The United States government committed one of the most heinous incidents of its history by passing the Removal Act of 1830 that led to the Trail of Tears which was the relocation and demoralization of the American Indians. The Indians were forced to move west in a mass exodus so that the American settlers could continue to grow and prosper in their newly adopted country.
The most notable of those forced from their homeland by the U.S. government were the Five Civilized Tribes of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole. The Five Civilized Tribes made up the majority of the 60,000 Indians driven west. These tribes were distinguished from the other Indian populations because of their organization and forms of leadership. They had social systems based on ownership of property, established schools and governmental offices much like those in Europe. The tribes in many cases even adopted European dress and nomenclature, which in the eyes of the U.S. government made them more civilized, but not civilized enough to be their neighbors.
The Indian Removal act of 1830, gave President Andrew Jackson the authority to relocate the Indians. The document stated that Jackson could only begin the relocation with the Indians’ consent, and further that the Indians would be paid for their land and given new territories to which they would hold perpetual title. Unfortunately, this is not the way the policy was carried out. False treaties, broken promises and lies were common occurrences in dealing with the Indians. Anything and everything was done to ensure U.S. control of the land.
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The Trail of Tears was a time of immense despair and misery. In order to move the tribes swiftly and efficiently, the Indians were organized into wretched traveling caravans. While on the trail, the Indians endured horrible living conditions. They slept in the mud with no shelter and little food. They were often forced to march in manacles. If the living conditions didn’t kill the Indians, disease did. The Indians were plagued with dysentery, whooping cough, pellagra, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Entire families were wiped out. The Trail of Tears not only took a physical toll on the Indians, it also damaged the Indians spirit and self respect.
Of the five tribes, the Choctaw faired the best. This was because they complied with the government and moved early. The Choctaw tribe was sprinkled throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas territories. In 1820, an early treaty was signed in which the Choctaw was given land west of the Mississippi river in exchange for their land in the east. The U.S. tried to coax the Choctaw to move west into their new homeland, however it wasn’t until September of 1830 that the tribe began moving.
By 1833, the whole tribe had moved, and the Choctaw people began settling their new land. It is due to the Choctaw people’s willingness to comply with the U.S. government that their removal went smoothly. In 1834, a select group from the Choctaw tribe and the U.S. government met to form the first general council and a constitution of the Choctaw nation. Over the first few years, the Choctaw divided their land into three districts each equipped with a chief and ten counselors.
The Choctaw leaders worked with the U.S. government to ensure that the terms of their treaty were carried out. In the end, the Choctaw nation was governed by a written constitution with laws printed in English and Choctaw. Today, the Choctaw are considered to be one of the more successful Indian tribes.
Compliance with the U.S. government didn’t always ensure fair treatment. The Creeks acquiesced in hopes that it would make their dealings with the government easier. However, the government took advantage of the Creeks. The Treaty of 1826 was an early effort to begin the removal of the Creek Indians. The deceptive ways that the U.S. government worked with the Creek leaders caused great turmoil within the tribe. The U.S. government had agreed to provide the Creeks with traps, guns, farm equipment and other items needed for their general welfare and survival, but did not follow through on their promise. Without these items, the Creeks led a miserable existence. The tribe was devastated by fevers, influenza and other diseases.
Many of the Creeks became so frustrated with their living conditions that they went back to their previous homes in Alabama. In 1836, the removal act brought more than ten thousand members of the Creek tribe to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Chief Roley McIntosh was in the process of selling the tribal land in Alabama, when the tribe began to fall apart. The selling of tribal land angered Creek members and a rift was formed within the tribe. Plagued with dissension, the Creeks were separated into nearly fifty towns. A few of the Creeks prospered in the new land. Sadly, a majority of the Creeks did not do well. They were driven from their homes without any preparation and found themselves in a new area without resources.
The Chickasaw, though sharing a common ancestry with the Choctaw, did not fair as well. Prior to the Trail of Tears, the Chickasaw had established schools with the assistance of the U.S. government. However, once the Removal Act was passed, all assistance was withdrawn, in hopes that it would aid the government in removing the Chickasaw. The U.S. government attempted to integrate the Chickasaw into the Choctaw tribe in hopes of speeding up the relocation process. This caused many problems because the Chickasaw were unable to assimilate. In fact, it took seven years until the Chickasaw people had completely moved. The Chickasaws were demoralized by the constant attacks of renegade Indians from the south who would steal their horses and harass them. The Chickasaw ended up purchasing land in the Western region of the Choctaw land. Due to the forced move, the Chickasaw led restless, unsecured lives in their new homeland. They lost much of the respect they had for themselves and had no incentive to reestablish their schools and government.
The Cherokee Indians had partly assimilated with the U.S. culture and made use of the justice system. When the Removal Act was passed, the Cherokee took their case to the supreme court. They appealed the removal act in the cases of Cherokee Nations vs. Georgia and Worcester vs. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall found in favor of the Cherokees. Marshall said that the Cherokee nation was a set community that had boundaries and that the citizens of U.S. had no right to enter their land. He did say that the Cherokees had the right to conform with treaties if they wanted to comply with Congress. This legal affirmation of the Cherokee’s rights sadly did nothing to stop President Jackson and his assault upon the native population.
President Jackson chose to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling and thus the Trail of Tears began. After the Cherokees’ peaceful fight against the Removal Act in the Supreme Court, they faced great hostilities. When the Removal Act was passed and their court battle over, the Cherokees withheld their consent. U.S. troops were then dispatched to “negotiate” with guns and bayonets. More than 13,000 Cherokees were driven from their homes, herded into camps and forced from their land. The Cherokees suffered the greatest loss of the Five Civilized Tribes. While there are no exact figures, it is estimated that 4,000 Cherokees died on the Trail of Tears.
The Seminole tribe was the only one of the Five Civilized Tribes to violently resist the government’s relocation efforts. The Seminoles had previously fought the U.S. government in the first Seminole war in 1817 (pictured left). The Seminole tribe resisted the Removal Act by fighting in the Florida swamps from 1835-1842. This war cost the US army 1,500 soldiers, while the Seminoles lost only 500 members of their tribe. The Seminole were led by Osceola. In 1838, Osceola was captured by U.S. troops under a white flag of truce, imprisoned and later died. The Seminoles’ efforts were not thwarted by the loss of Osceola, and they kept fighting for their homeland.
Their resistance was not strong enough and in 1842, the U.S. government imprisoned the Seminoles and forced them to Fort Gibson. As a result of the Seminole’s defiance, they incurred the greatest wrath of the U.S. government. In some cases the Seminoles were hunted with bloodhounds. The Seminoles were dragged from their homes, without anything and arrived at Fort Gibson, cold, hungry and bewildered. The Seminoles had become dependent upon the government for food, so instead of leaving to build new homes, they set up camps around the Fort to beg for food. With the government’s failure to comply with the terms of the treaty the only support that the Seminoles received was from the Cherokees. They allowed the Seminoles to settle on their land and cultivate crops until the Seminoles were strong enough to settle their own lands.
The Trail of Tears is an example of man’s inhumanity to man. The new settlers of America had escaped the tyranny of Europe and were so fixated on their new found freedoms that they trampled on the rights of the Indians. America is a country founded on great ideals. We profess to being, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” However, we must never forget some of the shameful moments in our history. Even a country as great as America needs to accept responsibility and feel remorse for the appalling acts that were inflicted on the Native Americans. Let us hope we have learned from our past, so that other atrocities like the Trail of Tears are never allowed to take place again.
