Trail Of Tears Research Paper

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Along with slavery, the mass relocation of Indian tribes referred to as Trail of Tears is undoubtedly one of the most shameful events in the history of United States. The mass relocation of Native American population westwards authorized by the U.S. government in 1830 presupposed forced migration of the civilized tribes such as Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole and Muscogee. After the Removal Act implementation, a large number of Natives was removed from the territory in the south east of the continent to the west of Mississippi, though most of them were reluctant to leave their land and were eventually faced with inhumane conditions of migration, diseases and death. This expansion of the U.S. territory westwards was achieved primarily…show more content…
Cherokee were one of the most ‘civilized’ tribes living alongside white citizens of the states, though already during the 1820s the nation experienced pressure both from the citizens of Georgia and from the federal government (Rozema 42). While Cherokee land used to be immense earlier in the century, covering the area of several states, it had shrunk after the Revolutionary War due to claims of white settlers (Thornton 289). Under pressure, some Cherokees tried to sell their homes and move westwards before the Removal Act was passed in 1938, but they were eventually returned and punished by the Cherokee National Council, for the beliefs of the Nation condemned private ownership of the land and viewed land as the property of the entire…show more content…
The media delivered much propaganda to the population: some popular books contained false fiction stories demonizing Indians with kidnappings, assaults and savagery (Byers 27). As a result, the Natives were viewed not only as different or inferior, they were also perceived as dangerous and ready to

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