Tears

The Cherokee speak the story of a young man: One day, while out hunting in the forest, the man came across a bear. He fired off arrow after arrow at the beast, but could not bring it down. Eventually the bear stopped running, and stood up, pulling the arrows out of his body and holding them towards the man. The hunter realized he had stumbled across a medicine bear, “protected by magic”. The bear, after promising he would do the man no harmed, led him back to his home. It was a cold winter,…

If there was one lesson I could teach it would be the gruesome treatment of Native Americans under Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Prior to Jackson’s presidency Native Americans had been treated poorly. Since the arrival of the first Europeans the natives had experienced abuse and enslavement. Some were brutally slaughtered in wars over territory or had been exposed to diseases. Others were forced to assimilate to European ideals. For example, in 1819 Congress had tried to “civilize” the natives by…

River in exchange for Indian land. (Primary Documents) When the Cherokee Indians refused to relocate, the United States government forcibly removed them. After approximately 4,000 Indians died on this forced march, it was aptly named “The Trail of Tears”. (Primary Documents) One of Jackson’s main goals during his presidency was western expansion. The Cherokee lived on land that was suitable for growing cotton. His Indian policy was to simply move the Indians out of the way so whites could take…

Indian Removal Policy In the early 19th century, white settlers faced what a problem during their quest to expand westward. This area was home to several strong Indian nations. The white settlers were not happy about these tribes standing in their way, so they pressured the federal government for help, which led to the Indian Removal Policy. This policy was the government’s twisted and selfish way of gaining land that they wouldn’t have to share. Andrew Jackson played a major role in this time…

Some may regard Indian Removal Policy as a moral and benevolent action. However, it was not benevolent. The U.S. dishonored treaties and they just hated the Indians by showing serious authority to do whatever they wanted to Indians. As I say one more time, Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Policy was not benevolent at all, I think. It was reasonable and understandable that this policy was a period of expansion to the westward, but he overlooked a supreme court and took responsibility by relocating…

The events of the Trail of Tears are some of the most tragic in the history of the country, but also the least talked about. While Native American relocation took roughly two years, the events that led to the removal of the Native Americans from their land can be traced back decades. From Andrew Jackson’s treaty after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, to the establishment of a new Cherokee capital in Oklahoma, the story of Indian relocation is a sad one but is still an ultimately American one. The…

Indian conflict played a significant role in the founding of the United States, starting almost immediately after Christopher Columbus’s landing in the Americas. When the Spanish settlers arrived in the “new land”, they brought crops, livestock, and advancements in weaponry from their homes; this increased violence between tribes and brought new diseases/invasive species to the Native’s land. Along with bringing physical representation of Europe, the Spanish brought religion, offering…

The United States in the 19th Century was at the finest moment in their history as they entered into a new political, economic, and social movement that would build America to what it is today. In the early parts of the century, we had purchased incredible amounts of vast land, won a war against the most powerful country in the world, and started an early landmark movement called the Industrial Revolution, the start to what would be known as manifest destiny later in the century. Andrew…

Being an American means more than just being given an opportunity to live freely. There are numerous hardships that one must strongly endure to call themselves a full-fledged American. Discrimination in the United States was always prevalent in history; however, it reached a high during the 1870s, around the time the Jim Crow Laws had been established in the United States. From then on, America has made steps to reduce this, but it only became worse for minorities before it got better. They had…

government and now the nation was so small that they simply couldn’t afford to lose any more land. So the Cherokee council made this sale of land a crime punishable by death. He was eventually killed after a long struggle but the Cherokee nation shed no tears for him. After this event, the Cherokees were divided into two groups, one who accepted the white way of life and the other who, seeing what greed could do to a person, shuns it. The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 is one of the most…