Cherokee Nation

I chose for my subordinate group to be Native Americans paying more attention to the Cherokee Tribes.

For the Cherokee Tribe creation situations that were faced by this group were migration, annexation and colonization. They dealt with these acts at a time when the Cherokee Nation had the majority of the southern United States. Throughout the years however, because of military actions and treaties with the government the Cherokee’s land was reduced to the western North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. Most of the Cherokee tribe was educated but they still lived with the legislative control of the white man. They did not have legal protection from the military nor the government.

Around the 1810 era a grouped called the Western Cherokee had migrated to what was called the Arkansas Territory. In 1828 two things happened to cause chaos among the Cherokee tribe. One was Andrew Jackson became president and two was the discovery of gold on the tribes land in northern Georgia. The law annexed the lands which took the all legal rights away from the Cherokee and placed them in the white man hands.

In 1830 Jackson pushed Congress to add an Indian Removal Bill. The bill was passed. This bill supposedly was to be a on a so-called basis removal of Eastern tribes to the west of the Mississippi.

During 1837 through 1838 military troops went from camp to camp making the Cherokee’s go to what was called a “collection camp”. They were driven from their homes and the land that they called their own. Terrified and with no warning they were made to leave all their belongings behind. During this move there were times when family members were separated from one another. The troops did not care that children were taken away from their parents, that wives were separated from their husbands. “Often they were abused and degraded by the troops”. (Jones, 1838, p.236)

In the spring of 1838 there were over two thousand Cherokee that...