The Trail of Tears Marking the Text
Essential Question: How did the Indian Removal Act affect Native
American tribes in the Southeastern United States?
During the 1800s, white settlers wanted land on which American Indian tribes lived. Usually these tribes did not believe a person could own land. Since the two cultures (KUHL-chuhrz) viewed property so differently, it became a struggle for these groups to get along.
The United States government made multiple treaties with Indian tribes. In them, the government would take their land and offer different land in exchange. But there were problems with these treaties because sometimes more than one tribe would claim ownership of an area. And since chiefs were offered gifts to sign treaties, a chief might agree without his tribe’s consent. Then, the tribe did not consider the treaty valid, while the government did.
In 1814, the United States government decided to move five of the largest tribes out West. Many treaties were ratified (RAT-uh-FIDE), but the tribes refused to move. They had signed the documents just to make the government agents leave. Therefore, in 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act to give the president the ability to force the tribes to move west. This affected all tribes east of the Mississippi River. Indian Territory (TAIR-uh-tor-ee) was the region on the west side of the Mississippi River reserved, or set aside, for Indians. The United States government guaranteed that white settlers would never move there.
The government gave the Cherokee (CHAIR-uh-key) Indians two years to move, but since most of them had not agreed to the treaty, they refused to leave. One day, government troops came to remove them. The troops did not even give the Cherokee people time to gather their possessions. They made them walk hundreds of miles in a forced march that is remembered as the Trail of Tears. Many people, especially the young and old, died on this march.
The first Indian reservations (rez-uhr-VAY-shuhnz) were large pieces of land on which the tribes could do as they pleased so long as they stayed within the designated areas. Later, reservations were set up as small communities with agents in charge of distributing the food and other supplies sent by the government. Although they were also supposed to protect and assist the tribes, many agents were not honest and deliberately did things that hurt the Indians.
Today, Indian reservations are sovereign (SOV-ruhn) nations and independent of the United States. Most have constitutions that outline their laws.