gaggle of Sac and Fox Indians, led by Chief Black Hawk, returned to Illinois only to be driven back by militia members across the Mississippi River. In contrast, the Seminole resistance in Florida proved to be more formidable and resulted into a war that lasted until the 1840s. As opposed to exerting force, the Cherokees of Georgia used legal action to resist. The Cherokees by nature were humble Natives and by no means frontier savages. By the 1830s, they established their own written language and formed a representative government with the election of officers. Thus, when the government of Georgia denied to render them their autonomy and threatened to seize their lands, the Cherokees presented their case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won favorable concessions, as mentioned earlier, under the jurisdiction of John