The Cherokee Removal free essay sample

They had their own gender roles and religion; even eating food had a different definition than the white mans culture. They had equality between genders, and other members of the tribe had equal rights to talk. But still white people called them savage or uncivilized for political reasons and not just because they were completely barbaric. In this society, task division can be Seen between genders. For example, women Would farm and men would hunt. There was a townhouse where men and women would gather, it was a palace for debating and talking about important issues, and conduct ceremonies. The leader of the society was with one whom people would respect and follow him, rather than just a person who has born to office (p. 3). There were reasons that white men considered Native Americans uncivilized. Cherokees or Native Americans were people who would live as a tribe, they had a leader and they would share the land that they were using for hunting. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cherokee Removal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There were some laws and organizations. They had men who would fight and women who would farm and take care of the rest of the family. Their cloth was different than white peoples they wouldnt cook their meat, they werent Christian, and they didnt have any education. They believed it was up to them to keep everything around them in balance and when one of them was killed they thought it was their responsibility to telltale their death. Also, they believed men balanced women and hunting balanced farming.They also didnt have any priority laws. By the end of asses relations between Americans and Native Americans changed. Since neither the united States nor Native Americans would give up their goals, the government of United States figured that to win Native Americans and get all they wanted, government needed to spend lots of money and time. The united States tried to figure out a peaceful way to communicate with Native Americans. The new workable system fell to President George Washingtons first Secretary of War Henry Knox (p. 0).Henry Knox brought a new relation between Americans and Native Americans. Knox and Washington believed that the uncivilized Indian life was based on them not knowing better. On the other hand, their inferiority was cultural not racial (p. 1 1). In 1 791 they announced the Cherokees may be led to a greater civilized society instead of remaining hunters. So women started to weave cloth, these Cherokee planters became rich, and the first law established in 1 808 was about preventing the theft horses, also Cherokees invented a system for writing the Cherokee language.The Indian Removal policy started by Andrew Jackson ND passed in 1830. In 1 sass the Georgia legislature planed a lottery system, that was system of land distribution and qualifying citizens could register for a chance to win these lands. United States could not force tribal leaders to sell their lands and many of leaders refused to sell their lands. However, in asses Resolution of Georgia General Assembly declared that under constitution, the federal government had no power in dealing with the Cherokees except regulate commerce. (p. 74). Thus if the United States failed to obtain the Cherokee Nation for Georgia under the Compact of 1 802, the state could simply take their lands. Even though Supreme Court voted in favor of Cherokees about the Cherokee Nation and Georgia, but Georgia refused to follow the Supreme Courts order. Jackson believed that civilizing Indians and settling them down caused us the loss of the opportunity to purchase their land. One of the important reasons of people like Jackson for supporting the idea of the Act of Removal was the United States discovered gold in their lands.The United States figured out in order to expand the cotton economy they needed more fertile lands, and the lands that Native Americans had were one of the most fertile lands. Also Lewis Case the governor of the Michigan territory was against the civilization program because he blamed the character and temperament of the Native Americans (p. 1 15). Following the Removal Act, Catherine Beechen stood for American women standing up against Cherokee Removal at the time when women had few political openings. She wrote a widely distributed circular in which she called on women to petition congress to defeat the impending Indian Removal Act (p. 1 11). Many of the Cherokees were against the Act of Removal, but there was no agreement among them just like American society. Many of the Native American women was outside of political argument they used to farm and take care of their families but the Removal Act provided an opportunity for Cherokee women to talk out to the Cherokee National Council.They believed it is their duty as mothers to guide their chiefs, they believed that they have grown up in the land that god gave them and they didnt like to be removed to another country and this would be like destroying your mothers (p. 1 32) mothers or Cherokee women believed that the Removal Act would destroy everything they have, The force to go west increased in the sass but few Cherokees agreed to move beyond Mississippi and under terms of Treaty of New Echoed, the Cherokees had to move in two years but most Cherokees resisted to move. The deadline approached and only two thousand Cherokees moved west. The Trail of Tears was from removing Indians from their land and moving them west by force. About three thousands of them were divided in to three groups in the last group, Lewis Ross brother of John Ross, was in charge of providing transportation tolls for roads, blankets in roads. The final group arrived in late March. About Houston of Cherokees died in the middle of the trial because the removal was very long and the weather was unconditional (p. 68). As they finally were forced to leave their land, despite losing their home, and losing many families in the middle of eight hundred mile even though moving out from their home land was meant to them as destroying everything they have. But still these people showed their capability of coping with harsh situations. As it is obvious they didnt get any stronger. Nowadays, they are not famous unfortunately as it goes these people will get more Americanizes and will forget more about their past. The Cherokee Removal free essay sample President Andrew Jackson and the passing of the Indian Removal Act of 1 830, the Cherokee people could have easily integrated into American society. The Cherokee people incorporated many Of the Anglo-American ways in order to become civilized and assimilate into American society. They converted from a hunter and gathering society into an agrarian society by clearing parcels of land for farming. Farming became their primary means of food. John Ridge, a prominent Cherokee, stated, Here is not to my knowledge a solitary Cherokee to be found that depends upon the chase for pubescence and every head of a family has his house farm (Trail of Tears). A few of the wealthier Cherokee, usually half-breeds, owned larger tracks of land. Some even owned slaves in which to raise cotton to be sold at market for a profit. In addition to becoming farmers, the Cherokee people structured their own way of governing. The Cherokee formed a system of government structured similar to that of the United States government. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cherokee Removal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There were legislative, judicial and executive branches that establish laws, which were written in English and enforced by a court of justice, sheriffs, marshals, and unstable within each district (Trail of Tears). The Cherokee people even adopted their own constitution and declared themselves a sovereign and independent nation (The Removal Cases). In addition to adopting a constitution, they also adopted Christianity. Any superstitions of the past where dissipated by the embracing of the Christian faith.Churches were established and [Oho influence of Religion on the life of the Indians is powerful lasting. (Trail of Tears). In addition to adopting a constitution and embracing the Christian faith, education became an important aspect of the Cherokees life. Education of the tribe was on the up rise. John Ridge stated in this letter to Albert Gallatin that, There are about 13 schools established by missionaries in the Nation and may contain 250 students. . .. Besides this, some of our most respectable people have their children educated at academies in adjoining states (Trail of Tears).For the tribe members who did not know the English language, a written Cherokee language was invented so they may be educated also. TO further educate tribe members, the Cherokee nation acquired a printing press and established their own newspaper. In addition to the newspaper, a society was established called the Moral tertiary Society of the Cherokee Nation (Trail of Tears). With all the opportunities for education, the Cherokee people had become civilized and were integrating into American society, yet there were still those who wanted them removed. With the discovery of gold in Georgia in 1828, a state that contained a large part of the Cherokee Nation, more and more Georgia citizens were demanding the Cherokees removal. Many believed the Indians were unable to become civilized. Senator Lewis Sacs of Michigan stated fore Congress that, Existing for two centuries in contact with a civilized people, they have resisted, and successfully too, every effort to meliorate their situation, or to introduce among them the most common arts of life. .. There must then be an inherent difficulty, arising from the institutions, character, and condition of the Indians themselves (Trail of Tears). When questioned about the civilized Cherokees his response was, And we have as little doubt, that this change of opinion and condition is confined, in a great measure, to some of the half-breeds and their immediate connections. These are not sufficiently numerous to affect our general proposition (Trail of Tears).Yet, the Cherokee proved they were civilized with the incorporation Of farms, schools, churches, and a constitution. Georgia looked to the U. S. Constitution and President Andrew Jackson for a means to remove the Cherokee from their land. Departing from earlier views of how to handle the Indians, Andrew Jackson, who was raised on the frontier with a dislike for Indians (Borer 253), was more than willing to help Georgia in its cause to remove the Cherokee.He viewed Georgia as a sovereign state within the United States and according to the U. S. Constitution; no other sovereign nation could exist within its boundaries. He advised the Cherokee to disassemble their government and emigrate beyond the Mississippi or submit to the laws of those States [in which they resided] (Trail of Tears). Jackson believed that is would be in the best interest Of the United States and the Indians to relocate west of the Mississippi. In his Annual Message to Congress on December 8, 1829, he states: Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage mom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Meghan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is fast over-taking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the States does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity.It is too late to inquire whether it was just in the United States to include them and their territory within the bounds of new States, whose limits they could control. (Trail of Tears) In order to remove the Cherokee from their home lands, President Jackson ensured that passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This Act entitled the U. S. Government to exchange public lands in the West for Indian territories in the East and appropriated $500,000 to cover the expenses of removal (Borer 254). Even though the Cherokee were a civilized people, under the Removal Act, the Cherokee Nation had no choice but to disband.The Cherokee were forced by federal troops to migrate west between October 1 838 and March 1 839 to the Oklahoma territory. This exodus became one of the most horrific journeys in American history. An estimated ,000 Cherokee perished on what became to be known as the Trail of Tears (Anderson, Wetware, Bell Our nation, which fought for the right of freedom from tyranny, stripped civilized human beings from their homes and forced them into oppression all on the premises it would be in the best interest for the Indians to relocate so as not to become extinct.In actuality, the true reason forcing the Cherokee off their home lands was the greed for the land and gold. Chief John Ross of the Cherokee nation, who was s o influential in civilizing the tribe, was comment as saying, We are stripped of every attribute f freedom and eligibility for legal self-defense. We are denationalization; we are disfranchised. We are deprived of membership in the human family! (Trail of Tears) A people that could have become a prosperous and productive part of society were now forced into poverty.In spite of all the Cherokee people have been through, the North Carolina band has contributed greatly to todays society. The Eastern band of the Cherokee has contributed to the economy of the Western North Carolina Great Smoky Mountains by teaching their culture through museums, story telling and craft sells. With the opening of the Hurrah Casino, tourism has increased considerably which contribute to the economy of not only the tribe but also the surrounding counties.