The Trail of Tears Essay

The Trail of Tears

The Cherokee nation was relocated from their ancestral homeland in the Southeast to the Indian region in the western portion of Mississippi, which is now Oklahoma. This is referred to as the “trail of tears.” Due to the journey’s destructive effects, the 16,000 Cherokee people who had to be relocated gave it the nickname “the trail of tears.” The migrants encountered hunger, diseases, and even exhaustion on their forced march, which resulted in the deaths of about 4,000 of the 16,000 Cherokee people.

Interaction with European Settlers

Before the advent of the European settlers, the Cherokee culture in the Southeast of the United States thrived for many years. When the settlers arrived, they met native Indians, including Cherokee. The native Indians they encountered inclusive of Cherokee, assisted them in every way possible especially with provisions. The Cherokee introduced the settlers to the foodstuffs such as potatoes and corns, just to mention a few, and even went as far as on how to utilize the herbal medications in the circumstances of illnesses. Moreover, they showed them the hunting, fishing, and farming tactics in their new milieu (Pearson, p 1).

Cherokee Resistance and Attempt for Self-Government

By the early 1820s, the majority of the Cherokees had implemented various cultural models of the settlers such as the fresh plants and the agricultural systems, and also encouraged the settlers to set up schools for the teaching of their children in the English language. Despite the various changes that took place through their interaction with the foreigners, the Cherokee endeavored to preserve their traditional uniqueness through the operation on harmony, accord, and a neighborhood with the aversion for the chain of command and personal authority. They never had any idea that the newcomers whom they treated as friends were later going to be their real enemies as regards their ancestral land.

Resistance against Land Acquisition

Since its origin, the government of the United States resisted the gluttonous persons and the venal politicians in the southeast who had the determination to acquire the valuable pieces of lands that were under the occupation of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and the Seminole Indians. Following the Louisiana Purchase; the vast possession of the region west of Mississippi in the year 1803, the President Jefferson assumed that persuasion of the Indians could make them give up their ancestral homes in substitute for the parcels of land in the far west. The two leaders Major Ridge and John Ross took part in defending the Cherokee and in the year 1827, they anticipated a printed bill that would place the Cherokee on the same foothold with the European settlers as regards self-government.

Forced Removal and the Journey Westward

The Cherokees may have been capable of holding against the renegade settlers for a more extended period had it not been for the combination of two circumstances that severely limit that possibility. The first one is the becoming of the Andrew Jackson as the United States president in the year 1828, followed by the passing of the 1830’s act for removing the Indians after the occurrence of the gold rush in the Cherokee land in Georgia (Pauls, p 3). The state declared all the laws on Cherokee null and void after the 1st of June 1830 and also banned them from bearing witness against the settlers in court, mining gold, and even conducting business (Learn NC, p 9). In the year 1835, the United States regime presented a new settlement to the Cherokee National Council followed by the President Jackson’s letter that outlined the terms of the settlement and urging its endorsement (Cherokee Nation, p 2).

Final Removal and Conditions during the Journey

In December, the same year, the U.S. re-suggested the same agreement to a gathering at New Echota, of about 400 Cherokee individuals, and Ridge, then at his old age, had no otherwise but to support the agreement. About twenty men signed the treaty, but nobody among them was an official of the clan, ceding the entire Cherokee field east of the Mississippi to the United States. The government promised to pay $5 million to the Cherokee in exchange and new farms in the Indian Territory. The natives widely protested the accord, nevertheless, after an intense argument, on the 17th of May, 1836 the American legislature consented the agreement of New Echota and on 23 the same month it came into law. By the end of December in the year 1837, the government passed a strong warning to the Cherokee Nation to vacate to their new lands in a period of two years from the treaty confirmation (Learn NC, p 11).

The Removal Process and Challenges

On the 10th of May 1838, General Scott issued a statement that saw that the Federal troops and the state mercenaries begin moving the Cherokees into stockades. Three factions departed in the summer voyaging from the presently Chattanooga through wagon, boat, and rail, principally on the water itinerary, other than as many as 16,000 individuals still anticipated removal. Hygiene was appalling, and there was no food, clothing, medication, and even how to bury the deceased was a problem. Water was a problem, and it was often dirty, and illnesses were common in the campsites. There was the prohibition of those traveling over the land to leave during the month of August due to the famine, and the earliest group moved forward just to miss streams in the areas and moved again to the camp. The left-behind team requested for the postponement of their removal until the fall, and there was the granting of the delay provided they stayed in their campsites till journey recommenced (The Age of Jackson, p 4).

Arrival in the West and Losses

The government offered oxen, wagons, and horses, and Ross took care of provisions alongside other needs, and during the months of October- November, twelve detachments of one thousand people and inclusive of approximately a hundred slaves embarked on a voyage through the land to the west. Every group was under the leadership of a Cherokee leader and in the company of a doctor, and only the sick, children, nursing mothers, and the old ride in the wagons. The northern course, preferred due to the regular ferryboats over the rivers of Mississippi and Ohio and a right path amid the waterways came to be the hardest as the intense autumn rainfalls, and the many wagons on the mud-covered route made the roads almost impenetrable. There were slight foraging and game for the supplementation of the small portions, and nearly two-thirds of the Cherokee got ensnared in between the frost-bound rivers of Ohio and Mississippi in January (Learn NC, p 22).

Conclusion and Broken Promises

On the 24th of March, 1839, the last group reached the west after some had left their motherland as early as the 20th of September, 1838. Nobody knows exactly the number of Cherokees who succumbed to death during the trip, though there is an estimation of about 4,000 people. The journey was particularly tough on the newborns, children, and the aged, and they made up a good percentage of those who perished. The government of the United States never lived up to their promise of compensating the Cherokees $5 million as they stated as per the New Echota accord.

Works Cited

The Age of Jackson. “The Trail of Tears — The Indian Removals [ushistory.org].” US History, 2017, www.ushistory.org/us/24f.asp.

Cherokee Nation. “A Brief History of the Trail of Tears.” Cherokee Nation > Home, 2017, www.cherokee.org/About-The-Nation/History/Trail-of-Tears/A-Brief-History-of-the-Trail-of-Tears.

Learn NC. “The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears - North Carolina Digital History.” LEARN NC, 2013, www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4548.

Pauls, Elizabeth P. “Trail of Tears | Facts, Map, & Significance.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Trail-of-Tears.

Pearson, Ellen H. “A Trail of 4,000 Tears | Teachinghistory.org.” Teachinghistory.org, 2017, teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25652.