Trail of Tears
Sara Tezel
Senior Comp. 12-2
8 September 2006
Mrs. Wacker
Trail of Tears
Before the arrival of European settlers, hundreds of Native American tribes inhabited areas of what is now eastern United States. Some were eventually assimilated into the changing culture, and others were assigned by the newcomers to reservations. The culturally advanced Cherokee, in order to meet the demands of the whites, were forcefully relocated to Oklahoma.
The Georgian Cherokee led a sedentary and sophisticated lifestyle. Most owned houses and some owned plantations. Because they had their own newspaper and written constitution.
Although the rights of the Cherokee were protected by treaties with the United States government, white settlers wanted the Cherokee land when gold was discovered in Georgia. The United States Supreme Court upheld the rights of the Cherokee pertaining to land and possessions but President Andrew Jackson broke treaties deifying the Supreme Court and ordering the Cherokee off their lands.
In winter of 1838 over fourteen-thousand Cherokee were taken from their homes, allowed only the clothes on their backs, and forced to march to a designated Indian territory in Oklahoma. The Indians were denied basic rights such as adequate clothing, shelter, and decent food. Some Cherokee were kept chained both night and day.
More than four-thousand Cherokee died during marches that covered four different routes between Georgia and Oklahoma. It is because of the removal of the Cherokee from their land and the hardship they faced while marching that this event in history is called the Trail of Tears.
Recently, some highways in the United States that parallel the Trail of Tears have been designated as memorial highways. These highways are to help remember an important event in it’s past.
The Trail of Tears serves a reminder of what can happen when a person forgets everything by letting greed control his or her actions. The Cherokee were not widely accepted as human beings and were unable to protest their removal from the land they had grown and developed on. Despite the winter of 1838, the Cherokee are currently recognized and accepted as citizens of the United States of American.
Senior Comp. 12-2
8 September 2006
Mrs. Wacker
Trail of Tears
Before the arrival of European settlers, hundreds of Native American tribes inhabited areas of what is now eastern United States. Some were eventually assimilated into the changing culture, and others were assigned by the newcomers to reservations. The culturally advanced Cherokee, in order to meet the demands of the whites, were forcefully relocated to Oklahoma.
The Georgian Cherokee led a sedentary and sophisticated lifestyle. Most owned houses and some owned plantations. Because they had their own newspaper and written constitution.
Although the rights of the Cherokee were protected by treaties with the United States government, white settlers wanted the Cherokee land when gold was discovered in Georgia. The United States Supreme Court upheld the rights of the Cherokee pertaining to land and possessions but President Andrew Jackson broke treaties deifying the Supreme Court and ordering the Cherokee off their lands.
In winter of 1838 over fourteen-thousand Cherokee were taken from their homes, allowed only the clothes on their backs, and forced to march to a designated Indian territory in Oklahoma. The Indians were denied basic rights such as adequate clothing, shelter, and decent food. Some Cherokee were kept chained both night and day.
More than four-thousand Cherokee died during marches that covered four different routes between Georgia and Oklahoma. It is because of the removal of the Cherokee from their land and the hardship they faced while marching that this event in history is called the Trail of Tears.
Recently, some highways in the United States that parallel the Trail of Tears have been designated as memorial highways. These highways are to help remember an important event in it’s past.
The Trail of Tears serves a reminder of what can happen when a person forgets everything by letting greed control his or her actions. The Cherokee were not widely accepted as human beings and were unable to protest their removal from the land they had grown and developed on. Despite the winter of 1838, the Cherokee are currently recognized and accepted as citizens of the United States of American.
posted by Stezie @ 11:18 PM
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