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Trail of Tears
THE ANCESTORS OF NATIVE AMERICAS SETTLED IN NORTH AMERICA MANY
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
THEY MADE HOMES FOR THEMSELVES AND CREATED A WAY OF LIFE, BUT STARTING
IN THE 1600S, EUROPEAN SETTLERS LANDED ON THEIR SHORES.
THEY CLAIMED AREAS FOR VILLAGES, TOWNS, AND FARMS.
THOSE AREAS HAD ONCE BEEN USED BY NATIVE AMERICANS, BUT AS THE SETTLERS
MOVED IN, THE INDIANS WERE FORCED OUT.
THE CHEROKEE PEOPLE HAD ONCE DOMINATED WHAT IS NOW THE SOUTH CENTRAL
UNITED STATES, BUT BY THE END OF THE 1700S, THEY HAD LOST TWO-THIRDS OF
THEIR LAND IN CONFLICTS WITH THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS.
THE CHEROKEES TRIED TO KEEP WHAT WAS LEFT OF THEIR LAND BY ADOPTING THE
WAYS OF THEIR NEW NEIGHBORS.
THEY BEGAN FARMING.
MANY LIVED IN LOG CABINS AND USED SPINNING WHEELS.
THEY HOPED TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE WHITE SETTLERS.
ALTHOUGH SOME SETTLERS WERE WILLING TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH THE
CHEROKEES, OTHERS DID NOT WANT TO ACCEPT THEM AS THEIR NEIGHBORS, AND
MANY SIMPLY WANTED THE CHEROKEES' LAND.
BY THE EARLY 1800S, MOST WHITE AMERICANS, EVEN THOSE SYMPATHETIC TO THE
NATIVE AMERICANS, BELIEVED THEY SHOULD BE MOVED WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER.
THE CHEROKEES DECIDED TO TRANSFORM THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT AND USE THE
UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AS THEIR MODEL.
THEY CHOSE JOHN ROSS AS THEIR CHIEF.
THE CHEROKEE NATION MOVED ITS CAPITAL TO NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA, BUT
GEORGIA REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE CHEROKEE GOVERNMENT.
THE STATE OUTLAWED THEIR CONSTITUTION AND ENACTED A LAW GIVING IT THE
RIGHT TO CLAIM CHEROKEE LANDS.
IN THE LATE 1820S, GOLD WAS DISCOVERED ON THE CHEROKEE LAND.
THE NEW FIND MADE THOSE LANDS EVEN MORE DESIRABLE TO WHITES.
PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON PROPOSED INDIAN-REMOVAL LEGISLATION, WHICH
MADE IT EASY FOR GEORGIA
TO MOVE THE CHEROKEES OFF THIS VALUABLE LAND.
ON MAY 23, 1830, CONGRESS PASSED JACKSON'S INDIAN REMOVAL ACT.
THEN GEORGIA SWIFTLY PASSED SIMILAR LEGISLATION.
IT STRIPPED THE CHEROKEES OF THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND GAVE THEM SIX MONTHS
TO DISSOLVE THEIR NATION.
JOHN ROSS TOOK THE CHEROKEE NATION'S PROTEST TO PRESIDENT JACKSON.
HE TRIED TO PERSUADE THE PRESIDENT TO STOP THE GEORGIA LAW.
HIS APPEAL FAILED.
THE CHEROKEES THEN TOOK THEIR CASE TO THE FEDERAL COURTS.
IN MARCH 1832, THE SUPREME COURT FOUND GEORGIA'S LEGISLATION
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
THE STATE, IT SAID, HAD NO AUTHORITY OVER NATIVE AMERICANS.
JACKSON IGNORED THE RULING.
HE SAID THE COURT WOULD HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO ENFORCE ITS DECISION.
HE WOULD NOT.
EVENTUALLY, JACKSON STRUCK A DEAL WITH AN INFLUENTIAL CHEROKEE, JOHN
RIDGE.
ALTHOUGH RIDGE HAD NO AUTHORITY, HE GAVE THE PRESIDENT WHAT WHITE
AMERICANS WANTED.
HE AGREED TO HAND OVER ALL THE CHEROKEE LAND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN
EXCHANGE FOR $5 MILLION.
THE DEAL WAS MADE FORMAL IN A TREATY.
THE CHEROKEES HAD TWO YEARS TO PREPARE TO LEAVE THE LAND OF THEIR
ANCESTORS.
TWO YEARS LATER, TIME HAD RUN OUT FOR THE CHEROKEES.
ON MAY 23, 1838, A MILITARY ROUNDUP BEGAN.
ARMY TROOPS TOOK THE CHEROKEES FROM THEIR HOMES AND PUT THEM IN
STOCKADES.
WITHOUT SUFFICIENT FOOD, WATER, SANITATION, AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES,
APPROXIMATELY 2,000 DIED THERE.
JOHN ROSS CONVINCED THE NEW PRESIDENT, MARTIN VAN BUREN, TO LET THE
CHEROKEE NATION HANDLE THEIR MOVE WEST, AND SO THE CHEROKEES STARTED
TO PREPARE FOR THEIR LONG JOURNEY.
AS 17,000 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN GATHERED THEIR BELONGINGS, WINTER WAS
CLOSING IN.
SUMMER HEAT GAVE WAY TO ICY RAINS, AND THE GROUND BEGAN TO FREEZE.
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT AND HIS 7,000 MEN WATCHED AS THE CHEROKEE PEOPLE,
CARRYING EVERYTHING THEY OWNED, BEGAN A NEARLY 850-MILE MARCH TO WHAT
IS NOW THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.
ON THE WAY, MORE THAN 4,000 CHEROKEES DIED.
MOST OF THOSE WHO PERISHED WERE CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY.
THE JOURNEY CAME TO BE CALLED "THE TRAIL OF TEARS."
WHITE AMERICANS GOT THE LAND THEY WANTED, AND THE CHEROKEES LOST 6,000
PEOPLE AND EVERY LAST ACRE OF THEIR TRADITIONAL HOMELAND.
DID YOU KNOW?
THE CHEROKEES FORMED A GOVERNMENT IN 1820 THAT WAS BASED ON THE
STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. SEVEN YEARS LATER, THEY CREATED A
CONSTITUTION IN CHEROKEE.
AS MANY AS 20,000 PEOPLE SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE TODAY.
CHEAP, FERTILE LAND IN THE WEST AND PLENTIFUL NATURAL RESOURCES
COMPELLED MANY AMERICANS TO PICK UP AND MOVE AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH
CENTURY.
THE WEST WAS A NEW AND STRANGE TERRITORY, AND ITS SETTLERS FACED HARD
WORK AND OTHER CHALLENGES.
LAND IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOUR HOME IS, AND YOUR HOME IS
YOUR SANCTUARY.
IT GIVES YOU THE CHANCE TO FEEL LIKE YOU POSSESS SOMETHING AND THAT NO
ONE CAN TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU, AND IT REALLY GIVES YOU A FEELING OF
STABILITY.
HOME IS JUST, LIKE, A PLACE OF COMFORT, YOU KNOW?
WHEN YOU'RE STRESSED OUT, YOU GO BACK HOME AND RELAX.
HOME FOR ME IS BASICALLY MY MOTHER AND MY THREE BROTHERS.
WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN TOGETHER.
WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO HAVE THE GREAT HOME THAT SOME
PEOPLE DO,
AND WHEN I MOVED IN WITH MY DAD, EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR ME, AND HOME
JUST BECAME THIS PLACE WHERE I KNEW I WAS SAFE.
LAND DOESN'T REALLY MEAN THAT MUCH TO ME BECAUSE AS LONG AS MY MOTHER
AND MY BROTHERS ARE WITH ME, I'M COMPLETELY FINE.