Trail of Tears
During the 1830s, the Cherokee Nation was forced to relocate from the southeastern part of the United States to westward beyond the Mississippi River. The white settlers who were led by Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokee out of their homes. This tragedy would be considered a resource conflict. A resource conflict is an argument between two groups over land or materials. This move destroyed more than ten thousand natives and drastically changed the Cherokee way of life. This conflict, eventually known as the Trail of Tears, was caused by the white settlers wants and needs that differed from what the Native Americans wanted. There were numerous causes, goals, and steps taken on each side of this dilemma to get what each group wanted, but there was never a peaceful agreement made between the white settlers and the Cherokee Nation.
As the United States started to expand with more people, they needed more land. The white settlers were pressuring the government to take the Cherokee land, so they could live there. One of the main reasons the settlers were interested in the government taking the land from the Cherokee was that gold had been discovered in the area. Expanding their farming land to grow more cotton was another reason the settlers pressured the government for the Cherokee land. The Cherokee did not want to give up their land
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The white settlers wanted the land for their own personal uses such as farming and looking for gold. They had little concern about the people who were already established living on the land. The Cherokee’s goal was simple. They wanted to continue living on their land causing no problem with the white settlers; but they were not willing to give their land to the white settlers. Unfortunately, the Cherokee knew if they wanted to keep their land it would not be worked out