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The Trail Of Tears

The Trail of Tears, was it unjust and inhumane? What
happened to the Cherokee during that long and treacherous
journey? They were brave and listened to the government,
but they received
unproductive land and lost their tribal land.
The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or
America. The East coast was burdened with new settlers
and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson
and the government had to find a way to move people to the
West to make room. President Andrew Jackson passed the
Indian Removal Policy in the year 1830. The Indian
Removal Policy which called for the removal of Native
Americans from the Tennessee, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia area, also moved their capital Echota
in Tennessee to the new capital call New Echota, Georgia
and then eventually to the Indian Territory. The Indian
Territory was declared in the Act of Congress in 1830 with
the Indian Removal Policy. Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge,
and John Ridge and there corps accepted the responsibility
for the removal of one of the largest tribes in the Southeast
that were the earliest to adapt to European ways. There was
a war involving the Cherokee and the Chickasaw before the
Indian Removal Policy was passed. The Cherokee were
defeated by them which caused Chief Dragging Canoe to
sign a treaty in 1777 to split up their tribe and have the
portion of the tribe in Chattanooga, Tennessee called the
Chickamauga. Chief Doublehead of the Chickamauga, a
branch of the Cherokee, signed a treaty to give away their
lands. Tribal law says "Death to any Cherokee who
proposed to sell or exchange tribal land." Chief Doublehead
was later executed by Major Ridge. Again there was
another treaty signed in December 29, 1835 which is called
The Treaty of New Echota. It was signed by a party of 500
Cherokee out of about 17,000. Between 1785 and 1902
twenty-five treaties were signed with white men to give up
their tribal lands. The Cherokee would...