Trail Of Tears Thesis

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America’s history has a very controversial and overlooked period known as the Trail of Tears. America was growing and expanding at the time to become one of the most powerful countries in the world. I would like to bring attention to the horrific events that occurred during the Trail of Tears that are often pushed aside due to the growth of America that was happening at the same time. In particular, I will look at what effect it had America’s expansion to be,the land it is today, and how many believe the Midwest was built on the genocide of the Native people. In American Indian Culture & Research Journal, the author speaks of Americans going as far as sterilizing Native American women to completely wipe out the tribes all together. Similarly, in American Indian Quarterly, the author introduces a new perspective on the Trail of Tears and the development of America at the time, why this inhumane act which was supported by thousands, and how it was not only about land, but complete racism. Before the Trail of Tears, the Native …show more content…
In the beginning of this story of Cherokee removal, also known as the “Trail of Tears”, they started off as a massive tribe speculating to have a population of over 50,000 people. They had vast lands spreading throughout Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Virginia, as well as West Virginia. Cherokee Indians had their own language and had oral traditions established before the Europeans settled in the Americas. They were very kind and generous people. They were considered by European settlers as one of the “Five Civilized Tribes” because they easily adopted many cultural and technological practices from the Europeans that were attempting to colonize this group of people. The five tribes consisted of Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee. As time went on they began to invade in on the Cherokee’s