Cherokee Removal from Their Native Land

Cherokee Removal from their Native Land

The Cherokee Nation had been in the Southeastern sector of the land called North America and the new country called the United States. Different tribes of North American Indians inhabited many regions that the early colonists were to settle and develop. The adjustments of compromise and battles for rights to live on those lands were always an object between the differing cultures. The Cherokees and the Cherokee Nation were no different in these struggles. As much as the Cherokees worked to provide a compromise and live by the past agreements through treaties with the United States, it was not enough over time for them to co-exist with the white man that grows stronger and more aggressive by the day.

The New Americans or best put, the White Male Americans were glorious after defeating the most powerful military force in the world found that they had many challenges to continue toward their dreams of improved lives with more opportunities. The Americans believed they were very virtuous and were destined for greatness. As the Revolutionary War concluded, the new government realized they were not ready to fight with various Indian Tribes at even more cost to the budget and the lives of the soldiers. The government leaders found dealing with the Indians through treaties and respecting them as a sovereign nation with territorial boundaries was most appealing to get this issue behind them for the time being. Some of these nations were bordering the states of the new country. After the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812, the possibility of foreign military support and involvement with the Indians had been effectively removed. The Cherokee nation had already surrendered much of their land to states and the federal government and they lived west of the border of Georgia. The new states especially in the south were growing fast with agricultural trade due to favorable climates, fertile soil, and the use of slave labor. The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, fueled the southern regions growth of cotton as a labor saving method to produce cotton for sale and increased the use of slaves that boosted the size and power of plantations and their owners.

The government in Washington was busy with its new challenges and the Indian issues were not as visible on their priority list. Initially, the U.S. government urged and desired the Cherokees to become more civilized as to assimilate with the white people and to contribute to the economy as equals. They pushed the Cherokee to stop hunting and begin farming. The men would begin to farm and the women would do more subservient chores to assist the men. The Cherokees would make their own government, learn to read, and write. Christianity was to become the belief of these people. They were not as interested in Christianity but saw the value of learning to communicate. The Cherokees began their own newspaper that would publish news and events in English and in the native Cherokee language. They were becoming more "Americanized" in their own land. The white elite in the Southern States were not going to accept the Cherokees or other Indians as equals in their society and began to encroach on the Cherokee territorial lands, and soon would begin make laws that were enforced against the Cherokees.

Some Cherokees had already moved to the new land west of the Mississippi River. This provided more justification to the notion that this was viable solution for growth of the U.S. and Georgia's intention as a State was to grow its economy and take over land and a gold mine in its region regardless of Indian Treaty and policies unless stopped by the U.S. Government. The U.S. allowed Georgia to continue in it practices partly