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Gloria Rubio Carbonero

Dr. Juan José Martín González

Historia y Civilización de las Islas Británicas

May 2023

The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears was a series of forced displacements of approximately 60,000 Native

Americans from the so-called Five Civilised Tribes between 1830 and 1850 by the US

government. This ethnic cleansing, which was part of the expulsion of the natives, was gradual

and took place over a period of almost two decades. In this report I will discuss the history of this

event, its cause, its stages, and its consequences.

During this inhumane act members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole,

Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, plus thousands of black slaves from five tribes, were forcibly

removed from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to areas west of the

Mississippi River that had been designated Indian Territory by the US government. The forced

removals were carried out by government authorities following the passage of the Indian

Removal Act in 1830.

But in order to talk about how all this affected these people, we must go back to the

origin of their cause and look at history.

It all began when tension between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation escalated into a
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crisis with the discovery of gold near Dahlonega in 1829, which sparked the first gold rush in US

history. Hopeful gold speculators began to invade Cherokee lands, and pressure began to be put

on the Georgia government to fulfil the promises of the 1802 compact. (Sturgis)

When Georgia attempted to extend state laws over Cherokee tribe grounds, the case was

heard by the United States Supreme Court. The Marshall Court refused to hear the lawsuit in

1831, ruling that the Cherokee were not an independent sovereign country. However, the Court

concluded in 1832 that Georgia could not impose its laws on Cherokee territory because only the

national government had power over Indian issues, not state governments.

President Andrew Jackson probably never said this, but he did strongly advocate the

deportation of Indians to the West. He had no interest in using the national government to protect

Georgia's Cherokees, as he was embroiled in states' rights issues in what became known as the

nullification crisis. With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the US Congress granted Jackson

authority to negotiate removal treaties, exchanging Indian territory in the east for land west of the

Mississippi River. Jackson used the dispute with Georgia to pressure the Cherokee into signing

the treaty. (Sturgis)

The fast rise of the United States' population in the early nineteenth century created

problems with Native American tribes residing in several states. While state governments

opposed autonomous Native American enclaves inside their borders, Native American tribes

refused to be transferred and refused to give up their identity.

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The state of Georgia gave up its claims to the national government for the territories to

the west (which ultimately became the states of Alabama and Mississippi) with the Compact of

1802. In exchange, the national government stated that it would ultimately establish treaties to

remove all Indian tribes in Georgia, granting Georgia dominion over all area within its borders.

(Sturgis)

The Cherokee, whose traditional tribal territories straddled the boundaries of Georgia,

Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, refused to relocate. In 1825, they erected a capital at

New Echota (near present-day Calhoun, Georgia). The Cherokees established a written

constitution on July 26, 1827, guided by Principal Chief John Ross and Major Ridge,

spokesperson for the Cherokee National Council, declaring the Cherokee country a sovereign

and independent country.

With Andrew Jackson's huge re-election in 1832, some of the most vehement opponents

of Cherokee removal began to shift their opinions. Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and his

nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie headed what became known as the "Treaty Party" or

"Ridge Party." The Ridge Party thought that the pact was in the best interests of the Cherokee

and would allow them to obtain the best terms from the US government before illegal white

settlement, state governments, and bloodshed exacerbated issues. In the late 1820s, John Ridge

held unofficial contacts with the Jackson government. Meanwhile, in preparation for Cherokee

removal, the state of Georgia began making bids to split Cherokee tribal territory among white

Georgians. (Sturgis)
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However, Principal Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee people remained

adamantly opposed to the removal. Then the political manoeuvring began: Chief Ross cancelled

the 1832 election, the Council impeached the Ridge, and a member of the Ridge Party was

assassinated. The Ridge responded by eventually creating their own council, which represented

only a fraction of the Cherokee people. This divided the Cherokee Nation into two groups: the

Western Cherokee, led by Major Ridge; and the Eastern Cherokee, who continued to recognise

the authority of Chief John Ross as head of the Cherokee Nation. (Hausman)

Jackson nominated Reverend John F. Schermerhorn as treaty commissioner in 1835. The

US government suggested paying the Cherokee $4.5 million to migrate. In October 1835, the

Cherokee Nation Council rejected the idea. Chief Ross flew to Washington with John Ridge for

more discussions in an attempt to reconcile his administration and the Ridge Party, but the US

government refused and urged the Cherokees to negotiate with Schermerhorn.

At the same time, Schermerhorn was planning a meeting with members of the pro-

relocation council in New Echota, Georgia. Only 500 Cherokees responded to the call, and on

December 30, 1835, twenty proponents of Cherokee removal, including Ridge and Elias

Boudinot, signed, or marked with a "X", the Treaty of New Echota. When the pact was delivered

to Washington, John Ridge and Stand Watie signed it. Chief Ross, as expected, did not. The

signatures were in violation of the Cherokee Nation Act, prepared by John Ridge and approved

in 1829, which declared the written cession of Cherokee territory a capital offence punishable by

death. (Hausman)

Not a single Cherokee Council official signed the document. This treaty surrendered all
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Cherokee territory east of the Mississippi River to the Americans. Despite protests from the

Cherokee National Council and Chief Ross that the document was a fraud, Congress ratified the

treaty on 23 May 1836, albeit by a one-vote majority. Some Cherokee then left for the west,

joining those who had already emigrated. By the end of 1826, more than six thousand Cherokees

had moved west. However, more than 16,000 remained in the South: the terms of the treaty gave

them two years to emigrate. (McLoughlin)

Protests against the Treaty of New Echota continued. In the spring of 1838, Chief Ross

presented a petition with over 15,000 Cherokee signatures, asking Congress to invalidate the

treaty. Many white Americans were outraged by the dubious legality of the treaty and called on

the government not to force the Cherokees to emigrate.

However, as the 23 May 1838 deadline approached, President Van Buren appointed

General Winfield Scott to head the forcible removal operation. He arrived in New Echota on 17

May 1838, commanding 7,000 troops, who began rounding up the Cherokees in Georgia on 26

May 1838; ten days later, operations began in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama. Some

17,000 Cherokees - plus approximately 2,000 slaves owned by wealthy Cherokees - were taken

at gunpoint from their homes for three weeks and herded into camps, often with the clothes on

their backs. They were transferred to departure points at Ross's Landing (Chattanooga,

Tennessee) and Gunter's Landing (Calhoun, Tennessee). From there, they were sent to the Indian

Territory, most travelling on foot, or in some combination of horseback, train, and boat,

travelling a distance of about 1,600 km along one of three routes. (Hausman)

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The camps were plagued by dysentery and other diseases, resulting in many deaths. After

three groups were sent by train, a group of Cherokees asked General Scott to wait until cooler

weather made the journey less risky. This was granted; in the meantime, Chief Ross, finally

accepting defeat, succeeded in getting the supervision of the remainder of the move turned over

to the Cherokee Council. Although there were some objections from the US government because

of the additional cost, General Scott granted Chief Ross a contract to relocate the remaining

11,000 Cherokees. The Cherokee-administered marches began on 28 August 1838, and consisted

of thirteen groups averaging 1,000 people each. Although this method was an improvement for

all involved, many still died of disease. (Hausman)

The number of people who died on the Trail of Tears has had different estimates. The

official Federal government at the time counted 424 deaths; an American doctor who travelled

with a party estimated 2000 deaths in the camps and 2000 on the train; his total of 4000 deaths

remains the most commonly cited figure. A scholarly demographic study in 1973 estimated a

total of 2,000 deaths; another in 1984 concluded that there were 8,000. During the march, the

Cherokee are said to have sung the song Amazing Grace, as an inspiration to boost morale.

Lyrics were written in the Cherokee language to the tune, and the song became a kind of national

anthem for the Cherokee people. (McLoughlin)

Communicable diseases spread quickly through these closely packed groups, killing

many. These groups were among the last to move but following the same routes the others had

taken; the areas they were passing through had run out of supplies due to the large number of

people who had passed before them. The protesters were subjected to extortion and violence
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along the route. In addition, these final contingents were forced to leave during the hottest and

coldest months of the year, killing many. Exposure to the elements, disease, starvation,

harassment by local frontiersmen and insufficient rations similarly killed as many as a third of

the Choctaw and other nations on the march. Other Indian nations, such as Quapaws and Osages,

had moved into Indian Territory before the "Five Tribes" and viewed them as intruders.

(McLoughlin)

The Cherokee who were initially relocated settled near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The

political turmoil caused by the Treaty of New Echota and the Trail of Tears led to the

assassination of Mayor Ridge, John Ridge and Elias Boudinot; of the Treaty Party leaders, only

Stand Watie escaped the same fate. The population of the Cherokee Nation was disaffected, and

today the Cherokee are the largest Amerindian group in the United States. (Ehle)

There were some exceptions to the relocation. Perhaps 1,000 Cherokees evaded US

soldiers and lived in Georgia and other states. Those who lived on private, individually owned

land were not subject to removal. In North Carolina, some 400 Cherokees lived on land in the

Great Smoky Mountains owned by a white man named William Holland Thomas, and did not

fall within the scope of removal. These North Carolina Cherokees became today's Eastern

Cherokee Band. (Ehle)

The Trail of Tears is generally regarded as one of the most regrettable episodes in

American history. To commemorate the event, in 1987, the US Congress designated it as the

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. It stretches 2200 miles and runs through nine states.
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In 2004, Senator Sam Brownback introduced a joint resolution to "offer an apology to all

Natives on behalf of the United States" for past "ill-conceived policies of the United States

Government toward Indian tribes". The US Senate has yet to take a decision on the issue.

In conclusion, this horrible event violated the human rights of thousands of Native

Americans who, although they may have obtained an apology from the authorities, will never

forget what happened to their ancestors and the serious consequences it has left on subsequent

generations.
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Works Cited

Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing Group, 1998.

Hausman, Blake M. Riding the Trail of Tears. University of Nebraska Press, 2011.

McLoughlin, William G. After the Trail of Tears: The Cherokees’ Struggle for Sovereignty,
1839-1880. The University of North Carolina Press, 2014.

Sturgis, Amy H. The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal. Greenwood Press, 2007.