## **Historical Outline** ### **Background** - The **Trail of Tears** refers to the forced removal and relocation of several Native American nations—including the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole—from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States to territories west of the Mississippi River (present-day Oklahoma). - This was part of a broader policy of **Indian removal**, designed to open land for white settlers and expand cotton agriculture. ### **Indian Removal Act (1830)** - **Andrew Jackson**, the 7th U.S. President, was the chief political force behind the Indian Removal Act. - The Act authorised the President to negotiate removal treaties with Native tribes, exchanging their eastern lands for territory west of the Mississippi. - Although presented as “voluntary treaties,” in practice the Act legitimised coercion and displacement. ### **Cherokee Resistance and Legal Battles** - The **Cherokee Nation** resisted removal, adopting aspects of European-American governance and appealing through the U.S. courts. - In **Worcester v. Georgia (1832)**, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favour of Cherokee sovereignty, declaring that Georgia laws had no force within Cherokee territory. - Jackson allegedly responded with defiance (“John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”—though the exact wording is debated), effectively ignoring the ruling. ### **Forced Removals (1831–1850)** - **Choctaw (1831–1833):** First major tribe removed; faced disease, starvation, and death en route. - **Seminole (1832–1842):** Resisted militarily in the Seminole Wars, but many were still forcibly removed. - **Creek (1836–1837):** Thousands removed after violent conflict with settlers. - **Cherokee (1838–1839):** The most infamous removal—about 16,000 Cherokees were forced to march ~1,000 miles. Roughly **4,000 died** from disease, exposure, and starvation. ### **Andrew Jackson’s Role** - Jackson was a long-time advocate of Indian removal, even before becoming president. As a general, he had fought against Native nations (notably in the **Creek War** and **First Seminole War**). - As President, he pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress in 1830, making removal federal policy. - His administration negotiated (and sometimes fabricated or manipulated) treaties to justify removals, including the controversial **Treaty of New Echota (1835)**, signed by a small minority of Cherokees but used to legitimise their expulsion. - Jackson’s successor, **Martin Van Buren**, oversaw the actual enforcement of Cherokee removal in 1838, but Jackson laid the groundwork. ### **Legacy** - The Trail of Tears is now seen as a grave injustice and act of ethnic cleansing, illustrating the devastating impact of U.S. expansionist policy on Indigenous peoples. - Andrew Jackson remains one of the most controversial presidents: celebrated by some for his populist appeal and expansion of democracy for white men, but condemned for his role in Native dispossession and suffering. ![[TrialofTears_0.jpeg]] `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:`