Trail of Tears

Most Native Americans living along the eastern seaboard of North America were dead by the 1780s. Those who had managed to survive war, disease, and starvation were focused on resisting further encroachment by white settlers. Some sided with Britain to fight America in the American Revolution (1775–83) and the War of 1812 (1812–15). Britain was the losing side both times, however, and after the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson (1767–1845; served 1829–37) destroyed the settlements of the Creeks and other hostile Native American groups.

Unlike the Creeks, the Cherokee had already accepted the presence of white settlers as inevitable and had adopted a peaceful policy of coexistence. According to a treaty signed with the United States government in 1791, the Cherokee continued to live on their traditional lands in the hills of northwest Georgia and western North Carolina . The early 1800s brought about tremendous cultural change as the Cherokee adopted an agrarian (agricultural) economy in place of their traditional hunting and gathering. Some became plantation owners with slaves while others became involved in business. By the 1820s, the Cherokee had established written laws and a constitution by which they lived.

Conflict

As the Cherokee nation thrived, white settlers grew resentful. The state of Georgia wanted them to sell their land, which they were hesitant to do. When gold was discovered in Cherokee country in 1829, the state increased its pressure to sell, but the Cherokee refused. The Indian Removal Act of 1839 provided funds for the removal of eastern Native Americans beyond the Mississippi River, and the state of George declared the Cherokee constitution invalid. The state government ordered the seizure of all Cherokee land.

The Cherokee had willingly worked with the government all along, but they were not about to let them take what legally belonged to them. They hired a lawyer who argued their case to the Supreme Court . In 1831, Chief Justice John Marshall (1755–1835) agreed with the Cherokee nation and ruled in their favor. U.S. president Andrew Jackson, however, continued to support Georgia's efforts to remove the Cherokee. He persuaded Congress to grant funding for the relocation of the Cherokee. In 1835, a small group of Cherokee, worn out by years of antagonism, gave the government all lands occupied by them east of the Mississippi River. They were given two years to vacate the lands and move to a special Indian Territory created by Congress in 1834. This land would later become Oklahoma .

Aside from that small group, the Cherokee resisted their forced removal. As 1837 approached, President Martin Van Buren (1782–1862; served 1837–41) ordered federal authorities to force the Cherokee to leave. They would live in temporary detention camps.

They remained in these camps throughout the sweltering southern summer months, and soon their numbers were decimated by disease. More than two thousand died from measles, whooping cough, and other illnesses. In October, more than fifteen thousand men, women, and children began a six-month, thousand-mile journey to the unfamiliar territory that would be their new home.

Most Cherokee went on foot from Georgia, across central Tennessee , western Kentucky , southern Illinois , southern Missouri , and northern Arkansas , to Fort Gibson in eastern Oklahoma. A smaller number were taken by boat. Those on foot lacked adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Around two thousand Cherokee died from disease, exposure, and exhaustion. The proud Cherokee buried their dead along the route that eventually became known as the “Trail of Tears.” This dark event is one of the most tragic in U.S.-Native American relations.

A dying breed

The Cherokee reestablished their agrarian society, and by 1839 had a new government and constitution in place. By 1842, most of what were known as the Five Civilized Tribes—Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—had been forcibly relocated to government-assigned land in Oklahoma. In 1858, the last of the Seminoles were removed from Florida .