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Cherokee Resistance Movement
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Imagine someone being suddenly forced to move out of their own land and put into an unknown area. The Cherokee was a tribe that lived in Georgia where there was rich farmland and gold. They were one of the “Five Civilized Tribes” that lived in the southern states. White settlers desired the Cherokee’s land and wanted the Cherokee to move west in order to expand the U.S. since the Cherokees were in their way. The Cherokee could either resist or accept their demand, but they decided to exchange their lands for $5 million and protection from the U.S government. They made this decision on December 29, 1835 and signed a treaty. They moved to the land that’s west of the Mississippi river. The Cherokee should’ve resisted to stay in their original …show more content…
territory because many Cherokees have died during their trip to the west. Also, the new tribal lands didn’t have enough resources for the Cherokees to live. One reason why the Cherokee should’ve resisted the U.S government was because many Cherokees have died during their trip to the new land that’s west of the Mississippi river.
According to a historian’s account written by Russell Thornton in 1990 at the University of Nebraska Press, to inform students what happened to the Cherokees during their journey westward, “Reports of [an outbreak of] cholera in the spring of 1834 reached the group of Cherokees who had agreed to be removed [to the lands west of the Mississippi]”(Source Document 4). This shows that there were cholera outbreaks that happened among the group of Cherokee that were traveling westward, meaning that many Cherokee have died. Cholera is a disease that causes diarrhea, which can lead to death. This makes it harder for the Cherokee to survive as a group. Therefore, the Cherokee should’ve resisted because they wouldn’t have dealt with the disease since it had put their survival at …show more content…
stake. Another reason why the Cherokee should’ve resisted the U.S government was because the new land which the government had offered didn’t provide necessary materials for the Cherokee to live.
According to a newspaper article written by a Cherokee author on August 21, 1839 in Georgia to inform the Cherokee and the U.S government what problems they would face if their tribe moved west, “...if we are compelled to leave our country, [then] we see nothing but ruin before us...the greater part of the region is badly supplied with wood and water; and no Indian tribe can live as agriculturalists [farmers] without these articles” (Source Document 2). This shows that the land which the U.S government have offered to the Cherokee doesn’t have a good supply of wood and water, which the Cherokees need to live as farmers. If they can’t live as farmers, that means there would be less crops, which leads to less food, thus making it hard for the Cherokee to survive. The Cherokee shouldn’t make their lives harder by moving when their original territory already has rich farmland. In summary, the Cherokee should’ve resisted because their original land already had what the Cherokees need to live as
farmers. Some people may think that the Cherokee should’ve accepted the new tribal lands and move west because the Cherokee will die when they’re in contact with the white settlers. According to a statement by Major Ridge created in 1835 in Georgia to inform the Cherokee whether they should leave or stay, “But the white men are strong and we are weak. They are many and we are few. We cannot remain here in safety...I would die to keep our lands, but if we use force, we will lose not only our lands, but also our lives and the lives of our children”(Source Document 5). However, when the Cherokee accepted the U.S government offer, they have lost many lives on their journey to their new land due to the cholera outbreaks. Also, there are many ways to fight back instead of using force. It’s easier to deal with humans than with a disease when there wasn’t a cure. Furthermore, the new land that’s west of the Mississippi river didn’t have rich farmland, meaning that the Cherokee couldn’t live as farmers. Although living on their own land doesn’t make them safe, it is worth resisting for land that is important for survival. In conclusion, the Cherokee shouldn’t have accepted the new tribal lands because of the cholera outbreaks during the Cherokee’s journey to the west and that the new lands didn’t have farmland which the Cherokees need for survival. The Cherokee had two options; to accept new tribal lands and move west or resist in order to stay in their original territory. Although the Cherokee have accepted and exchanged their lands for $5 million, they should’ve resisted the U.S government. Society should be aware of this today because people need to understand that the land they are living on belonged to the Native Americans first. It isn’t fair how Native Americans are living on Indian reservations instead of the land that were theirs before. Today, people are being forced to move out of their homes simply because other people are able to pay for the higher rent. This relates to the situation the Cherokee had to face when the white settlers wanted their land. Society needs to stop taking people’s rights out of their own property because those who have worked hard to achieve what they currently have shouldn’t be brought back down.
In 1845, Ebenezer Carter Tracy published a book titled, Memoir of the Life of Jeremiah Evarts. Within this book is a statement from the Cherokee people from 1830 called, “Appeal of the Cherokee Nation.” In this statement, The Cherokee Indians refuse to move west of the Mississippi River. They made this refusal for two main reasons. The Indians believed that they had a right to remain in the lands of their ancestors and they also insisted that their chances of survival would be very low if they moved west. Their survivability would be impacted by their lack of knowledge of the new lands, and by the Indians that were already living in the western lands, and who would view the Cherokee as enemies.
In the essay, “The Trail of Tears” by author Dee Brown explains that the Cherokees isn’t Native Americans that evaporate effectively from their tribal land, but the enormous measure of sympathy supported on their side that was abnormal. The Cherokees process towards culture also the treachery of both states and incorporated governments of the declaration and promises that contrived to the Cherokee nation. Dee Brown wraps up that the Cherokees had lost Kentucky and Tennessee, but a man who once consider their buddy named Andrew Jackson had begged the Cherokees to move to Mississippi but the bad part is the Indians and white settlers never get along together even if the government wanted to take care of them from harassment it shall be incapable to do that. The Cherokee families moved to the West, but the tribes were together and denied to give up more land but Jackson was running for President if the Georgians elects him as President he agreed that he should give his own support to open up the Cherokee lands for establishment.
The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all. Andrew Jackson ultimately fulfilled the plan. First of all, the map [Document A] indicates the relationship between time, land, and policies, which affected the Indians. The Indian Tribes have been forced to give up their land as early as the 1720s. Between the years of 1721 and 1785, the Colonial and Confederation treaties forced the Indians to give up huge portions of their land. During Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration, more and more Indian land was being commandeered by the colonists. The Washington administration signed the Treaty of Holston and other supplements between the time periods of 1791 until 1798 that made the Native Americans give up more of their homeland land. The administrations during the 1790's to the 1830's had gradually acquired more and more land from the Cherokee Indians. Jackson followed that precedent by the acquisition of more Cherokee lands. In later years, those speaking on behalf of the United States government believed that teaching the Indians how to live a more civilized life would only benefit them. Rather than only thinking of benefiting the Indians, we were also trying to benefit ourselves. We were looking to acquire the Indians’ land. In a letter to George Washington, Knox says we should first is to destroy the Indians with an army, and the second is to make peace with them. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1793 began to put Knox’s plan into effect. The federal government’s promise of supplying the Indians with animals, agricultural tool...
The case Worcester v. Georgia (1832) was a basis for the discussion of the issue of states' rights versus the federal government as played out in the administration of President Andrew Jackson and its battle with the Supreme Court. In addition to the constitutional issues involved, the momentum of the westward movement and popular support for Indian resettlement pitted white man against Indian. All of these factors came together in the Worcester case, which alarmed the independence of the Cherokee Nation, but which was not enforced. This examines the legal issues and tragic consequences of Indian resettlement.
I wish I could forget it all, but the picture of six-hundred and forty-five wagons lumbering over the frozen ground with their cargo of suffering humanity still lingers in my memory.” He says that he wishes he had not seen what he saw on this trip and he wishes it did not happen. When the Cherokees appealed to the U.S. to protect their land, the Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled that the states were not allowed to make laws that govern the Cherokees, only the federal government can. This meant that Georgia laws don’t involve the Cherokees. Many religious groups, like the Quakers, didn’t want to force Native Americans against their will to move from their homelands.
Unfortunately, this great relationship that was built between the natives and the colonists of mutual respect and gain was coming to a screeching halt. In the start of the 1830s, the United States government began to realize it’s newfound strength and stability. It was decided that the nation had new and growing needs and aspirations, one of these being the idea of “Manifest Destiny”. Its continuous growth in population began to require much more resources and ultimately, land. The government started off as simply bargaining and persuading the Indian tribes to push west from their homeland. The Indians began to disagree and peacefully object and fight back. The United States government then felt they had no other option but to use force. In Indian Removal Act was signed by Andrew Jackson on May 18, 1830. This ultimately resulted in the relocation of the Eastern tribes out west, even as far as to the edge of the Great Plains. A copy of this act is laid out for you in the book, Th...
Prior to 1830 the Cherokee people in the Southern states were land and business owners, many owned plantations and kept slaves to work the land, others were hunters and fishermen who ran businesses and blended in well with their white neighbors, but after Andrew Jackson took office as President, the government adopted a strict policy of Indian removal, which Jackson aggressively pursued by eliminating native American land titles and relocating American Indians west of the Mississippi. That same year, Congress passed the Indian R...
The Indian Removal Act drove thousands of natives off their tribal lands and forced them west to new reservations. Then again, there are those who defend Jackson's decision stating that Indian removal was necessary for the advancement of the United States. However, the cost and way of removing the natives was brutal and cruel. The opposition fails to recognize the fact that Jackson’s removal act had promised the natives payment, food, and protection for their cooperation, but Jackson fails to deliver any of these promises. Furthermore, in “Indian removal,” an article from the Public Broadcasting Service, a description of the removal of the Cherokee nation is given.
The Cherokee Trail of Tears resulted from the execution of the Treaty of New Echota (1835), an “agreement” signed under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears). With the expansion of the American population, the discovery of gold in Georgia, and the need for even more land for American results in the push to move the Natives who were “in the way”. So with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Congress acted to remove Natives on the east coast of the United States to land west of the Mississippi River, something in which was never embraced or approved by them (The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears). Many state governments, such as Georgia, did not want Native-owned land within their boundaries, while the Natives did not want to move. However, under the Removal Act, the United States Congress gave then-President Andrew Jackson the authority to negotiate removal treaties.
The Cherokee Indians, the most cooperative and accommodating to the political institutions of the united states, suffered the worst fate of all Native Americans when voluntarily or forcibly moved west. In 1827 the Cherokees attempted to claim themselves as an independent nation within the state of Georgia. When the legislature of the state extended jurisdiction over this ‘nation,’ the Cherokees sought legal actions, not subject to Georgia laws and petitioned the United States Supreme Court. The case became known as Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia in 1831. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall denied their claim as a republic within Georgia, he then deemed the Cherokee as a ‘domestic dependent nation’. One year later through the case of Worcester vs. Georgia, the Cherokee’s were granted federal protection from the molestation by the state of Georgia. Through the Indian Removal act in 1830 President Andrew Jackson appropriated planning and funding for the removal of Native Americans, Marshall’s rulings delayed this for the Cherokee Nation, and infuriated President Jackson. Marshall’s decision had little effect on Jackson and ignoring this action the president was anxious to see him enforce it.
...ew western home.” More than 13,000 Cherokees were forcefully moved by the American military. They traveled over 800 miles by steamboat, train cars, and mostly by walking. During this trip known as the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees suffered from starvation, exposure, disease, and hardship. “No report was made of the number of Cherokee who died as the result of the removal. It was as if the Government did not wish to preserve any information.” However, it is estimated that at least 4,000 may have died and some believe that as many as 8,000 died.
Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...
...enefitted them more than if they did stay. The whites wanted the Cherokee land and would take it by force if they had to. On their own, the Cherokee would not have been able to survive with their outdated methods of living which was inefficient. The Cherokee living among the whites would not have turned out well since the whites did not associate and relate themselves to the Cherokee which created conflict and rivalry between both groups. Since the takeover of Cherokee land seemed inevitable, the Cherokee should have accepted relocating and adopted the ways of the white people. The Cherokee should have realized that the whites were a flourishing powerhouse in comparison.
The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jackson"'"s Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the '"'Trail of Tears'"', and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their will. During the journey westward, over 60,000 Indians were forced from their homelands. Approximately 4000 Cherokee Indians perished during the journey due to famine, disease, and negligence. The Cherokees to traveled a vast distance under force during the arduous winter of 1838-1839.# This is one of the saddest events in American history, yet we must not forget this tragedy.
advantage of the rich black soil for farming. Corn was their main source of food,