The Cherokee Nation refused to leave their homes. In 1838, President Martin van Buren ordered the military to force them to leave. Soldiers forced about 15,000 Cherokees and 2,000 of their slaves to leave their land. At first, the Cherokees were all forced into internment camps, where 353 Cherokee died from diseases during one summer. After that, the Cherokee were forced to walk from the South to what is now Oklahoma and Arkansas. Most historians say that about 4,000 people died on the way. This was one out of every four people in the Cherokee population. Because so many people died, this forced migration is now called the Trail of Tears.