Cherokee trail of tears
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The Cherokee Trail of Tears (also called the trail of Indian tears) refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Nation from their lands in Georgia to the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 4,000 Cherokees.[1]
In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nunna daul Isunyi—“the Trail Where They Cried”. The Cherokees were not the only Native Americans forced to emigrate as a result of the Indian Removal efforts of the United States. Other Native American groups from the Indiana Territory and Florida were also removed. The Seminole Nation in Florida fought a guerrilla war with the United States when they refused to leave their land. They had beat the Americans for over a year but lost due to the loss of their beloved and brave War Chief Osceola. The phrase, “Trail of Tears”, is sometimes used to refer to similar events endured by other Indian people, especially among the Five Civilized Tribes. The phrase originated as a description of the forcible removal of the Choctaw nation in 1831.
The Cherokee Trail of Tears resulted from the enforcement of the Treaty of New Echota, an agreement signed under the provisions of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which exchanged Native American land in the East for lands west of the Mississippi River, but which was never accepted by the elected tribal leadership or a majority of the Cherokee people. Nevertheless, the treaty, passed by Congress by a single vote, and signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, was imposed by his successor President Martin Van Buren who allowed Georgian state troops to round up about 17,000 Cherokees in concentration camps before being sent to the West. Most of the deaths occurred from disease, starvation and cold in these camps. After the initial roundup, the U.S. military still oversaw the emigration until they met the forced destination
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[edit] Gold rush and court cases
These tensions between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation were brought to a crisis by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1829, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush, the first gold rush in U.S. history. Hopeful gold speculators began trespassing on Cherokee lands, and pressure began to mount on the Georgia government to fulfill the promises of the Compact of 1802.
When Georgia moved to extend state laws over Cherokee tribal lands in 1830, the matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the Marshall court ruled that the Cherokees were not a sovereign and independent nation, and therefore refused to hear the case. However, in Worcester v. State of Georgia (1832), the Court ruled that Georgia could not impose laws in Cherokee territory, since only the national government — not state governments — had authority in Indian affairs.
President Andrew Jackson has often been quoted as defying the Supreme Court with the words: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” Jackson probably never said this, but he was fully committed to the policy. He had no desire to use the power of the national government to protect the Cherokees from Georgia, since he was already entangled with states’ rights issues in what became known as the nullification crisis. With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the U.S. Congress had given Jackson authority to negotiate removal treaties, exchanging Indian land in the East for land west of the Mississippi River. Jackson used the dispute with Georgia to put pressure on the Cherokees to sign a removal treaty.[2]
[edit] Georgia and the Cherokee Nation
The rapidly expanding population of the United States early in the 19th century created tensions with Native American tribes located within the borders of the various states. While state governments did not want independent Indian enclaves within state boundaries, Indian tribes did not want to relocate or to give up their distinct identities.
With the Compact of 1802, the state of Georgia relinquished to the national government its western land claims (which became the states of Alabama and Mississippi). In exchange, the national government promised to eventually conduct treaties to relocate those Indian tribes living within Georgia, thus giving Georgia control of all land within its borders.
However, the Cherokees, whose ancestral tribal lands overlapped the boundaries of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, declined to move. They established a capital in 1825 at New Echota (near present-day Calhoun, Georgia). Furthermore, led by principal Chief John Ross and Major Ridge, the speaker of the Cherokee National Council, the Cherokees adopted a written constitution on 26 July 1827, declaring the Cherokee Nation to be a sovereign and independent nation.
The Cherokee land that was lost proved to be extremely valuable. Upon these lands were the alignments for the future rights-of-way for rail and road communications between the eastern Piedmont slopes of the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio/Tennessee river valley at Chattanooga. This location is still a strategic economic asset and is the basis for the tremendous success of Atlanta, Georgia, as a regional transportation and logistics center. Georgia’s appropriation of these lands from the Cherokee kept the wealth out of the hands of the Cherokee Nation.
This underlying conflict with state government remains pertinent to this day, as evidenced by the Indian Casino gambling conflict.[citation needed] White elites and their leaders in state governments were hostile to a recognition of the existence of quasi-Federal co-equal territorial and hereditary collective sovereignty of a people, as a group within the borders of their state(s).[citation needed]
The Federal constitutional concept of sovereignty created by the US constitution was the first fundamental attack upon this traditional American - Native American concept of tribal sovereignty. The US constitution is a Federal as opposed to a national constitution. The US constitution recognized and codified the existence of the thirteen colonies as states; and accepted the states' sovereignty over their own territories and their citizens, in all matters that did not impair their citizen's rights as individuals or the powers of the Federal government. In this scheme, there was (and in truth still is) no real or expressed place for the collective historical assertion of sovereign right(s) of a hereditary tribal band, which rights the states (i.e., the state governments) were or are bound to accept.
These historical sovereign tribal rights would have manifested themselves in a recognition by the states that the tribes (through their government's and their government's alone) would in perpetuity generate and regulate the recognition and title to tribal land. That is, the tribal government would have controlled the use, transfer and disposition of land (and rights in land such as mineral or water rights) used by members of the tribe and by non-member citizens of the state(s) who entered into contracts with the tribe, or with members of the tribe as individuals, or tribal corporate entities. Both tribal land use and land tax (fee or reinter) policy[citation needed] were viewed by the tribal bands as an expression of the historical tribal sovereignty which belonged to the tribe as a whole, was inalienable, and which the tribal government and no one else could administer, either for an individual tribal member or a non-member who did business with the tribe. The states of this union have never accepted this principle, from the beginning, down to the present day. The state of Georgia was not prepared to accept it either.
The position of Georgia and the state Governments was and is that they cannot, and do not recognize any “sovereign” organs or entities except, as is expressly permitted of them in the U. S. Constitution.[citation needed] And the constitution forbids the states to recognize or entreat with foreign states or sovereigns (i.e., Texas may not enter into an agreement with Mexico; and Maine may not enter into an agreement with Canada). The states of the Union may not even enter into compacts between and among themselves (interstate compacts), or with any other entity (as sovereigns), except with the express permission of the Federal Government through the U.S Congress (i.e., the interstate compact between New York and New Jersey creating the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (the builder and owner of the World Trade Center) was established by, and only after the enactment of Congressional legislation).[citation needed]
Georgia and the states also contended then (and are sustained in this belief down to the present day rulings of the U.S Supreme Court) that even if the United States enters into a solemn treaty with another sovereign entity, and that treaty’s terms are not self executing; then that treaty has no force and effect of Federal law; and has no ability through judicial processes to overturn the laws; or establish the governmental policies of any of the several states.[citation needed]
Thus the position of the state of Georgia was that it was not obliged to recognize or construct the policies of its state government to support or to carry into effect the treaties negotiated between the Indian tribes, and: the British Empire colony of Georgia; the Continental Congress; the Untied States (under the Articles of Confederation); and the United States under the U.S. Constitution. Their opinion was and is that no international agreement, in the absence of Congressional legislation or self execution, creates Federal law.[citation needed]
The Cherokee lands in Georgia were settled upon by the Cherokee for the simple reason that they were and still are the shortest and most easily traversed route between the first and only fresh water sourced settlement location at the southeastern tip of the Appalachian range (the Chattahoochee River), and the natural passes, ridges, and valleys which lead to the Tennessee river at what is today, Chattanooga.[citation needed] From Chattanooga there was and is the potential for a year-round water transport to St. Louis and the west (via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers), or to as far east as Pittsburgh, PA.
From the state of Georgia’s perspective the course of the Cherokee’s legal claims were leading in a direction that it could only be resolved with a “final solution” of the Indian question. This was due to the fact that while not heading in the direction of true national sovereignty (like France or Germany) or even Federal sovereignty (like Georgia or Tennessee), the Supreme Court and the Federal Government were headed in the direction of determining that Federally recognized historic Indian tribal territories (the historic lands of the Indian “nations” which were recognized codified in actual treaties between the United States and the Indians ) were the property of the Indians, and was held in Trust for them by the United States of America. The ownership was viewed as a collective ownership by the Indian band not as an ownership of the Indians as individuals. This made it even harder to break-up or take Indian lands.
Therefore, the lands of the tribal territories (today they are called reservations) had the status as regards to the States, as does Federal territory, or Federal land within a state. Such lands may not be taxed, or sold by the State in which they exist. Such lands may not be taken or borrowed for easements or “rights-of-way” to construct communications, roads, railroads or telegraphs. Such lands could not be offered as security in a States’ issuance or guarantee of railroad bonds or other financial instruments, in which such lands would serve as chattels (because such lands were not the property of the States to begin with).
The US Supreme Court finally reached this theory of the Indian nations and their lands in the 19th century. And this theory is still in force today. This legal view of tribal Indian lands is the basis for the Indian casino gaming industry on tribal lands.
After their removal of the Cherokee the state of Georgia initiated over what was now its own property the construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A). This railroad runs from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The land for the road, (the “right-of-way”) owned by the State of Georgia extends into Tennessee all the way into the city of Chattanooga. The road was founded by the State on December 21, 1836 as the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia, the line is still owned by the State of Georgia from Atlanta to CT Tower in Chattanooga.
[edit] Removal treaty and resistance
With the landslide reelection of Andrew Jackson in 1832, some of the most strident Cherokee opponents of removal began to rethink their positions. Led by Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie, they became known as the “Ridge Party”, or the “Treaty Party”. The Ridge Party believed that it was in the best interest of the Cherokees to get favorable terms from the U.S. government, before white squatters, state governments, and violence made matters worse. John Ridge began unauthorized talks with the Jackson administration in the late 1820s. Meanwhile, in anticipation of the Cherokee removal, the state of Georgia began holding lotteries in order to divide up the Cherokee tribal lands among white Georgians.
However, Principal Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee people remained adamantly opposed to removal. Political maneuvering began: Chief Ross canceled the tribal elections in 1832, the Council impeached the Ridges, and a member of the Ridge Party was murdered. The Ridges responded by eventually forming their own council, representing only a fraction of the Cherokee people. This split the Cherokee Nation into two factions: the Western Cherokees, led by Major Ridge; and the Eastern faction, who continued to recognize Chief John Ross as the Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
In 1835, Jackson appointed Reverend John F. Schermerhorn as a treaty commissioner. The U.S. government proposed to pay the Cherokee Nation US$4.5 million (among other considerations) to remove themselves. These terms were rejected in October 1835 by the Cherokee Nation council. Chief Ross, attempting to bridge the gap between his administration and the Ridge Party, traveled to Washington with John Ridge to open new negotiations, but they were turned away and told to deal with Schermerhorn.
Meanwhile, Schermerhorn organized a meeting with the pro-removal council members at New Echota, Georgia. Only five hundred Cherokees (out of thousands) responded to the summons, and, on December 30, 1835, twenty-one proponents of Cherokee removal, among them Major Ridge and Elias Boudinot, signed or left “X” marks on the Treaty of New Echota. John Ridge and Stand Watie signed the treaty when it was brought to Washington. Chief Ross, as expected, refused. The signatories were violating a Cherokee Nation law drafted by John Ridge (passed in 1829) which had made it a crime to sign away Cherokee lands, the punishment for which was death.
Not a single official of the Cherokee Council signed the document. This treaty gave up all the Cherokee land east of the Mississippi. Despite the protests by the Cherokee National Council and principal Chief Ross that the document was a fraud, Congress ratified the treaty on May 23, 1836, by just one vote. A number of Cherokees (including the Ridge party) left for the West at this time, joining those who had already emigrated. By the end of 1836, more than 6,000 Cherokees had moved to the West. More than 16,000 remained in the South, however; the terms of the treaty gave them two years to leave.
[edit] Forced removal
The protests against the Treaty of New Echota continued. In the spring of 1838, Chief Ross presented a petition with more than 15,000 Cherokee signatures, asking Congress to invalidate the treaty. Many white Americans were also outraged by the dubious legality of the treaty and called on the government not to force the Cherokees to move. For example, on April 23, 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a letter to Jackson’s successor, President Martin Van Buren, urging him not to inflict “so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee Nation.” [3]
Nevertheless, as the May 23, 1838 deadline for voluntary removal approached, President Van Buren assigned General Winfield Scott to head the forcible removal operation. He arrived at New Echota on May 17, 1838, in command of about 7,000 soldiers. They began rounding up Cherokees in Georgia on May 26, 1838; ten days later, operations began in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama. About 16,000 Cherokees — along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by wealthy Cherokees — were removed at gunpoint from their homes over three weeks and gathered together in camps, often with very few of their possessions. Another soldier, Private John G. Burnett later wrote "Future generations will read and condemn the act and I do hope posterity will remember that private soldiers like myself, and like the four Cherokees who were forced by General Scott to shoot an Indian Chief and his children, had to execute the orders of our superiors. We had no choice in the matter." [4]They were then transferred to departure points at Ross’s Landing (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and Gunter’s Landing (Guntersville, Alabama) on the Tennessee River, and at Fort Cass (Charleston, Tennessee) near the Cherokee Agency on the Hiwassee River (Calhoun, Tennessee). From there, they were sent to the Indian Territory, mostly traveling on foot or by some combination of horse, wagon, and boat, a distance of around 1,200 miles (1,900 km) along one of the three routes.
The camps were plagued by dysentery and other illnesses, which led to many deaths. After three groups had been sent on the trail, a group of Cherokees petitioned General Scott for a delay until cooler weather made the journey less hazardous. This was granted; meanwhile Chief Ross, finally accepting defeat, managed to have the remainder of the removal turned over to the supervision of the Cherokee Council. Although there were some objections within the U.S. government because of the additional cost, General Scott awarded a contract for removing the remaining 11,000 Cherokees to Chief Ross. The Cherokee-administered marches began on August 28, 1838, and consisted of thirteen groups with an average of 1,000 people in each. Although this arrangement was an improvement for all concerned, disease still took many lives.
The number of people who died as a result of the Trail of Tears has been variously estimated. American doctor and missionary Elizur Butler, who made the journey with one party, estimated 2,000 deaths in the camps and 2,000 on the trail; his total of 4,000 deaths remains the most cited figure. A scholarly demographic study in 1973 estimated 2,000 total deaths; another, in 1984, concluded that a total of 6,000 people died.[5]
During the journey, it is said that the people would sing “Amazing Grace”, using its inspiration to improve morale. The traditional Christian hymn had previously been translated into Cherokee by the missionary Samuel Worcester with Cherokee assistance. The song has since become a sort of anthem for the Cherokee people.[6]
[edit] Aftermath
Cherokees who were removed initially settled near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The political turmoil resulting from the Treaty of New Echota and the Trail of Tears led to the assassinations of Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot; of the leaders of the Treaty Party, only Stand Watie escaped his assassins. The population of the Cherokee Nation eventually rebounded, and today the Cherokees are the largest American Indian group in the United States.[7]
There were some exceptions to removal. Perhaps 1,000 Cherokees evaded the U.S. soldiers and lived off the land in Georgia and other states. Those Cherokees who lived on private, individually owned lands (rather than communally owned tribal land) were not subject to removal. In North Carolina, about 400 Cherokees lived on land in the Great Smoky Mountains owned by a white man named William Holland Thomas (who had been adopted by Cherokees as a boy), and were thus not subject to removal. These North Carolina Cherokees became the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation.
The Trail of Tears is generally considered to be one of the most regrettable episodes in American history. To commemorate the event, the U.S. Congress designated the Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail in 1987. It stretches for 2,200 miles (3,540 km) across nine states.
In 2004, Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas) introduced a joint resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 37) to “offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States” for past “ill-conceived policies” by the United States Government regarding Indian Tribes. The United States Senate has yet to take action on the measure.
[edit] Reference in popular culture
In 1971 the rock group Paul Revere and the Raiders issued a single that commemorated the forcible removal of the Cherokee Nation: "Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)."
Country-rock super-group Southern Pacific recorded a song titled "Trail of Tears" on their 1988 "Zuma" album. The songs closes out the album and features the lead vocals of John McFee, currently a member of The Doobie Brothers. The song was written by McFee with frequent co-worker Andre Pessis.
In 1974 John and Terry Talbot Mason Proffit wrote and recorded their song "Trail Of Tears" on the album "The Talbot Brothers".
Heavy metal band Manowar mentions the Trail of Tears in their song: "Spirit Horse of the Cherokee", on the 1992 album The Triumph of Steel.
Pop musician Tori Amos, herself part Cherokee, has also written about the events in her piece "Home On The Range - Cherokee Edition."
Finnish metal band, Nightwish, also references the Trail of Tears in their song, Creek Mary's Blood.
Swedish rock band Europe refers to the Trail of Tears in their song "Cherokee" on their album "The Final Countdown".
Popular US composer James Barnes published a tone poem for wind band entitled Trail of Tears (1989) that depicts the journey made by the Cherokee people. The piece includes the recitation of a mournful poem in the Cherokee language: Dedeeshkawnk juniyohoosa, Dedeeshkawnk ahyoheest, Dedeeshkawnk daynahnohtee (Let us mourn those who have died, Let us mourn those who are dying, Let us mourn those who must endure).
Oakland (CA) based thrash metal band Testament recorded a song called "Trail Of Tears" on their 1994 album Low.
Heavy Metal band W.A.S.P. recorded the song "Trail of Tears" as part of their 2002 album "Dying for the World" lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Steven Duren a.k.a. Blackie Lawless being of Blackfoot Native American ancestry himself
The Firesign Theatre album "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers" has this partial commercial: "This is a line of Indians leaving beautiful Rancho Malario--to make room for YOU! Here's the beautiful Trail of Tears golf course (click)"
Billy Ray Cyrus wrote a song called the Trail of Tears.
Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, a professional modern dance company based in Carmel, Indiana, has a piece in their repertoire called Trail of Tears
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma: http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/CulInfo/TOT/58/Default.aspx
- ^ Remini, Andrew Jackson, p. 257, Prucha, Great Father, p. 212.
- ^ Letter to President Van Buren, Ralph Waldo Emerson, April 23, 1838.
- ^ "Birthday Story of Private John G. Burnett, Captain Abraham McClellan’s Company, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Mounted Infantry, Cherokee Indian Removal, 1838-39", Cherokee Nation official site, http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/CulInfo/TOT/128/Default.aspx
- ^ Prucha, Great Father, p. 241 note 58; Ehle, Trail of Tears, pp. 390–92; Russel Thornton, "Demography of the Trail of Tears" in Anderson, Trail of Tears, pp. 75–93.
- ^ Steve Turner, Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song (Harper Collins, 2003), p. 167; Deborah L Duvall, Tahlequah: The Cherokee Nation (Arcadia Publishing, 2000), p. 35; Richard M. Swiderski, The Metamorphosis of English (Bergin Garvey/Greenwood, 1996), p. 91.
- ^ Top 25 American Indian Tribes for the United States: 1990 and 1980. U.S. Bureau of the Census (August 1995).
[edit] References
- Anderson, William L., ed. Cherokee Removal: Before and After. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1991.
- Carter, Samuel. Cherokee Sunset: A Nation Betrayed. New York: Doubleday, 1976. ISBN 0-385-06735-6.
- Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Doubleday, 1988. ISBN 0-385-23953-X.
- Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932, 11th printing 1989. ISBN 0-8061-1172-0.
- Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Volume I. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8032-3668-9.
- Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars. New York: Viking, 2001. ISBN 0-670-91025-2.
- Wallace, Anthony F.C. The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. ISBN 0-8090-1552-8 (paperback); ISBN 0-8090-6631-9 (hardback).
[edit] Documentary
- The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy (2006) -directed by Chip Richie; na by James Earl Jones
[edit] External links
- Documents
- “Removal of the Indians” by Lewis Cass, January 1830
- Cherokee Indian Removal Debate U.S. Senate, April 15-17, 1830
- Elias Boudinot’s editorials in The Cherokee Phoenix, 1829-31
- Text of the Treaty of New Echota, 1835
- Winfield Scott's Address to the Cherokee Nation, May 10, 1838
- Winfield Scott's Order to U.S. Troops assigned to the Cherokee Removal, May 17, 1838
- Various documents from cherokee.org
- Status of Senate Joint Resolution 37.
- Articles
- "Andrew Jackson v. the Cherokee Nation" (excerpt from Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars) by Robert Remini at historynet.com
- "Cherokee Removal" from The New Georgia Encyclopedia
- "Gold Rush in North Georgia" from The New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Trail of Tears (entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia)
- Corwin, Edward S. National Supremacy: Treaty Power vs. State Power and the review thereof in The American Historical Review, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Apr., 1914), pp. 649-651, published by: American Historical Association, Baldwin, Simeon E..
- Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail
- New Echota Historic Site
- Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, Hopkinsville KY
- Trail of Tears State Park, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
- Port Royal State Park, Montgomery County, Tennessee
- Red Clay State Park, Bradley County, Tennessee
- Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride a yearly event which claims to be "the largest annual motorcycle ride in America", raises funds for college scholarships for Native American students
- See The Trail of Tears and the Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation for a lesson about the Trail of Tears from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.
- Audio
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