Trail Of Tears :: essays research papers

Trail of Tears Trial of Tears and the Five Civilized Tribes During the early years of 1800s, worthy gold deposits were discovered in tribal lands, which by previouscessions had been reduced to about seven million acres in northwest Georgia,eastern Tennessee, and south-west North Carolina. In 1819 Georgiaappealed to the U.S. government to remove the Cherokee from Georgialands. When the appeal failed, attempts were made to purchase the territory.Meanwhile, in 1820 the Cherokee established a governmental system model on that of the United States, with an elected principal chief, asenate, and a house of representatives. Because of this system, the Cherokeewere included as one of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. The other quaterniontribes were the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and the Seminoles. In 1832 theSupreme Court of the United States ruled that the Georgia legislation wasunconstitutional federal authorities, following Jacksons policy of NativeAmerican removal, ignored the decisi on. About five hundred leadingCherokee agreed in 1835 to cede the tribal territory in exchange for$5,700,000 and land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Their action wasrepudiated by more than nine-tenths of the tribe, and several members of thegroup were later assassinated. In 1838 federal troops began forcible evictingthe Cherokee. Approximately one thousand take flight to the North CarolinaMountains, purchased land, and incorporated in that state they were theancestors of the present-day Eastern gang. Most of the tribe, including theWestern Band, was driven west about eight hundred miles in a forced march,known as the Trail of Tears. The march west included 18,000 to 20,000people, of whom about 4000 perished through hunger, disease, andexposure. The Cherokee are of the Iroquoian linguistic family. Theireconomy, like that of the other southeastern tribes, was ground on intensiveagriculture, mainly of corn, beans, and squash. Deer, bear, and elk werehunted. The tribe was divide d into seven matrilineal clans that were dispersedin war and peace moieties (half-tribes). The people lived in manypermanent villages, some of which belonged to the war moiety, the rest to thepeace moiety. In the early 19th century, the Cherokee demonstrated unusualadaptability to Western institutions, both in their governmental changes and intheir adoption of Western method of animal harvesting and farming. Publicschools were established and in the 1820s, a tribal member invented an85-character syllable script for the Cherokee language. Widespread literacyfollowed almost immediately. In 1828 the first Native American newspaper,the Cherokee Phoenix, began publication. Today in Oklahoma, much of theculture has remained the same. Their traditional crafts are most stronglypreserved by the Eastern Band where their basketry is considered to be