Trail of Tears Forceful Removal of Indians in the US

The forceful removal and exodus of thousands of Native Americans from their lands east of the Mississippi River during the 1830s is often called the Trail of Tears. This removal of Native Americans from their lands was a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which was signed by then-President Andrew Jackson one year into his presidency and which President Martin Van Buren ensured was carried out. When Andrew Jackson became President of the United States in 1829, he based his decision of signing the Indian Removal Act of 1830 into law based on his previous experiences as an Army general, during which he frequently fought against the Creeks in Georgia and the Seminoles in Florida, campaigns that resulted in the transfer of land from Native Americans to white settlers. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the West, in the Indian colonization zone that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase. While the Indian Removal Act of 1830 required the fair negotiation of treaties between the federal government and individual Native American nations, and prohibited the President or others from coercing Native Americans from giving up land, these stipulations were frequently ignored. The Native Americans that were forced to abide by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 were the Choctaws, Seminoles, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Cherokees who heldShow MoreRelatedThe Impacts Of A Cherokee Story : Trail Of Tears920 Words   |  4 PagesStory: Trail of Tears One of the major atrocities early in the United States (US) expansion came after President Andrew Jackson approved of and signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This document set the foundation for what would be known as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was the forceful relocation of give main Native American tribes from their eastern lands, to newly established territories located west of the Mississippi River (Dwyer, 2014, p. 33). After researching the Trail of Tears’Read MoreNative Americas And The West Of The Mississippi River1438 Words   |  6 Pagescultivate cotton on Indian Lands, president Jackson and the federal government forced the natives to vacate their homeland and have thousands miles walk to a designated â€Å"Indian territory† which was at the west of the Mississippi river. The journey and the route that they travelled was hindered with many adverse and sometime deadly challenges and it came to be referred to as the trail of tears from the C herokee phrase â€Å"Nunna daul Tsuny† that directly translates into â€Å"The Trail Where They Cried† .Read MoreThe Trail Of Tears : A Dark Period1604 Words   |  7 PagesThe trail of tears was a dark period in US history. Fueled by greed and racism but rationalized through what we believed was best for our country, we took even more from people who had already lost so much. We deemed natives as incompatible with society because they did not share our beliefs and culture. Now in modern times, we face issues that are parallel to this era and there are many things that can and should be learned from our mistakes and generalizations from the past. In the years leadingRead MoreOn How the American Indians Were Removed from Their Land1586 Words   |  7 PagesOne by one Indian peoples were removed to the West. The Delaware, the Ottawa, Shawnee, Pawnee and Potawatomi, the Sauk and Fox, Miami and Kickapoo, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. In all some 90 thousand Indians were relocated. The Cherokee were among the last to go. Some reluctantly agreed to move. Others were driven from their homes at bayonet point. Almost two thousands of them died along the route they remembered as the Trail of Tears. For decades, the state of Georgia soughtRead MoreCruel and Inhuman Treatment of Native Americans by the Colonists1494 Words   |  6 Pagesdesire or reason anything but minimal contact with the Indians. However, starting in the 1700s the European colonists population skyrocketed. The need for more resources became evident and the colonists knew they could attain these necessities by creating a relationship of mutual benef it with the Native tribes. The Indians, at first skeptical, however became growingly open to the colonists and the relationship they were looking to attain. Indian furs were traded for colonial goods and military alliancesRead MoreSpeech On Columbus Day1430 Words   |  6 Pagesremember some of the painful events in our nation’s history. To the majority of us, Christopher Columbus was taught by our school teachers to be a hero. Generation after generation, children in the American public school system grow up essentially ignorant of the horrific oppression that has occurred to the original inhabitants of our country. Schools teach lessons about the first thanksgiving with the pilgrims and the Indians, and ensure that students memorize that Columbus founded the New World in 1492--often