Trail Of Tears Research Paper

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“What caused the Trail of Tears and what were the effects on the tribes in that region?” The Trail of Tears affected many tribes, but there were 5 in particular that suffered the most; The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. This tragic occurrence in history was a direct result of the Indian Removal Act. This law was authorized and initiated by President Andrew Jackson following the recommendation of James Monroe during a congressional meeting in 1825 . This Act displaced thousands of Native American's from their villages and ultimately led to many of their deaths. The Native Americans were often feared and resented by their European-American neighbors. Fear and greed led to a movement called “The Indian Problem”. "The Indian…show more content…
The Trail of Tears for the Creek tribes began much earlier than the others. Due to religion conflicts, a civil war within the creek nation had erupted in what is now called the “Creek War of 1813-1814”. The battles spilled out on to the Mississippi region that was occupied by the whites, which led to the United States being forced to intervene. In the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , the last Creek fighting force was destroyed which led to The Treaty of Fort Jackson. This Treaty brought an end to the war with the outcome of the Creeks losing 23 million acres of their land. Other treaties followed that forced the Creeks to abandon the rest of their land and head west to their new homes. The Creeks were rounded up by the thousands by the United States Military and were forced into concentration camps before being transported by land and boat. They were treated brutally with some being transported in chains. Approximately 3,500 Creeks died along the…show more content…
To a certain extent, The Seminoles were the only tribe to successfully resist the complete removal of their people. In 1817, The First Seminole war began when the United States tried to recapture black slaves that had escaped into the Seminole territory in Florida. At this time, Florida was still a Spanish territory. As a result of the war, Spain signed the Transcontinental Treaty, which relinquished their control over the Florida region. With Spain out of the way, President Andrew Jackson ordered the removal of Seminoles. Over the course of the next few years, the United States and the Seminoles were in a series of wars. The United States spent millions of dollars on the removal of the Seminoles and thousands of lives were lost. In one particular incident the United States military requested a meeting under a flag of truce, when the Seminoles approached they were imprisoned and sent off to board ships to their new territory in Arkansas. A removal treaty was signed in 1833 by a small group of Seminoles but it was later disregarded by the rest of the tribe. They deemed the treaty illegal and refused to leave. Ultimately it took 20 years for their removal and the majority of the Seminoles were forced to move west with the last few that remained being paid to leave by the United

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