To Mr. Haskvitz’s E Period Class..

A Special Production Brought To You By Charlene Nguyen & Mayant

Lan

In partial fulfillment of grade 8 Social Studies on May 20, 2005 by Charlene Nguyen and Mayant Lan to Mr. Haskvitz.

THE TRAIL OF TEARS

HOW IT STARTED…After being introduced to the concept of expanding westward, many settlers demanded the relocation of Native Americans who had situated in the Southeast. They urged President Andrew Jackson to transfer the Natives to another area, which in return had influenced the Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act.

 

CAUSES AND MOTIVES Indian Removal Act

- To please the people, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which allowed the federal government to pay the Native Americans to travel west. Congress created the Indian Territory, presently Oklahoma, where the Native Americans would settle.

Manifest Destiny- Many believed that the United States should expand its borders to the Pacific.

WORCESTER VS. GEORGIA

Specifically, the Cherokee Nation refused to leave their land in the state of Georgia.

Georgia denied the presence of the Cherokee people, so as a result, the Cherokee sued the state government and took their case to the Supreme Court.

In the 1832 Worcester v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia had no right to remove the Cherokee. He said that they were protected by the federal government and Constitution.

Andrew Jackson, a supporter of Georgia’s actions, ignored the Supreme Court ruling and continued with the Cherokee’s removal.

HOW IT ENDED…In 1838, General Winfield Scott and an army of

7,000 federal troops came to Georgia to remove the Cherokees from their homes. He was quoted, “Chiefs, head men, and warriors – Will you then, by resistance, compel us to resort to arms?” Enraged and saddened, the Cherokees were left no choice but to head west to the

Indian Territory on the 800-mie, five-month journey. Once removed, white settlers inhabited into Georgia. http://www.rosecity.net/tears/

“TRAIL WHERE THEY CRIED”

After being forced out of their land, the Cherokee Indians began the long trail to Oklahoma, the Indian Territory.

Along the way, they encountered vicious weather conditions which killed many Cherokee lives.

Every few miles, the Cherokees would stop to bury the people who had died.

One man who had witnessed the move stated, “Even [the] aged… nearly ready to drop in the grave, were traveling with heavy burdens attached to their backs, sometimes on frozen ground and sometimes on muddy streets, with no covering for their feet.”

www.cherokeemountain.com/ images/litcog.jpg

STATISTICS Out of the 16,000 Cherokee who

started on the trail, more than 4,000 of them died from cold, lack of shelter, and diseases.

Each day, three to five people died on the trail.

1/3 of the Cherokee Indians died.

Red is the trail made by the Cherokee.

http://ngeorgia.com/history/trailoftearsmap.html

EFFECTS AND RESULTS

In 1946, the government set up the Indian Claims Commission, which heard and decided over 500 Indian claims against the United States for fraud and unfair treatment that had occurred within the Trail of Tears.

There was little hope for the survival of the Indian culture since the Trail of Tears destroyed the invigoration of the Native American culture.

Soon, white settlers flooded the West.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Appleby, Joyce , James M. McPherson, and

Alan Brinkley. The American Journey: Building A Nation. Student ed. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2000.

Trail of Tears. 18 May. 2005 <http://www.crystalinks.com/trailoftears.html>.

"Trail of Tears." Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. National Park Service. 18 May. 2005 <http://www.nps.gov/trte/>.

Trail of Tears Map. 18 May. 2005 <http://ngeorgia.com/history/trailoftearsmap.html>.