Trail Of Tears Research Paper

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Trail of Tears “I fought through the Civil War and have seen many men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” (Marshal, Peter, and David Manuel 353). The wholesome removal of the entire Cherokee nation to the bison territory was the solution white men came up with to get the land they owned. They did this for three main reasons. First, the widespread belief of Manifest Destiny encouraged the Americans to expand west and take all Indian land. Second, President Andrew Jackson had pity on the Indians’ for their barbaric ways, and thought it was best for them to be moved off the land. Finally, the racism of the whites, stating that the Indian tribes were wild savages and lower life forms, also influenced the Americans’ actions. This forceful removal is known as the Trail of Tears.…show more content…
This was the belief that the Americans had the God given right to expand west, and take all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Most Americans supported this idea, even Andrew Jackson, and other political leaders. They thought it was best for the Indians to be relocated in what was considered unwanted territory by the whites. They thought the Indians would be satisfied since they had cattle, and could start all over again, but they didn’t ask the Indians if they wanted to move. To the Indians, the land they had, was extremely sacred due to the fact that their ancestors were buried there. Nevertheless the politicians didn’t care, and relocated to the Great Plains. They also got rid of them because they found gold in those lands, and wanted to take it. So they used the idea of Manifest destiny as an excuse to satisfy their greed for land and gold. In other words, the Manifest Destiny was one of the main reasons that the Trail of Tears happened thanks to the belief that they could take all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific

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