The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears

The Native Americans were the first occupants of some of the land in the United States. They were forced to migrate off American land, and several people died during these migrations. Settlers tried to teach the Native Americans their culture, but there was a lot of confusion leading to the migration of the Natives.
During the time of John Smith and the founding of Jamestown in 1607, Native Americans were being pushed around. These English settlers believed that they had the right to this land, and they frequently mistreated the Native Americans. Due to this treatment, by 1776 there was a small amount of Native Americans along the Eastern Seaboard. After George Washington was elected president, he tried to stop these culture wars and suggested that the Native Americans should adopt the European culture. The Native Americans were often confused and did not understand concepts, like private property, due to their totally different culture. Settlers began to overrun the Native Americans in Ohio and Indiana, but the Indians held a large portion of land in the Deep South. Since the Native Americans had control of the Deep South, Georgia called for a new location for the Indians.
There were 5 tribes in the Deep South: the Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Muscogee, and the Chickasaw. These Indians stopped settlers who were invading their land, and adopted American customs as well. Although most of the presidents after Washington supported his idea for the Indians to adopt American customs, Andrew Jackson had other thoughts. In 1829, President Andrew Jackson made a speech saying that the Native Americans should be relocated, and a year later the Indian Removal Act was passed. This act reported that all Native Americans were to be moved to the west of the Mississippi River. This act was voluntary, but the tribes were pressured by the settlers, so most of them agreed to move.
It was a difficult process for the Indians, because thousands of them were traveling hundreds of miles. The first to agree to migrate were the Choctaw tribe, and in 1831 they moved from Mississippi to the Arkansas territory. One of the tribe’s chiefs was the first to call this migration “the trail of tears and death.” The Cherokee were the next tribe to relocate, and their migration showed an example of the abuse that took place. This tribe resisted their migration, but after 3 years they were forced to relocate in the west. Sixteen thousand Cherokee people migrated and there were several deaths. The Seminole tribe refused to leave their land leading to the Second Seminole War. The Seminoles were led by their chief, Osceola, who used guerilla like combat to defeat the settlers frequently. After 7 years of battle, many lives were lost on both sides, and the Seminoles were forced to relocate or hide in the Everglades. The Muscogee had lost most of their land even before the Indian Removal Act was passed, so they agreed to migrate westward in 1832. The Chickasaw tribe agreed to move westward, but negotiated to sell their land for $3,000,000, instead of just trading their land and being granted a new one. The Chickasaws were moved westward in 1837, and did not get their money until 30 years later. In 1842, about 75,000 Indians and slaves were forced to relocate west of the Mississippi, and the land they received was west of the Arkansas Territory. Their land was called the Indian Territory, and it was governed and controlled by the Indians, without any interference from Congress during that time. In 1907, the Oklahoma Enabling Act had the Indian Territory combined with the Oklahoma Territory, which is now known as Oklahoma.
Although the Native Americans had this land first, they were not strong enough to hold back the development of the United States. The Indians did help with the creation of the state of Oklahoma, and were cooperative with relocating. Although this is not the Native American’s land, their history can still be seen today.