The Big Picture and Facts

Andrew Jackson vs. the Cherokees

By Brian Kirsch, Alex Garmon, and Jordan Schulman

                The Trail of Tears has to do with the theme of rights and responsibilities in many ways. It is unfair that Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokees out of their home and took away their rights. This had major impact in the Utes  This topic has to do with the theme of rights and responsibilities because it is unfair that Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokees out of their home and took away their rights. This had major impact in the United Staand is remembered as one of the more notable examples of Indians being forced out of their homes. This era in history is known as “The Trail of Tears”.

                  Andrew Jackson was born in poverty and became a wealthy lawyer in Tennessee. In 1812 when the United States and Britain entered war, Jackson became a military leadership role. This earned him national fame as a military hero. He became one of America’s most influential figure during the 1820s and the 1830s. After losing the presidential election to John Quincy Adams in 1824, Jackson finally returned in 1829 and became the 7^th president of the United States. While Andrew Jackson became president, America’s political party system began to develop. Jackson became the leader of the new party, the Democrats.

                  Andrew Jackson was a demanding political and military official who wanted immediate action on removing American Indians from Southern America in 1829. On May 28^th, 1830, Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act. This act began the end of Indian rights to live in those states with their own laws, rights and responsabilites.  The Indian Nations were forced to move out to Oklahoma, very far away from their current homeland.          

                  Most of the non-native people in the south supported the Indian Removal Act. These people wanted to gain access to land owned by the Five Civilized Tribes. Most European Americans favored the passage of the act. The removal act was highly controversial. Many Christian missionaries tried to protest against Indian removal. Future president Abraham Lincoln and Davy Crocket also spoke out against Indian removal. Davey Crockett even wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson and his vice president, Van Buren. 

                  After the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Indians to the west, many died. The trip to Oklahoma was very hard and treacherous, and the Cherokees were kept under very poor conditions ending in many deaths. Cherokees and Americans alike are still reminded how horribly and terribly the Indians were treated and how many died on the Trail of Tears.

              The Cherokees wrote a petition with over 15,000 Cherokees signatures in protest of the removal. Despite the Supreme Court and the US legislature, due to delays and timing in part, ignored it. Jackson’s successor, Van Buren ordered over 7,000 troopers to remove the Cherokees. This forced removal resulted in over 4,000 Cherokees being killed on the Trail of Tears. This was more of the horribleness that came with the Trail of Tears era

                  More than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the west during Jackson’s presidency. Not only were Cherokees serverly hurt during the Trail of Tears, but other indian tribes were affected, too. A few Cherokees escaped from this forced relocation and some walked back afterwards, escaping to the high smokey mountains near the North Carolina and Tennessee border.

                  After the Trail of Tears era was over, Jackson was criticized for his part in these events. Jackson’s Administration bought about 100 acres of Indian land for $68,000,000 and 32,000,000 acres of western land. The Trail of tears has been infamously remembered as a more notable example of Indian removal. This struggle has left a mark, which has scarred the United States in its great mistake in forcing the Native Americans to move out to Oklahoma on the trail, now historically known as the Trail of Tears.