Trail of Tears

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The Trail of Tears was the forced relocation in the 1830s of tens of thousands of Native Americans, primarily the Cherokee, from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern United States to designated Indian Territory, resulting in immense suffering and a high death toll.


Statements (52)
Predicate Object
instanceOf ethnic cleansing
forced relocation
historical event
appliesToEthnicGroup Cherokee Nation
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Muscogee (Creek)
Seminole
“Five Civilized Tribes”
authorizedBy President Andrew Jackson
carriedOutBy United States Army
state militias
commemoratedBy Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
country United States
endTime late 1830s
follows Worcester v. Georgia decision
hasCause Indian Removal Act of 1830
hasEffect cultural disruption
high mortality
land seizure by the United States
loss of ancestral homelands
mass displacement of Native Americans
population decline
psychological trauma
hasHistoricalPeriod 19th century
Jacksonian era
legislatedBy United States Congress
location Indian Territory
present-day Oklahoma
southeastern United States
mainSubject Cherokee removal
numberOfDeaths approximately 4,000 Cherokee
thousands of Native Americans
numberOfVictims approximately 16,000 Cherokee removed
tens of thousands of Native Americans
opposedBy Cherokee Nation
Principal Chief John Ross
partOf Indian removal
precededBy Treaty of New Echota
reason U.S. desire for Native American lands
discovery of gold on Cherokee land
expansion of cotton agriculture
rememberedFor death marches
immense suffering
route overland routes through Arkansas
overland routes through Illinois
overland routes through Kentucky
overland routes through Missouri
overland routes through Tennessee
water routes along the Mississippi River
startTime 1830s
1831


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