The Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was a forced relocation of many Native Americans because of President Andrew Jackson beginning in 1831. President Jackson’s decision to move all the Native Americans was inspired by the discovery of gold in Northern Georgia. “Gold fever” pushed many of the white communities to turn against their Native American neighbors and forced them out of their land. The Trail of Tears changed the way the Native Americans lived forever. The Trail of Tears was caused when gold was discovered in Northern Georgia, home of many Native American tribes. Though the Native Americans were seen as a separate nation, Indian policy did not stop President Jackson from removing them from their land. Many of President Jackson’s …show more content…
They used a tactic unheard of back then, they sued the nation. The Cherokee Nation v Georgia case in 1831 was one of the most influential legal decisions involving the Indian law. This case argued that the state of Georgia created laws that targeted the Cherokee tribe. They stated that these newly-made laws were created to reduce the size of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia. The state of Georgia tried to claim that the Cherokee Nation was not an independent nation because they didn’t have a strong government or a constitution. In the end, Chief Justice Marshall ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation, which was a small victory for them. However, this ruling was ignored by President Jackson, who kept pushing to remove the Cherokee from the land. In 1835, a group of self-appointed representatives from the Cherokee Nation came together and decided that they would accept western payment in return for moving out of Georgia. They negotiated with Georgia and came up with the Treaty of Echota, which sold the land east of the Mississippi River for $5 million. The contract was signed and Jackson began to remove the Natives from their lands. However, most native Cherokee felt betrayed by their representatives, and came together under John Ross. Ross tried to stop the treaty by getting over 16,000 Cherokee members to sign a petition, however the treaty was already in effect, so nothing …show more content…
Because most of the Cherokee were still living in Georgia, President van Buren and General Scott decided to forcefully move the Natives out to the Indian Territory. Together with 7,000 troops, Scott moved over 16,000 Cherokee Indians at gunpoint to the Indian Territory. The path that these Cherokee took is now known as the Trail of Tears. The journey was 1,200 miles long and was traveled by foot. Many Cherokee Indians died along this trail. It is estimated that about 5,000 natives died because of this due to diseases such as typhoid, whooping cough, and cholera. The Cherokee marched in chains in two long lines without supplies or food. Some died because of starvation, others because of their lack of sleep or energy. Some died because they were so tired or were shot if they got out of line by a