Applied History 200 essay 2 PDF

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Charles Pentecost Revised Thesis The Trail of Tears was a horrific event in American History brought about by President Andrew Jackson’s eagerness to push the Cherokee tribe along with other Native Americans of their land through the Indian Removal Act that was signed into law. During the 1830s the government, without looking at alternatives, brought great harm to the Cherokee Nation with their bad decisions and harsh conditions for the Cherokees. Two of the key individuals during this were President Jackson and Chief John Ross, the Cherokee representative. Introduction The removal of Native Americans from the southern states by the United States government through the Indian Removal Act, became an event that would forever change the history for Native Americans in the realms of America’s history. This event would become known as the “Trail of Tears” because of the several thousands of Cherokee Indians that lost their lives and family members when they were forced to leave their land. Settlers wanted this land because it was fertile and good for farming along with providing valuable trade routes. Once gold was found in the state of George, President Jackson was eager to get the Native Americans off the land. Chief John Ross (See Appendix) represented the Cherokees during negotiations with the government, but in the end the government, more specifically President Jackson, wanted them off the land. Native Americans that would not take money for their land were forced off by federal soldiers and made to march to the Midwest area to a reservation. Body The Trail of Tears commenced when the Indian Removal Act was signed into law in 1830 by President Jackson (See Appendix). President Jackson (known as the Indian Killer) had a long history of conflict with Native Americans and made no secret about wanting them off the land to

Charles Pentecost accommodate new settlers, who wanted the land because of its rich, fertile soil. This law made it possible for Jackson to negotiate with the Native Americans to give up their land in the southern states and move to a reservation in the midwestern part of the United States. Although removals like this had been happening before Jackson’s presidency, he made it the official policy of the government by the passing of the Indian Removal Act (Joy, 2013). After President Jackson had signed the Indian Removal Act, government officials and approximately five-hundred Cherokee Indians declaring to represent the sixteen-thousandmembers of the Cherokee tribe met at New Echota, Georgia, and signed a treaty. This treaty led to the forced removal of Cherokees from their homelands to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. This treaty became known as the Treaty of New Echota and was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1835 with no official representation of the Cherokee Nation. Chief Ross adamantly opposed this treaty and assembled a petition with over fifteen-thousand signatures. Chief Ross asked Congress to nullify the treaty due to it only representing a small part of the Cherokees. In 1838, the Cherokees that had not excepted payment for their land were forced off by federal soldiers and made to march to the chosen reservation. The results of this march were devastating in that it resulted in the death of over four thousand Native Americans, mostly the elderly, women, and children (Dwyer, 2014). The move also brought on cultural changes for the Cherokees. The Cherokee endured many trials during the Trail of Tears from having to sign a treaty against their will, tribal division, death, and exile. Overall, the Cherokees were not in agreement on signing the treaty to be forced off their lands, and while some agreed to accept the payment for their land, approximately fifteen thousand Cherokees chose not to leave their land and to protest the unlawful act. Chief John Ross represented the Cherokee Nation during the

Charles Pentecost negotiations with the state and federal governments and was a part of their case that went to the Supreme Court where it was ruled Native Americans were not considered American citizens (McGill, 2017). Chief Ross in his letters wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives: "We are overwhelmed! Our hearts are sickened, our utterance is paralyzed, when we reflect on the condition in which we are placed, by the audacious practices of unprincipled men, who have managed their stratagems with so much dexterity as to impose on the Government of the United States, in the face of our earnest, solemn, and reiterated protestations (Ross, 1836)." President Jackson was quick to deploy the United States Army and Georgia National Guard to begin the process of evicting the Cherokees off their land (See Appendix). This quick deployment could have been because gold had been found in Georgia. These soldiers thought the Cherokees were going to be leaving peacefully, but that was not the case. They had taken their time allowed to them by President Jackson to gather belongings and used it to fight for their rights in the Supreme Court. While the Cherokees await word from Chief Ross and others, they did nothing to prepare for the move and did nothing. The soldiers became infuriated with the Cherokees because instead of a peaceful transition in moving they now had to remove them forcefully. The Cherokees responded with fury and retaliated against the soldiers, ultimately getting themselves killed for the measures they took. The rest of tribe, even though resentful, went peacefully with the soldiers. At the beginning of the Trail of Tears, President Jackson made it apparent to the soldiers that the Cherokees were to cooperate or be slain in their attempts to fight. President Jackson’s choice to ignore the rulings of the court and treaties was a sign that he would not tolerate disobedience of those that did not comply with his orders. He informed the soldiers that the removal would go as planned and no other way. As the tribe journeyed to the Midwest, many of

Charles Pentecost the tribal members started to turn on each other due to the exhaustion they were experiencing. The men, women, and children started getting sick with the measles, cholera, and tuberculosis. They were forced to drink polluted water and eat spoiled foods all provided by corrupt government suppliers (Dwyer, 2014). When the Cherokee Nation arrived at the government reservation, the soldiers killed their leaders that had been a part of the negotiations including Chief Ross. In total, this horrific event cost the Cherokees approximately one half of the men, women, and children to cold, hunger, disease and at the hands of soldiers. Ultimately, these deaths lay at the feet of President Jackson because of his will to show no mercy and that he had set a plan in action and there was to be no deviation from it. Many Native Americans lost their lives on the Trail of Tears because of his orders. The Indian Removal Act became one of the first policies to infringe on the sovereignty of the Native Americans but would not be the last. The government’s removal policy ended in 1861 with the establishment of reservations. While researching this event, I found myself looking back at the birth of this nation more specifically the Declaration of Independence. The complexity of this document must be looked at in the context that it was wrote particularly the phrase “all men were created equal.” This was written with connotations of prejudice and injustice; it was in essence implying that all white men are equal in comparison to other white men. Examples of this is not only seen with the Native Americans but was also seen with African Americans during slavery into its abolishment. While Native Americans excelled at survival and living off the land, their numbers were no match for the influx of settlers coming from Europe or the ones here looking to relocate. The government chose greed for land over humanity in their treatment of Native Americans and it is still something felt today by many tribes.

Charles Pentecost APPENDIX

Chief John Ross, a Cherokee chief (Library of Congress, 2018)

Figure 1President Andrew Jackson (Library of Congress, 2018)

Figure 2Orders No. [25] Head Quarters, Eastern Division Cherokee Agency, Ten. May 17, 1838. [n. p. 1838] (Library of Congress, 2018)

Charles Pentecost

REFERENCES Dwyer, J. J. (2014, May 5). Trail of tears and blessings. The New American, 30(9), 32 Retrieved from: https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=9445 1a0e-efa0-496c-9239-cfc8e43595c0%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzL WxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsgcl.369398334&db=edsggo McGill, S. A. (2017). Indian Removal & the Trail of Tears. Indian Removal & the Trail of Tears, 1–2. Retrieved from: https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/detail/detail? vid=0&sid=d54b1cc1-359a-4215-b778-9bf55b9b1b13%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata= JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=17910229&db=khh Joy, M. S. (2013). Volume 1: ANTEBELLUM LAW AND POLITICS: President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress “On Indian Removal”. Defining Documents: Manifest Destiny & the New Nation (1803-1859), 41–49. "Primary Documents in American History." Library of Congress. 27 Mar. 2018. 27 Jan. 2019. https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/indian.html.

Ross, J. (1836). “Our Hearts are Sickened”: Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, Georgia, 1836. University of Oklahoma Press. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6598/...