AL History Newspaper Notes

Week 7

October 6-10, 2008

American Indians Removed!

1. In order to get land, the government decided to take the land and remove the native tribes by force.

2. This “American Indian removal” was called the Trail of Tears.

3. Chief William McIntosh of the Lower Creek Nation had a reputation for being friendly with white settlers.

4. During the Creek War in 1814, he fought alongside Andrew Jackson’s men at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

5. In 1830, United States President Andrew Jackson signed a new law called the Indian Removal Act.

6. The law said the government would do its best to clear out all American Indians in the eastern states and move them west of the Mississippi River.

7. Cherokee Indians refused to give up their land. They took their case all the way to the Supreme Court.

8. The court ruled that states did not have authority to remove natives from their land.

9. President Andrew Jackson refused to accept the ruling and allowed Georgia to remove natives from their lands.

10. The Seminole Tribe fought the government for seven years. By the end of the fight, most of them were forced to move.

11. One area in Central Alabama is the Black Belt.

12. The Black Belt is a prairie of dark soil made of limestone and marl.

13. Marl is a very rich clay dirt full of fossil shells from ancient underwater days.

14. Montgomery is located in the Black Belt.

15. Montgomery’s great soil and the building of the first cotton gin helped it to grow rich and big.

16. The Black Belt became rich and famous because of its cotton.

17. By the time of the Civil War, England developed a great demand for cotton.

18. The Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride is the largest organized motorcycle ride in the world.

19. The ride is organized to remember the forced removal of American Indians.