Trail of Tears Webquest

Introduction

       “We are now about to take our leave and kind farewell to our native land, the country the Great Spirit gave our Fathers, we are on the eve of leaving that country that gave us birth, it is with sorrow we are forced by the white man to quit the scenes of our childhood...we bid farewell to it and all we hold dear.” This Webquest will allow your students to educate themselves on the devastating, Trail of Tears that the Cherokee had to walk on, as they approached the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Throughout their research, they will understand the thoughts that clouded these people’s minds and the problems they coped with as they traveled. This assignment will make them think as if they were in the shoes of the Cherokee.

          The Trail of Tears was a movement of Cherokee Indians because of the Western expansion of the Americans. This trail was from Georgia to Oklahoma and caused many of the natives to shed tears as they traveled leaving their homeland. To us, Louis and Clark were very beneficial and helped our nation shine from “sea to shining sea”, but that was not the case for this land’s true people. Cherokee Indians are well-known out of the many Native American tribes that lived in eastern North America who were forced to move. In the year of 1710, they began to come in contact with the “White men,” who lived a completely diverse life. As these colonists began to take over the Native Americans’ free land, the Indians were pushed out of the area.

          The Cherokee Indians were American allies and when they requested the Supreme Court for assistance the court allowed them to remain in Georgia. Though, President Andrew Jackson’s desire of moving the Cherokee out of their land was put in to action unexpectedly. In the year of 1838, 7,000 Troops forced a large population of Native Americans to abandon their homeland, Georgia and move to the Indian Territory and reservations in Oklahoma. This removal of Cherokee Indians was very depressing and the trail they traveled on, on their way to Oklahoma was tough. Since the Cherokee didn’t know that they had to go on this journey, they were unprepared and thousands of Indians had died. There was great sorrow among the Cherokee people.

             The devastating, Trail of Tears relates to the westward expansion of the American people because it was its affect. Since Thomas Jefferson had talked about the “Manifest Destiny”, the Americans wished to occupy all available land around them, forgetting that there were ancestors of the nation being killed and sent away. The removal of Indians from Georgia showed the great extent that Americans can go for power and this also showed the Native Americans that these people weren’t as nice as they treated them. The Cherokee Indians couldn’t endure the desires of Americans and this is why there population deteriorated so suddenly. The Americans should wonder, maybe the occupation of this land isn’t as important as the death of the true people of America. 

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