The
peace loving Cherokee were the largest of the civilized tribes in the
Southeast. By 1838, with the help of ambitious leaders like Chief Vann,
the Cherokee nation
had become very prosperous. They had large land holdings, roads, and a democratic
government. They had a written language and a weekly newspaper. The
Cherokees were more
advanced than most white settlements around them.
The
UnitedStates government had promised Georgia land to the Cherokees,
but greedy settlers wanted
the Cherokee lands for
themselves. The Georgians did not trust the Native Americans and felt like
they were in the way. Major John Ridge, a Cherokee chief, agreed to allow the
entire Cherokee Nation to be moved to Oklahoma Territory in The Treaty of New
Echota in 1835. However, all the
Cherokee chiefs did not agree to move. President Andrew Jackson did not care
if all the chiefs were in agreement or not. He sent troops to enforce The Treaty
of New Echota. Congressman Henry Clay, Chief John Ross and the Federal Supreme
Court thought this was
unfair and stated that the Cherokee still had legal rights to their lands in
Georgia. Nevertheless, President Jackson sent General Winfield Scott and Cherokees out.
The
soldiers drove the Cherokee families from their houses and farms and
placed them in temporary log homes. They also made
the Cherokee leave most of their belongings behind. A few hundred
Native Americans fled into the mountains and escaped the Army. Their descendants
still live in North Georgia today. The rest of the once thriving Cherokee Nation
was not so lucky. In May of 1838, the Army sent the Cherokee westward at gunpoint
to begin
a journey that became known as the Trail of Tears. The first group traveled
by river, going down the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and then up the
Arkansas to Oklahoma.
By order of the Army, Chief John Ross finally gave up his battle to save the
Cherokee homeland and led the rest of the Cherokee out of Georgia by land.
In October they departed, traveling through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois,
Missouri and into Oklahoma. The conditions of the expedition were brutal.
Many Cherokees did not have enough food or clothing and were forced to
march in freezing conditions. Four thousand of the 14 thousand Cherokees
died along the way, of malnutrition, disease or cold. Even Chief John Ross’s
wife was buried on the Trail.
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