LITR 4326 Early American Literature Research Posts 2016 (research post assignment) Research Post 2

Mariah Glidden

Andrew Jackson’s Role in The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears is a well known dark stain on the history of America. In the 1830’s over 100,000 Indians native to the lands of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida were relocated to an “Indian territory” thousands of miles away in Oklahoma. They had to make this journey mostly on foot. There were many tribes involved, but they all lost many of their people along the way. Their deaths were due mostly to sickness and starvation. This is mostly common knowledge of those who have been through the education system. What a lot of people don’t know is that one of America’s “heroes,” Andrew Jackson, is largely responsible for this horrid act.

Andrew Jackson supported the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which promised that fair and voluntary relocation for Indians to lands wet of the Mississippi. It did not allow for Jackson to force the natives off of their lands. “The Cherokee resisted, using American courts to argue that they were a sovereign nation. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), but Georgians and President Andrew Jackson ignored the Court’s decision.” Andrew Jackson ignored the laws and ordered the US Army to begin to forcefully remove the Cherokee off of their lands. The main reason for this push was that the lands the Cherokee occupied were rich in gold and the citizens of Georgia wanted to mine it for themselves.

The Cherokee and Jackson formed the Treaty of New Echota that traded all of their lands east of the Mississippi for lands west of it in what is now considered Oklahoma. Many Cherokee leaders opposed the treaty but were undermined by a select few that supported the removal and signed the documents behind the others' backs. The Cherokee had recently passed a law stating that the signing away of the nation's land was punishable by death, and those that signed were brought to justice once they reached the new Indian territory.

Andrew Jackson disregarded federal laws in his desire to please the citizens of Georgia and treated the natives as if they were cattle to be herded where he pleased. He could be said to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Indians. Although he didn’t act alone, he was one of the main supporters and pushed hard for the removal of Indians. Jackson’s actions and lack of regard for the federal ruling in favor of the Cherokees were unconstitutional and should have never been allowed.

http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears

http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25652

http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/History/TrailofTears/ABriefHistoryoftheTrailofTears.aspx

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Trail_of_Tears#Forced_removal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears