Trail of Tears Research Paper

In 1838-1839 the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminoles were moved from their land in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. The white settlers wanted the indian land to grow crops. The federal government forced the native americans out of the southeast to Oklahoma. The Indians suffered social world problems, and culturally lasting effects, and were exiled like the Jews in the holocaust.

Background Information on the Cherokee Indians

Andrew Jackson had been an backer of what he called ‘Indian removal.’ According to History.com, “As an Army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida–campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers. As president, he continued this crusade.” In 1830, Andrew Jackson created what he called the Indian Removal Act. This act made it possible for the federal government to take land from the Native Americans. This land was located in the cotton kingdom,which was east of the Mississippi. The government gave the Native Americans land to the west, in what History.com calls “the Indian colonization zone,” that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

When they began the march, it was known as the Trail of Tears. 4,000 cherokee people died on the trail from hunger, cold, and disease. An estimated 90%. of the cherokee population.

Social and World Problems

When the trail of tears first started or even after, no one tried to prevent it at a time that would matter. The Native Americans were not given time to gather their belongings, and as they left, Americans raided their homes. The americans did not care til the whole thing was said and done. As the Indian-removal procedure went on, iIn 1836, the government drove the Indians from their land. 3,500 of the 15,000 who set out for the trip did not survive. History.org says that “The cherokee of Georgia used legal action to resist.” and that most of the Cherokee people weren't “frontier savages.” Ccherokeemuseum.org says “They resisted their Removal by creating their own newspaper, called The Cherokee Phoenix.” Indians were only known to the americans at that time as savages.

Culturally lasting effects

These Native American tribes are all fading from North America. The culture of these tribes have forever changed. During and aAfter the Trail of Tears, the Native Americans suffered many new changes. On this treacherousturis journey, over 8,000 Native Americans died on this trail. They were used to the swampy wetlands then moved to the dry pPrairies of Oklahoma. In Oklahoma there are tornadoes and blizzards in the winter. The Natives had to change their culture to the land they were exiled to. The Natives and their tribe have faded from the land. The very few native tribes left are modernized and even further west of the Mississippi River.

Relating to The Holocaust

The Natives in South east of the United States where exiled like jews in the Holocaust. The Indians were abused, mistreated, killed, and tortured. The natives had to march from the south to to present day Oklahoma. The jews had to march in the death march from camp to camp. The United States Government acted almost like a Hitler figure at this time. They exiled the Indians for white settlers to grow crops on native land. The jews were exiled because they were not the superior race.

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