Mini-Unit Integrating ELA and Social Studies With Maps and Primary Source Documents

This picture, The Trail of Tears, was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942.

What do you see? Be specific. Trail of Tears observation sheet Who is in the picture? What are they doing? Describe expressions on their faces. What do they seem to be feeling? Besides the Cherokee, who else do you see in the picture? Why do you think they are in the picture? Based on what you see and know, why is this called the Trail of Tears?

Setting the Stage for Native American Removal When English and European immigrants arrived on the North American continent, they found many people whose appearance, lifestyle, and spiritual beliefs differed from those they were familiar with. During the course of the next two centuries, their interactions varied between cooperation and communication to conflict and warfare. The newcomers needed land for settlement, and they sought it by sale, treaty, or force. Between 1790 and 1830, tribes located east of the Mississippi River, including the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, signed many treaties with the United States. Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison struggled to find a balance between the obligation of the new nation to uphold its treaty commitments and the desires of its new citizens for more land. Ultimately, the federal government was unwilling or unable to protect the Indians from the insatiable demands of the settlers for more land. The Louisiana Purchase added millions of less densely populated square miles west of the Mississippi River to the United States. Thomas Jefferson suggested that the eastern American Indians might be induced to relocate to the new territory voluntarily, to live in peace without interference from whites. A voluntary relocation plan was enacted into law in 1824 and some Indians chose to move west. The 1828 election of President Andrew Jackson, who made his name as an Indian fighter, marked a change in federal policies. As part of his plans for the United States, he was determined to remove the remaining tribes from the east and relocate them in the west. Between the 1830 Indian Removal Act and 1850, the U.S. government used forced treaties and/or U.S. Army action to move about 100,000 American Indians living east of the Mississippi River, westward to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. Among the relocated tribes were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. The Choctaw relocation began in 1830; the Chickasaw relocation was in 1837; the Creek were removed by force in 1836 following negotiations that started in 1832; and the Seminole removal triggered a 7-year war that ended in 1843. These stories are not told in this lesson plan. The trails they followed became known as the Trail of Tears. The Cherokees were among the last to go and it is the Cherokee's story that is the subject of this lesson pan.

Map 1: Land occupied by Southeastern Tribes, 1820s. Key: 1. Seminole 2. Creek 3. Choctaw 4. Chickasaw 5. Cherokee 6. Quapaw 7. Osage 8. Illinois Confederation (Adapted from Sam Bowers Hilliard, "Indian Land Cessions" [detail], Map Supplement 16, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 62, no. 2 [June 1972].) 1. What modern states are included within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation? How large is the territory compared with the modern states? 2. What other tribes lived near the Cherokees? Whites often referred to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole as the "Five Civilized Tribes." What do you think whites meant by "civilized?"

((National Park Service) Map 2: Cherokee Removal Routes

(Maps.com) Map 3: Cherokee Removal Routes

Map 2: Cherokee Removal Routes This map shows the routes followed west by the Cherokee Nation to reach "Indian Territory," now the state of Oklahoma, in the 1830s. The pink trail is the northern route. It was a land route and the largest group of Cherokees followed this part of the trail. The blue trail is the water route. The red trails show the other routes on the trail. 1. How many different routes are shown? Why do you think there might have been so many? 2. Find the water route. What rivers does it follow? What advantages to you think it might have over an overland route? What difficulties might it present? 3. Locate the northern route. How does it compare with the other main routes? What major rivers did it cross? What advantages and what disadvantages might the northern route have? 4. The largest group of Cherokees left Tennessee in the late fall of 1838, followed the northern route, and arrived in Indian Territory in March. What problems do you think they might have encountered on the journey?

Jackson s Second Annual Speech Before Congress, 1830

Andrew Jackson s Second Annual Speech Before Congress, 1830 Key Words

Andrew Jackson s Second Annual Speech Before Congress, 1830 Summary In My Own words Created 2014 by Mr. Z

In 1830 John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee, went to the Supreme Court to fight Indian removal. In the early 1830s, he warned members of the Iroquois League of the dangers of the U.S. policies. In 1835 Andrew Jackson, the popular president of the United States, made Indian removal one of the key points of his annual address to Congress.

Excerpts from John Ross's words to delegates of the Iroquois League: "Brothers: The tradition of our Fathers... tells us that this great and extensive Continent was once the sole and exclusive abode of our race.... Ever since [the whites came] we have been made to drink of the bitter cup of humiliation; treated like dogs... our country and the graves of our Fathers torn from us... through a period of upwards of 200 years, rolled back, nation upon nation [until] we find ourselves fugitives, vagrants and strangers in our own country.... "The existence of the Indian Nations as distinct Independent Communities within the limits of the United States seems to be drawing to a close.... You are aware that our Brethren, the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks of the South have severally disposed of their country to the United States and that a portion of our own Tribe have also emigrated West of the Mississippi -- but that the largest portion of our Nation still remain firmly upon our ancient domain.... Our position [sic] there may be compared to a solitary tree in an open space, where all the forest trees around have been prostrated by a furious tornado." My Thoughts

Excerpts from Andrew Jackson's Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1835 "All preceding experiments for the improvement of the Indians have failed. It seems now to be an established fact they can not live in contact with a civilized community and prosper. Ages of fruitless endeavors have at length brought us to a knowledge of this principle of intercommunication with them.... "No one can doubt the moral duty of the Government of the United States to protect and if possible to preserve and perpetuate the scattered remnants of this race which are left within our borders. In the discharge of this duty an extensive region in the West has been assigned for their permanent residence. It has been divided into districts and allotted among them.... "Such are the arrangements for the physical comfort and for the moral improvement of the Indians. The necessary measures for their political advancement and for their separation from our citizens have not been neglected. The pledge of the United States has been given by Congress that the country destined for the residence of this people shall be forever "secured and guaranteed to them." "A country west of Missouri and Arkansas has been assigned to them, into which the white settlements are not to be pushed. No political communities can be formed in that extensive region, except those which are established by the Indians themselves or by the United States for them and with their concurrence. A barrier has thus been raised for their protection against the encroachment of our citizens, and guarding the Indians as far as possible from those evils which have brought them to their present condition." My Thoughts

Comparing Primary Source Documents Ross Goals of the Speakers Jackson What effects does each speaker expect Indian removal will have? Ross Jackson Created 2014 by Mr. Z

Family Stories from the Trail of Tears Using the link below, assign students a story to read and analyze. Family Stories from the Trail of Tears

Who did you read about? Personal Accounts of Trail of Tears Describe their experience. (What did they see/hear?) How did they feel? How did it impact them? Based on what you read, discuss with your group how you would react/feel/respond if you were forced to move from your home walk the Trail of Tears.

Created 2014 by Mr. Z

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