Trail of Tears

A detailed Summary of Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears started in 1836, as a result of the Treaty of New Echota. This treaty, which was adopted by the United States Government, sent nearly six hundred Cherokee Native Americans on a journey from their home in Georgia, through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, ending up in Oklahoma. This was just the beginning of what was known as the Trail Of Tears. Other tribes from the eastern United States were soon forced to leave their homes, and head to reservations in present day Oklahoma. Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw Native Americans were all victims of the United States government's policy of dealing with the Native Americans. The first wave of Native Americans to go to Oklahoma did not have such a rough time as the later groups did. For example, the Seminole Native Americans made much of their trip from Florida over the Gulf of Mexico into present day Louisiana, and then north into Oklahoma. Not all Native American populations were so quick to leave, the majority of the Cherokee peoples in the east wanted to stay among their native land. The ones that did choose to stay suffered very cruel treatment. Some Cherokees were taken from there homes, and families and put in stockades for mon

The final medium I dealt with was a newspaper article written by Gary Sandefur, and is entitled The Legacy of the Trail of Tears. He is Native American himself and expresses some of his personal opinions of what happened. He also talks about reasons for removal. Overall this was not very helpful, because it was a short article, and did not get too in depth. He does a good job expressing both sides, but I did not feel that the article was of much help with the paper.

Another medium I explored was a website. This website (http://rosecity.net/tears/) was not as good as the book, however it represents the Native Americans, and their side of the story very well. The accounts along the trail are what really drew me to this site. I found it extremely helpful to read what happened to the Native Americans through their own words, and accounts. The letter that got to me personally the most was written by a Cherokee girl to a friend March 10, 1838. In the letter she tells how her little brother died two months earlier, and that her dad has gone to Florida as part of a committee against the removal. There is also another article written by Theodore Pease Russell who was 19 years old, and survived the Trail of Tears. He describes what the camps were like along the trail, and friends that he lost along the way.

The first source of information came from the book Native American Voices edited by Steven Mintz. This proved to be a very valuable source of information. It does a good job representing both sides of the issue. One letter to help justify removal by James Monroe states, "Removal ...would...promote their welfare and hap

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Approximate Word count = 1109
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History