Trail of Tears

The link between violence and colonialism is seen in newspaper accounts across the globe: “Gandhi Is Killed by A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die in Rioting in Bombay Three Shots Fired ”, “54 Dead, 191 Hurt in Riots” in South Africa. Throughout the course of history, colonialism has often been depicted as violence on the innocents by an aggressor, all in all a very one sided series of violent oppressive acts by the colonial power upon a weaker subjugate indigenous group. However, with…

Nineteenth century America saw much expansion west. People from every state sought to travel out west for various reasons. Some would travel out west for a promise of new life, some sought gold, and others desired to cultivate the vast land. The trials, hardships, and obstacles facing settlers did not deter them; even if it meant clearing out the natives living in those regions. Robert May, writer for PBS, writes that the leading factor driving expansion was Manifest Destiny, the idea that the…

the Cherokees were to give up their lands in exchange for land elsewhere, money, and retribution from the national government, even though a good majority were against it. This treaty pushed for a massive Indian migration that’d later be called the Trail of…

During the period of western expansion, the native americans were rapidly pushed into reservations and settlements. Acts such as the Indian removal act and the Trail of Tears were put into effect. However, some Indians fought this wrongful impressment. One of these groups was the Comanche Quahadas lead by their last and strongest leader: Quanah Parker. While Quanah was a very powerful and respected leader of the Comanche people who fought against the whites, Quanah was born half white, this is…

The Native Americans are the original Americans. At one time many tribes lived as hunter gatherers and farmers made of different tribes spread though North America for numerous years. However, through the settlements of the New World by Europeans, unfair treatment from state and federal government, slavery, and suffering (diseases like smallpox, measles, influenza, whooping cough, diphtheria, typhus, bubonic plague, cholera, and scarlet fever. All imported by the Europeans, to which they have no…

decision of the court and going against the federal government. The Cherokee were ordered to move off of their land, and were forced to walk from Georgia to Indian Territory. Over four thousand Indians died during this trip that was later called The Trail of Tears (“The Andrew Jackson Administrations” 10). Jackson had previously expressed…

In other word, Jackson’s message was favorable towards the Native Americans. He addressed and recognized the calamities and devastations brought on by early settlers and later the American people. Jackson believed that by moving the Native Americans out of the southeastern United States and onto the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) that he would be aiding the Natives in a manner that would assist in the rehabilitation of their culture and society, which has been under continuous attack…

required to relocate to allow American settlers to expand freely west of the Mississippi River. President Jackson introduced the Treaty of New Echota which required native people to move from Mississippi to Oklahoma. The journey became known as The Trail of Tears.…

The interwoven nature of Native American relationships with the White men created a perplexing dynamic, with an unyielding spirit both within the invaded and the invaders, throughout the entirety of the two’s interaction. Like most history, this story could be told through multiple lens, whether it be trade relationships or military motives, however Stuart Banner chooses to drive this narrative with attention to the means of which Indians and white Americans exchange land. In his rendering of…

Battle over land ownership and the movement of the Native American’s off of their land is part of the American story. As whites moved across America, the Indians were moved to less desirable land. In the two essays that I wrote for this class, Kaw People and Absentee Landowners the interesting connection between both essays is that not only were the Indians moved off the land but settlers and their descendants who wanted the land were priced out of the land in Chase County. Both essays are…