“Like rain, the tears of anguish fell, sad moments locked in time …. Where each tear fell, as some will tell, will be seen a Cherokee rose,” (“A Cherokee Rose” by Rick Brown), tells that thousands of Cherokees were forced out of their homes and start heading west, during the trip to Oklahoma at least 4,000 Cherokee died. Many Cherokees died suffering through cruel and unfair government. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which was a law that forced Native Americans out of their land. In 1838 to 1839, 16,000 Cherokees were forced to walk 600 miles from Georgia to Oklahoma.
The Cherokees did try to rebel against the United States government but it didn’t go as well as planned. President Jackson sent troops into the Cherokees town and forced them to walk west with little food and supplies. After the expedition and living on a new land, it wasn’t easy for them either because the Cherokees had problems with their own tribe. To conclude, it was difficult to move the Cherokees west, many children died at a young age, also moving to a new region wasn’t so easy for the Cherokee. The source “The Indian Removal Act and Indian Territory” evaluate why the Cherokee were stubborn moving west.
To illustrate, in the Reference Source the author describes, “Treaties between the Cherokee a permanent homeland and self-government on their part of their ancestral territory” (Malinowski et al. [page 224]). This is important because the United States had already signed a treaty with the Cherokees, the Cherokees did not expect the government to force them to move away from their home. This is relevant because the Cherokees thought signing the treaty with the United States will protect them and let them stay on their homeland permanently. Malinowski states, “when faced with he prospect of losing their rights, and lands, the Cherokees Nation sued in federal court,” (page 224).
This shows that the Cherokees tried their best to stay in their homeland because that land was where they have lived for centuries. It is clear to see that, the Cherokees just wanted to live on their soil, like they way they have for generations. The Native Americans were stubborn moving west because the Cherokees wanted to have rights to stay on their land. In conclusion, the Cherokees just want to live in peace and harmony. The source ‘Where they Cried” synthesize the condition the Cherokees Indians went through.
To illustrate, “As Americans headed west, they wanted Indians to go away, and they did not care how or where,” said Frank Norris (Elish [Page 1]). This proves that the government didn’t really worry if the Cherokees walk through bad weather, even though it killed thousands of lives. It is important to realize that the government killed many lives just to take the Cherokees to the west and take their land without giving them good care. Elish states, “Once under way, they traveled without adequate food or shelter over rough country as late-summer heat gave away to bitter winter storm,” (Page 1).
This shows that the Cherokees had to deal with severely bad climate throughout their journey. This is relevant because the Cherokees had the lack of food and this lead to starvation and dehydration. Therefore, many lives died throughout the journey. Furthermore, the source “The Trail of Tears, the story of the Cherokee Removal” analyzed what happened to the Cherokees when entering a new society. When entering a new territory, the Cherokees did not just have a conflict with the Native Americans who already lived there but the Cherokees also had to handle the Old Settlers which is a group of Cherokees who moved west in 1835.
To demonstrates, “When John Ross arrived at his new homeland, he found himself struggling with the Old Settlers,” (Elish [Page 28]). This shows that, even after the long and difficult journey walking to Oklahoma, the Cherokees still had a hard time surviving. It is important to realize that after the Treaty of New Echota was signed and the Old Settlers had moved away, the tension between the Cherokees and the Old settlers hasn’t stopped. To illustrate, Elish states, “There was genuine threat of Cherokees civil war,” (Page 86). This is significant because their disagreement was so awful that they had to solve it by having a war.
In this shows that, after the war ended many Native Americans certainly did not survive, the population was already reducing but after the war, many lives have lost, even more. Therefore, it was not just the Trail of Tears that killed thousands of Cherokees there were other tough challenges the Cherokees had to face too. In sum, the Cherokees had to go through several different obstacles to get to where they are today. They had to manage their problems with the United States government and they had to make tough decisions whether or not to sign the Treaty of Echota with the United States.
Additionally, they had to walk through horrible weather and the shortage of resources. Moreover, they had a conflict with their own tribe that leads to civil war. Thus, the Cherokees and other Native Americans had to experience such a horrible event in the American history. Making Connections Ivorian were living in camps to run away from threats. Many Ivorians were walking for five days in the forest and with little food and water. Their village was under attacked by enemies. They walked across the border and lived in camps in a place called Liberia.
Many of the refugees have lost families and friends, The population has decreased by a great amount of number. For example, in the article, it stated: “10,300 Ivorians returned, but that fell barely 1,000the following month, 239 in July and just 147 in August,” (Lupick [Page 1]). This is important because the Cherokees population was also decreasing by many people. This is relevant because after several of months the population from thousands to hundreds. It is important to realize that, before the Cherokees started their expedition on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees lived in camps called stockades.
To demonstrate, “They spent the next five days walking through thick forest, surviving on water and raw cassava, a type of root, “(Lupick [Page 1]). This proves that the Ivorians went through the same difficulty as the Cherokees because the Cherokees also walk for 600 miles with a small amount of food. This significant because, the Ivorian is also going through a similar thing to the Cherokees, the Ivorians and the Cherokees both had to walk for a long term and it wasn’t by choice. As a result, the Ivorians was also like the Cherokee and both of the groups had to go through had challenges.