indian removal act and trail of tears definition
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was a series of forced removals, sometimes at gunpoint, of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to other areas, one which was an area West of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory. The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. Many of the relocated native people suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their new designated reserve, and many died before reaching their various designated reserve(s). The removal included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Ponca nations. The phrase "Trail of Tears" originates from a description of the many native american tribes removal; including the infamous Cherokee Nation in 1838.[1][2][3]
Trail of Tears American settlers had been pressuring the federal government to remove Indians from the Southeast; many settlers were encroaching on Indian lands, while others wanted more land made available to white settlers. Although the effort was vehemently opposed by some, including U.S. Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee, President Andrew Jackson was able to gain Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the government to extinguish Indian title to lands in the Southeast.
Trail of Tears In 1831, the Choctaw became the first Nation to be removed, and their removal served as the model for all future relocations. After two wars, many Seminoles were removed in 1832. The Creek removal followed in 1834, the Chickasaw in 1837, and lastly the Cherokee in 1838.[14] However, some managed to evade the removals and remained in their ancestral homelands; some Choctaw are living in Mississippi, Creek in Alabama and Florida, Cherokee in North Carolina, and Seminole in Florida; a small group had escaped into the Everglades and were never defeated by the United States government.[clarification needed] A small number of non-Native Americans who lived with the tribes, including some of African descent (some as slaves, and others as spouses or freedmen), also accompanied the Indians on the trek westward.[14] By 1837, 46,000 Indians from the southeastern states had been removed from their homelands, thereby opening 25 million acres (100,000 km2) for predominantly European ('Caucasian'/'white') settlement.[14]
Economic nationalism While the coining of the term "