Introduction
There were many forcible relocations of 60,000 American Indians between 1830 and 1850. The term “Five Civilized Tribes” was used to describe these Indians. This expulsion of Indians occurred over about two decades (Bracey, 2021). These indigenous people were forcibly removed from their homes and sent hundreds of miles away to an area dubbed “Indian Territory” just west of the Mississippi River. Andrew Jackson and his forces chose to continue the Trail of Tears and arbitrarily, cruelly, and violently remove the Cherokee inhabitants while destroying their magnificent people and culture even after they were presented as a non-threat, embraced the customs of the settlers, and were civilized and cooperative.
Discussion
The Cherokee were an Iroquoian-speaking Native American people from North America who were a politically powerful and cohesive group before European arrival. Their moniker comes from a Creek phrase that translates to “people of strange speech,” however many would instead be called Keetoowah or Tsalagi (Joseph, 2021). Life and customs among the traditional Cherokee were quite similar to those of the Creek and other Southeast tribes. The Cherokee country was a loose confederacy of cities, with some painted red (representing battle) and others white (representing peace).
Beginning in 1759, the British used a “scorched-earth” policy that led to the complete annihilation of many Native American settlements, notably those of the Cherokee and many other tribes with whom they maintained diplomatic ties. British actions wiped out the tribal economy. The Treaty of Augusta, signed in 1773, required the Cherokee and the Creek to surrender about two million acres (approximately 809,000 hectares) in Georgia to pay off their obligations.
The Cherokee were vulnerable to the land hunger of the settlers they so eagerly imitated because of their inability to prevent the spread of European diseases. The discovery of gold on Cherokee property in Georgia stoked calls for the forced evacuation of the tribe. A minority of the Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota in December 1835, giving all Cherokee territory to the United States east of the Mississippi River in exchange for $5 million (Zwinggi, 2018). The majority of tribe members rejected the treaty and appealed to the highest court in the United States (Zwinggi, 2018). The court ruled in favor of the Cherokee, saying that Georgia had no right to assert jurisdiction over them or to claim any of their property.
Georgia ignored the verdict, President Andrew Jackson did nothing to enforce it, and in 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which made it easier to evict Native Americans. Winfield Scott commanded 7,000 troops to remove them. As they proceeded, Scott’s forces forced many Cherokees from their homes. Some say 16,000 Cherokees were forced into camps (Rečlová, 2019). European-American settlers destroyed their villages. The refugees were moved west in 13 overland detachments of over 1,000 persons apiece. John Benge, John Bell, and John Ross led different-sized firms.
In 1838–39, the Trail of Tears’s eviction and forced march occurred. Even though Congress authorized financing for the project, it was poorly run, and many died or became sick because they lacked food, shelter, or clothing for cold weather (Rečlová, 2019). The Indians nearly lost everything, from food and supplies to paying farmers to cross rivers and use their land for graves. Many of the 4,000 Cherokee who did not finish the 116-day walk died because troops would not let them rest.
Conclusion
In summary, the Cherokee were forcibly transferred to Oklahoma in the 1830s, joining four other tribes from the Southeast: The Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole. Although most tribal administrations were abolished in 1906, a few still operate. After the 1838 removal, a few Cherokee retreated to the mountains, giving birth to the several thousand Cherokee living in western North Carolina in the twenty-first century. At the start of the 21st century, it was projected that more than 730,000 Americans could trace their genealogy back to the Cherokee nation.
References
Bracey, E. N. (2021). Andrew Jackson, Black American Slavery, and the Trail of Tears: A critical analysis. Dialogue and Universalism, 31(1), 119-138.
Joseph, A. S. (2021). A modern trail of tears: the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis in the US. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 79, 102136.
Rečlová, Z. (2019). The Trail of Tears: Indian Removal in the 1830s. [Bachelor’s thesis, Tomas Bata University].
Zwinggi, S. R. (2018). Strength, tradition, and adaptation: Native American women in Pontiac’s War, the Trail of Tears, and the Wounded Knee Massacre [Doctoral dissertation.]