History of the Removal of Cherokees - Essay Example

The people settled in the Indian Territory situation in the Western United States which is now known as Oklahoma. During this forced relocation massive deaths of people occurred and according to estimates around 4000 Cherokees were met with death in this harsh move (Perdue and Green, p121).

The removal has been regarded as a tragic incident in the history of the Cherokee nation. They called it Nu Na da ul Tsum yi in their language which means a place where they cried. During the Indian removal efforts, there were several other nations also removed from the American South and other regions including Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creek Indians, etc.

The removal of Cherokees was the result of the passage of the Indian Removal Act by Congress in 1830 in which the federal government was given the power to forcefully relocate any Native American nation from the east to the west side of the country. The act also affirms that the Native Americans have to be compensated for the removal but in practice, the process was not undertaken very fairly and most of the eastern tribes had to face high levels of ethnic discrimination from the authorities that eventually caused a decline in their numbers (Perdue and Green, p127).

The Cherokees were inhabited in Georgia since the 1791 treaty with the U.S. government but after the discovery of gold in that place, the government decided to reside white people in Georgia. In 1830, the whites reclaimed their lands but they had to face strong protests from the Cherokees who took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court where the decision came out in their favor. In 1838, the U.S. President and Congress forced Native Americans to leave their lands and settle down in their new homes in Indian Territory. Almost one-third population of the Cherokee nation died during this process which this incident is also referred to as the Trail of Tears in the history of the United States.

The efforts of Indian removal were backed by the thought that the Native Americans including Cherokees settled in Georgia and other southern states are barriers in the way of the progress of the nation and it is imperative to remove these people from these lands to carry on the process of development and progression. The government of the U.S. negotiated with some tribes and convinced them to leave their lands and move towards the other territory however, the Cherokee nation refused and condemn the policy of the U.S. government and announced their strong opposition to this decision.

In 1823, there was a decision made by Supreme Court in which it was decided that the Indians only have the right to occupy lands in the US but they don’t have the right to hold the title for these lands because their right of occupancy is not powerful as the US right of discovery. It was a great threat to the Indians and the Cherokees responded to this policy with great concern and worry. They formulated policies restricting the sale of land to the government so that they could protect it from going into the hands of the government and white people. 

The Cherokees adopted several nonviolent policies in response to the US Indian removal policies. They has several options in front of them however they adopted the Anglo-American practice and got involved in some constructive activities and developments like large-scale farming, seeking Western education and slaveholding etc. As a result of these efforts they were regarded as the civilized Indian tribe however, these steps made the whites indignant rather than developing positive thoughts for them.

They also strived to surrender some parts of their lands to the whites with the view that through this they could save the rest of the lands. Cherokees adopted the legal path for the attainment of their rights. They went to the court and asked for protection from the white settlers who were hungry for their lands and reported that they have been harassed by the whites who steal their livestock, burn their homes and squat their lands to create different problems for them. They wrote the constitution in 1827 in which they declared that the Cherokees are a sovereign nation and they were legally authorized to use their lands. However, this status was not recognized by the Georgia government which deemed them as tenants living on U.S. government land (Perdue and Green, p129).

History shows that Cherokees have several options in front of them to respond to the Indian removal policy. Like some other nations they could also go for violent resistance ending up in war however, they decided to adopt a non-violent path and decided to use legal means for getting their rights. However, eventually, they were hi9hgly discriminated against by the U.S. government and despite going for peaceful and strategic policies they had to face forced relocation to the new lands and also have to face the massive loss of around one-third of their population during the process of Indian removal policies enacted by the U.S. government. Read More