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Between 1830 and 1850, over 100,000 indigenous people were forced from their homelands to the new “Indian Territory” beyond the Mississippi in a tragic chapter of American history. Learn about the struggles faced by various Native American tribes during this period.
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Indian Removal Acts Presentation created by Robert Martinez Primary Content Source: The Story of US by Joy Hakim Images as cited. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/trailtr5.jpg
Between 1830 and 1850 an estimated 100,000 Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Cherokees, and Seminoles were forced from their homelands to the new “Indian Territory” beyond the Mississippi. http://www.sip.armstrong.edu/Indians/jpeg/ChoctawsandShawnees.JPG
Their massive eviction is one of the sadder chapters in American history, the price exacted by a seemingly endless stream of land-hungry white settlers. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/3050539880/
President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 ultimately added 100 million acres of land to the public domain. http://www.uni.edu/schneidj/webquests/standard9/BRENDA/jackson-andrew.jpg
While most Indians went peacefully, the Seminoles fought back. http://www.christopherstill.com/images/mural_patriot_and_warrior_sample.jpg
In 1835 U.S. troops arrived in Florida after a 3 year grace period had run out. No Seminoles had left during that period. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67219958@N00/3165030284/
Led by Chief Osceola, the Seminoles ambushed an Army unit north of present-day Tampa. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67219958@N00/3164201445/
In late 1837 the Army used a truce flag to lure Osceola into a camp near St. Augustine. He was captured and sent in Charleston, SC, where he died the following year. Chief Osceola http://www.kislakfoundation.org/millennium-exhibit/profiles/Image6.jpg
Four years later, the Seminole quit fighting, about 3,000 Indians and blacks were sent to Oklahoma, while a few hundred disappeared into the Everglades. http://mle.matsuk12.us/american-natives/se/seminole-canoe.jpg
The Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws migrated voluntarily. Between 1831 and 1833, about 15,000 Choctaws made the long trek from Mississippi and western Alabama to the Indian territory. http://www.tjhsst.edu/~sgoswami/images/mapofindianremoval.jpg
But the Cherokees were a different story. They held out until the deadline for leaving had come and gone, trying to prove that they could adapt to white culture. http://www.snowwowl.com/images/cherokee/image006.jpg
Their 800-mile journey in the fall and winter of 1838-39 has become known as the Trail of Tears. http://richheape.com/media/8-town.jpg
By 1820, after dozens of treaties, Cherokee land was down to 10 percent of its original size. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fallenangil/178087325/
The Cherokee at first tried to resist moving off their lands. By 1830, they had their own newspaper, printed in both English and a written form of Cherokee developed by Sequoyah. http://www.flickr.com/photos/themosleyvault/2259550440/
Many of them were partially white and lived in small houses with white picket fences, some operated plantations and even owned slaves. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/060123_cherokee_dig_big.jpg
Delivering a speech in New York, Cherokee spokesman John Ridge said, “You asked us to throw off the hunter and warrior state – we did so. You asked us to form a republican government – we did so. You asked us to cultivate the earth and learn the mechanical arts – we did so. You asked us to cast away our idols and worship your God – we did so.” Cherokee John Ridge http://www.wpclipart.com/American_History/Native_Americans/Cherokee/John_Ridge__Cherokee.png
That same year, the Supreme Court rules that the Indian Removal Act’s against the Cherokee were unconstitutional. Yet Jackson refused to enforce the ruling of the highest court in the land. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall
In 1835, 20 Cherokees singed a treaty, agreeing their nation would move in exchange for 5 million dollars. But the vast majority of Cherokees stayed put. http://www.sitemason.com/files/jxuRUY/cherokee10.JPG
Finally in 1838, soldiers began going door to door. Individuals were given no time to collect possessions or locate family members. http://www.flickr.com/photos/monazimba/3329677693/
Those who resisted were beaten or put in chains, the old and ill were pushed out of their homes at bayonet point, women were molested. http://www.sonofthesouth.net/american-indians/pictures/cherokee-indian.jpg
“I fought through the Civil War and have seen men…slaughtered by the thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew,” wrote one soldier. http://www.indianahumanities.org/wethepeople/200/the_trail_of_tears.jpg
Some were moved west in the summer, but drought and sickness took a toll. Most were allowed to wait until fall. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjelle/2870750415/
Heavy rains slowed their progress, and then came a bitter winter. Ice floes on the Mississippi River bogged down some groups for weeks. http://www.tjhsst.edu/~sgoswami/images/4tear44b.jpg
Women tried to gather edible plants from the forest to supplement rations of white flour and old salt pork, yet many plants were unfamiliar. http://www.americaremembers.com/Products/CTOTTRI/CTOTTRI_pic_small.jpg
Deaths from malnutrition and exposure were common. Most families lost at least one member. In all, some 4,000 Cherokees died, nearly a fifth of their entire population. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w142/nzkiwi1957/NATIVE%20INDIANS%20AND%20WOLVES/CherokeeTrailOfTearsShadowOfTheOwl.jpg
