The Removal of the Cherokee Essay - 5749 Words

The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jacksons Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the Trail of Tears, and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their†¦show more content†¦Life was never the same after the Spaniards arrived. The Spaniards brought foreign diseases, horses, chains, knives, and guns to America. The Spaniards did not settle the area north of the Rio Grande because Spanish explorer De soto did not discover gold. Spain reacted to news of Desotos failure by blaming the Indians for his defeat. The Spanish developed a prejudice against the Indians, which others followed.# During the American Revolution the Cherokees, discontented with the colonists expansionist habits sided with the British. In the early periods of the Revolutionary War Southern militia attacked the Cherokee people. A peace treaty with the Cherokees was made on May 20, 1777, acknowledging defeat at the hand of the Americans. Consequently, the Cherokee Nation ceded large amounts of land in the Carolinas and Eastern Georgia to the United States. After the Revolution General Elijah Clarke of the Georgia Militia attacked the Cherokee nation on behalf of the American revolutionaries. In 1787 he defeated Indians at Jacks Creek and prompted the Cherokee nation to cede more land in Northeastern Georgia. To thank Clarke for his service the Georgia House of Assembly granted him a plantation, which was located on old Indian land. # After the Revolutionary War the Cherokee Nation placed itself under the protection of the United States and agreed to specified boundaries for its territoryShow MoreRelatedThe Cherokee Removal Essay1162 Words   |  5 PagesA long time before this land was called the United States, the Cherokee people used to live in this land in the valleys of rivers that drained the southern Appalachians. These people made their homes, farmed their land, and buried their dead. Also these people, who are now called Indians claimed larger lands. They would use these for hunting deer and gathering material, to live off of. Later these lands were called Virginia and Kentucky. As it is mentioned in the text, these people had their ownRead More Removal of the Cherokee Essay1065 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cherokee Removal, Perdue and Green show the trials that the Cherokee faced in the years from 1700 to 1840. This book shows how the Americans tried to remove these Indians from the southeastern part of th e United States. The Cherokees tried to overcome the attempts of removal, but finally in 1838, they were removed from the area. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Cherokees lived in the valleys of rivers that drained the southern Appalachians (Perdue, 1). The British first came into Cherokee countryRead MoreCherokee Removal Essay1329 Words   |  6 PagesThe Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the â€Å"civilization program,† abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, â€Å"The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeededRead MoreCherokee Removal Essays886 Words   |  4 PagesThe Cherokee role in the American society was an ongoing battle amongst closed minds and sheer ignorance to rights of original land owners. For years the fight over land was the dividing in strument amongst the new citizens of a new, free country and the traditions of the Cherokee people was being pushed back into the west. Since international law said that England had discovered the American colonies, they therefore owned all of the land. That meant that the natives or quot;uncivilizedquot;Read MoreIndian Removal Of The Cherokee Indians991 Words   |  4 Pagesthey grew stronger. It was a story of hope, courage, and survival. This was the Trail of Tears. Many events led up to the Cherokee’s removal. The Indian Removal caused the Cherokee indians to move west. A man named Major Ridge struck lots of bargains with the United States. This man, Major Ridge, was one of the native sons, born in 1771, that lived in the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee’s lived in the Christians Eden because they believe their ancestors once lived in the same area. Throughout MajorRead MoreThe Horrors Behind Cherokee Removal967 Words   |  4 Pages The Horrors Behind Cherokee Removal The day the colonists first set foot on American soil marked the beginning of an arduous struggle for Native Americans. When the colonists first arrived, there were ten million Native Americans; over the next three centuries, over 90% of the entire population was wiped out due to the white man. The removal of Native Americans marks a humiliating period of United States history. President Andrew Jackson attempted to consolidate the Native Americans when heRead MoreCherokee Trail Of Tears : Removal849 Words   |  4 PagesCherokee Trail of Tears: Removal: 500 Nations In 1830, congress passed President Andrew Jacksons Indian Removal Act. This policy allowed the United States government to extinguish the Cherokee, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Seminole and many other tribes title to their land. The Indians had to leave the land and life they had always known in the Southeastern United States behind. This disturbing event was named the Trail of Tears because many Native Americans died during the process of marching toRead MoreThe Cherokee Removal Book Review Essay725 Words   |  3 PagesThe Cherokee Removal Book Review The Cherokee Removal is a brief history with documents by Theda Perdue and Michael Green. In 1838-1839 the US troops expelled the Cherokee Indians from their ancestral homeland in the Southeast and removed them to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. The removal of the Cherokees was a product of the demand for land during the growth of cotton agriculture in the Southeast, the discovery of gold on the Cherokees land, and the racial prejudice that manyRead MoreTrail of Tears: the Removal of the Cherokee Nation1747 Words   |  7 PagesThe old Cherokee nation was a large thriving tribe located in northern Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, which was a region known as Appalachia. Because of greedy landowners wanting more money, land for themselves and land for their crops, this forced the Cherokees out of their land and into another region. The government, specifically Andrew Jackson, wanted the land because it was land that he â€Å"needed†. He needed t his land because he felt it would increase the white population andRead MoreCherokee Removal, Part Of The Trail Of Tears2515 Words   |  11 Pages  Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 and 1839 of the Cherokee Nation from their lands in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama to the Indian Territory in the then Western United States, and the resultant deaths along the way and at the end of the movement of an estimated 4000 Cherokee. The Cherokee have come to call the event Nu na da ul tsun yi ; another term is Tlo va sa --both phrases not used at the time