The Trail of Tears was one of the most gruesome Native American genocides in all of mankind. The man who was responsible of this mass murder, Andrew Jackson, had many other choices on how to compromise with the Cherokee and other native american tribes. This paper will conduct a history on the Trail of Tears starting from an introduction of the tribes, and ending with the life after the genocide.
Tribes affected from this genocide were the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole. Each had differences within their tribal beliefs, but all shared that one piece of land, as a part of unity. Estimates based on tribal records say that almost 100,000 natives were kicked from their homes during this period and that some 15,000 (most of which were Cherokee) died during the journey west. After explaining about such physical routes, it makes the Trail of Tears look as if it were a pathway to death. Walking down the path, knowing they couldn’t look back, and if they did, they would be beaten immediately. All they could gaze upon was the path that lied ahead of them- the open plains and the
The roots of forced relocation lay in greed. The British Proclamation of 1763 designated the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River as Indian Territory. Although that region was to be protected for the use of indigenous people, a mass number of European American land speculators and settlers soon entered the native american tribal land. Congress compiled by passing the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The entitled the president to negotiate with the eastern nation to effect their removal of tracts of land west of the Mississippi and provided some $500,000 for transportation and for compensation to native landowners.
All this happened under a man known as Andrew Jackson, as said previously. In 1830 Congress, urged on by President Andrew Jackson, passed the Indian Removal Act which gave the federal government the power to relocate any Native Americans in the east to territory that was west of the Mississippi River. Though the Native Americans were to be compensated, this was not always done fairly and in some cases led to the further destruction of many of the already diminishing numbers of many of the eastern tribes. In the years following the Act, the Cherokee filed several lawsuits regarding conflicts with the state of Georgia. Some of these cases reached the Supreme Court, the most influential being Worcester v. Georgia (1832). Samuel Worcester and other non-Indians were convicted by Georgia law for residing in Cherokee territory in the state of Georgia without a license. Worcester was sentenced to prison for four years and appealed the ruling, arguing that this sentence violated treaties made between Indian nations and the United States federal government by imposing state laws on Cherokee lands.
Andrew Jackson wanted to provide land for his people and infrastructures. Jackson chose to continue with Indian removal, and negotiated The Treaty of New Echota, on December 29, 1835, which granted Cherokee Indians two years to move to Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma). Only a fraction of the Cherokees left voluntarily. The U.S. government, with assistance from state militias, forced most of the remaining Cherokees west in 1838. The Cherokees were temporarily remanded in camps in eastern Tennessee.
Not only are the effects of this genocide crucial after the genocide, but also during the time of the genocide. Imagine how devastating it would be to know that doing a certain thing, such as stopping because you are tired, would create a situation where five to sex european men are beating you. Not only could you never take a breather, but if one did face death, that person would be simply tossed on the ground, and possibly be burnt to a crisp. Europeans realized that the native people did not continue on when they tossed the “Indians” on the sidewalk- which then they started to burn them (some even while they were alive).
There are many victims who (after the genocide was over- 1839) wrote what it felt like to be apart of such a traumatic event. “In the winters it was too cold to hunt for buffalo and deer so the people on trail had two cups of hot water, cornbread, and only turnips per day! It was not nearly as close to the relatives on the trail- there were thousands more than just me and my family,” explains a native american who lived after the genocide took place. “We became like the people we were trying to free from”, one of the most powerful lines from all of the native american survivors (from the Trail of Tears, of course). Most especially even after the person finished explaining, “And what happened if a love one passed away? You could not dig them a ditch to lay in. Anything of the sort and you would be shot dead!”
“In 1838, as the deadline for removal approached, thousands of federal soldiers and Georgia volunteers entered the territory and forcibly relocated the Cherokees. Americans hunted, imprisoned, raped, and murdered Native Americans. Cherokees surviving the onslaught were forced on a 1,000-mile march to the established Indian Territory with few provisions. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this Trail of Tears”, says a Seminole survivor. “The expansion of the United States that encroached upon Native American lands occurred faster than many policymakers had predicted with events such as the Mexican-American War in 1848 placing new territories and tribes under federal jurisdiction. A government report, The Indians of Southern California in 1852, explained that many Californians believed destiny had awarded California to the Americans to develop and that if the Indians interfered with progress they should be pushed aside”, the survivor continues. Showing us the horror that they experienced throughout the genocide- most especially the Cherokee. The survivor goes on one more time, “The Cherokee- how they were choked, beaten, burnt, and raped. One specifically, I remembered- a young Cherokee man…maybe around the age of 19, was beaten to death because he begged for the Europeans to give him food. In front of his young sister and mother- blood pouring down his face and body- the screams of his family, and his own as well.”
At this stage, many short and long-term effects had taken place from this traumatic event. Of these effects, was the development of slavery. The Indian Removal Act freed up land to be farmed for the most important cash crop in the Deep South: cotton. Cotton production in the South rose from almost none in 1787 to 3.6 million 500 pound bales by 1860. This explosion in production depended on an increase in the numbers of slaves to harvest the cotton. The Southern economy’s reliance on slavery, and increasing Northern opposition to it would eventually lead tothe secession of 11 Southern states from the Union, and eventually to the American Civil War.
“The beating…the blood…the cries of sorrow….the tortured souls….I couldn’t bear to look at it no more…”, said a Choctaw survivor. “Andrew Jackson was a mass murder and he himself is a tyrannt…nothing he says is just…and he should be condemned for his actions of such”, blattered François Sadi Carnot (French President from 1837-1894). Surprisingly it was an agreed claim, especially since the French were most of the men who were forcing the slavery on the natives. This goes to show that the victims of the genocide would do anything to get the immigration to stop, even if they have to agree with one of their enemies.
The tribes on the Trail of Tears were described as the “Civilized Tribes” because they had largely agreed to live peacefully alongside European settlers, and had adopted settler culture as it helped with co-existence. That the government forcibly removed them afterward led to an abiding lack of trust between the tribes and the United States, and subsequent laws, from the Dawes Act which led to massive acquisition of native lands by European speculators, through the Termination of the Reservations in the 1960s, have — it can be argued — ensured this alienation is still felt today. Within modern times, tribes have been given a name of the “enemy” or “barrier” from getting the land that the Europeans wanted to claim. Which is, precisely false, and it is rather the opposite way around as you may have read so far.
Another long-term effect upon this disastrous journey is how we look at native American people in modern times. People have a look at indigenous tribes such as the Cherokee , as said before, in a “enemy” view. Most especially in western Europe such as Spain and France view the native americans to be “lost Indians, who are fools of the West”. Within spanish schools (schools in Spain), and some French schools, they are taught that the native people were the ones who got in the way of discovering a new world, and instead hey are devil’s themselves for doing such “pagan ritual”. In addition, schools in Spain and France do not dare to teach that the natives were not the object in the way for the fear that Spain might go into civil war with their allie, the United States.
One of the most biggest long-term effects is the native american voice in the government (during modern times). People might consider that the government would not want anything to do with native americans ever since the time of the genocide, but slowly is it coming back together. The US Government allowed this to happen in 1968, yet even as it did occur, people still have a dull mind for the natives and their needs. From this, many natives fear that a future genocide could take place within the next decade. They not only fear that another genocide could grow, but that another Civil War could happen with the US, and with that said, the United States protesting. The apology, however belated, would have pleased Davy Crockett. He had once fought together with Jackson against the British and their Creeks allies. But for opposing the Cherokee removal, Crockett had lost his seat in Congress. Although he regretted his defeat, he said that at least his vote would “not make me ashamed on the last day of judgment”, commented Crockett.
Thus, the battle of the genocide is not over yet. There is still much more forgiveness that heads down the road, and little do people really know what the US actually did to the native tribes- and even the people who know the true stop themselves from spreading the truth, mainly because they believe that such truth would cause a bicker among people. This mass event all happened because people did not look deeper when it came to the objects of such rituals- specifically, the Europeans had started the genocide because they sought for gold- the gold and riches that the native americans used for their rituals. Followed by that, Andrew Jackson wanted more land for his people, but also knew about the gold. Now the main question is: “Did Andrew Jackson make a justified action because of the riches the natives had provided? Or was it because he wanted to provide land for his growing country/population?” The answer is “No” to his people, since Andrew Jackson wanted all the land for economical gain.
Starting another genocide is what natives worry about the most, especially since most in modern day, have a look on American Presidents to be somewhat untrustworthy. Not only did Andrew Jackson removed them from their land, but he also removed their memories, in one way or another. To this day, many native americans (such as the five civilized tribes), have such difficulty stepping in a land, knowing that those memories will haunt them, and it does. Many did not get along with the europeans until 1927, yet most natives still do not get along well with people with europe.
Imagine having to explain to your child that we live in a country where people killed thousands of natives just to let you live here, whether it is to a child of another race, or a native child. Andrew Jackson had a lot of options- to negotiate unused land from the natives, or to simply choose not to be tempted by the riches of mineral, among several other choices. Whether looking at Andrew Jackson’s, the Europeans, or natives point of view, there is no excuse for causing a genocide, especially one that would soon shape the view of how the people of America look at their own country.