‘What Really Happened?”THE TRAIL OF TEARS

From the Indian Removal Act, it created a forced removal of five Indian tribes throughout the American Southeast

The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831

Tribes that were relocated: Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Chickasaw Nations

TRAIL OF TEARS: THE BEGINNING

In 1831 the Choctaw were the first to be removed, and they became the model for all other removals. After the Choctaw, the

Seminole were removed in 1832, the Creek in 1834, then the Chickasaw in 1837, and

finally the Cherokee in 1838.

REMOVAL

Pressures to remove the Indians were magnified by U.S. population growth and the expansion of slavery in the South

REMOVAL

VIDEO!!!

Dead of winter Ice cold winds Snow If one of your family members died, a soldier would shoot

you dead Most had no shoes and little food Took months to walk at times

TRAIL CONDITIONS

As the realization that the Seminoles would resist relocation sank in, Florida began preparing for war

Sugar plantations along the Atlantic coast south of St. Augustine were destroyed, with many of the slaves on the plantations joining the Seminoles

With nearly a decade of resistance, this became known as the Seminole Wars- After relocation, hundreds stayed behind in the Everglades

SEMINOLE RESISTANCE

The Trail Of TearsBy: Aditi Rao

My heart breaks,Everytime I see.Our tribal people,Suffering dearly.For their souls are blank,Their hearts are torn.Their minds are still,And their fears shown.

The sun disappears,The moons they pass.I see the days,Like shattered glass.Yet silently I continue on,No words escape my speechless lips.I gently shush the children's words,With softly curled fingertips.

POEM

How long, how far?These questions come.They wait to be answered,By the Chosen One.Yet some of me,Can't wait and cry.So I let go of life,With a mourning sigh.

The last forced relocation of the Cherokee has been referred to as a

"death march," across the Midwest in 1838, which occurred on a

predominantly land route. It was later described as an act of genocide in

2003.

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