This was a narrative project, where we were given many sources, and had to formulate a

narrative (obviously).

Jacob C.
Social Studies Teacher
Social Studies 8
10/26/15
Native Americans Forced to Migrate West
Usually, migrating to the West of the United States, at the time, came with many benefits.
However, the westward voyage for the Indians was not as pleasant. As claimed by Jane
Bushyhead in Source 7, the Cherokees were being driven to the west by the cruel hand of
oppression to try to find a new place to live. If the Indians were asserting that the removal
process was an act of oppression, one can make the implication that the Indians were
involuntarily and physically forced to leave their homeland and move to a foreign area of the
country. In addition, the founders of new lands in the United States felt very strongly about the
removal of American Indians, because the land they coveted was already inhabited by people
who they thought were not civilized.
As stated in Source 2, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in the year of 1830. This
act claims to remove the Indians living on the eastern side of the Mississippi river, and to migrate
them to a new home in the western region of the United States. The area they were migrated to is
now what we call the state of Oklahoma. According to Source 13, the Cherokees Trail of Tears

is estimated to be about 2,000 miles. A rough guess as to how long the migration process took is
about a year and a half.
When the Indian Removal Act was set into motion, most tribes grudgingly went with it.
This is assumed to be because of General Winfield Scotts order to the Cherokee people in
Source 11, which claims that resistance to the removal would result in the usage of firearms.
However, some tribes, such as the Cherokees, strongly resisted, as stated by President Jackson in
Source 6: I regret that the Cherokees east of the Mississippi have not yet determined as a
community to remove. The Cherokees probably felt very passionately about staying where they
were; where they were most comfortable. They most likely did not want to be migrated west
because they didnt think theyd become familiar with the new styles of hunting, agriculture, etc.
As stated in Source 1, the Cherokees attempted to prevent their tribes removal through a legal
defense. However, this endeavor resulted in no success, as the state of Georgia refused to
acknowledge the rights given to the American Indians in the Indian Removal Act treaty.
However, the Supreme Court supported the rights given to the Cherokees, but, as declared by
President Jackson in Source 5, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere
long disappear. In other words, Jackson did not agree with the Supreme Courts supporting of
the Cherokees treaty rights, although, in Source 3, Jackson does say the Indians condition
makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies.
Other Indian tribes such as the Sauk and the Seminoles of Florida resorted to armed
resistance to try to prevent their removal. However, this was probably not the best decision, as
the army nearly eradicated these tribes.
Eventually, all tribes that resisted against the army officials to be removed were taken by
force, as they were warned by General Winfield Scott in Source 11. The most popular American

Indian forced migration was the Cherokees removal which occurred in the year 1838. According
to Source 1, on their voyage to the Indian Reservation, 4,000 of the more than 17,000
Cherokees died from a multitude different causes, such as starvation, weather, disease, etc. An
implication one can make from this is the Cherokees that didnt die were either very cold, very
sick, or very hungry. The Cherokees journey to the Indian Reservation is known as the Trail of
Tears. According to Elizabeth Watts in Source 12, the Trail of Tears was more than tears. It was
death, sorrow, hunger, exposure, and humiliation being inflicted on the Cherokees, who saw
themselves as civilized people.
One could imply from certain sections of Sources 9 and 10 that the soldiers and other
army officials did not want to move the Indians out of their native homeland, despite it being
necessary and ordered by Jackson himself. Private John G. Burnett states One can never forget
the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Lieutenant L.B. Webster clearly states his empathy
for the American Indians when he says calling for justice to Him who alone who can and will
grant it [might] fall upon my guilty head as one of the instruments of oppression. One could
imply from this that Webster was forced against his will to lead the act of removing the Indians
and migrating them into the Indian Reservation.