# data[].attributes.body
You will need to join our LA Blue/Red Newsela Class to access the articles below!!!

Code: QN4TSQ

# data[].attributes.body
You will need to join our LA Blue/Red Newsela Class to access the articles below!!!

Code: QN4TSQ

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anti-Semitism is a kind of discrimination . Anti- means “against.” The word Semite refers to groups of people from the Middle East, including both Jews and Arabs. However,…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How does a society go down the path to genocide? Learn about how the Holocaust happened, and how to recognize the signs so we can prevent it from happening again.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The fascist dictator of Germany and leader of the Nazis, Hitler started World War II and was responsible for the murder of millions of people.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.brainpop.com/english/famousauthorsandbooks/eliewiesel/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Antisemitism | past and present | Explained | Anne Frank House

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Holocaust survivor sharing her story on TikTok - BBC Newsnight

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids Meet a Holocaust Survivor | Kids Meet | HiHo Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Holocaust survivors able to share their stories after death thanks to AI project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Survivors of the Holocaust now have the chance to preserve their stories in a way that allows them to directly answer future generations' questions about their experiences. Lesley Stahl reports.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Trail of Tears was a forced movement of Native Americans in the United States between 1836 and 1839. The United States government forced Native Americans to leave their lands and move outside the United States. The U.S. then took over the Native Americans' land and made it available to mostly white settlers.

Because thousands of Native Americans died during this forced movement, it is called the "Trail of Tears."

In 1828, gold was found near Dahlonega in Georgia. This resulted in a gold rush. At that time, a Native American nation called the Cherokee lived in Georgia. Many Cherokee children went to American schools. The Cherokees had their own newspaper and built three-story houses. Some even owned slaves.

Even though the land belonged to the Cherokee Nation, President Andrew Jackson wanted this land to belong to the United States. The land was worth over $7,000,000 ($172,730,303 in 2023) U.S. dollars. Jackson signed a law that forced the Cherokees to move. This was called the Indian Removal Act. However, at that time, the Cherokees had their own nation and their own government. They did not have to follow laws made by the United States. Therefore, Jackson signed laws that let him take nearly all the Cherokees' rights.

The Cherokee nation did not want to accept those laws or the Indian Removal Act, so the Cherokees' Chief John Ross tried to defend the Cherokee rights through the United States courts. In 1832, the Supreme Court of the United States said that the Cherokee were living in their own country, "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force." The Court said Georgia had no right to make the Cherokee do anything.

Nevertheless, the U.S. government used a treaty, called the Treaty of New Echota, to remove the Cherokee nation by force. The treaty was signed by the leader of a small group of Cherokees with different opinions than the rest of the Nation. Since an official Cherokee leader did not sign the treaty, it was not legal under Cherokee law. About 15,000 Cherokees signed a petition against the treaty. Newspapers and people around the United States (including John Quincy Adams) protested the treaty. The United States Senate approved the treaty by just one vote. President Jackson signed the treaty into law on May 23, 1836. The treaty gave the Cherokees two years to leave their lands. Only about 2,000 left within the two years.

Forced removal

"

"I fought through the War Between the States and have seen many men shot, but the Cherokee Removal was the cruelest work I ever knew."
- A Georgia soldier who participated in the removal

"

The deadline for Cherokees to leave their land voluntarily was on May 23, 1838. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to lead the soldiers who would force the Cherokee to leave.

On May 26th, the official removal began. 7,000 soldiers forced about 15,000 Cherokees and 2,000 of their slaves to leave their land. All Cherokees had to leave their homes right away. Within three weeks, the Cherokees were all forced into concentration camps. They were forced to stay in these camps for the summer of 1838. 353 Cherokee died from dysentery and other diseases.

Finally, Chief Ross got General Scott to agree to a deal. Chief Ross promised that he and other Cherokee leaders would bring the Cherokee people to their new lands on their own. General Scott agreed and even got the U.S. Army to pay the costs of the trip.

The Cherokee traveled in groups of 1000 to 3000 people on three main routes. Different groups started in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Guntersville, Alabama; and Charleston, Tennessee. Most Cherokees had to walk; others, if they were wealthy men, could use wagons. The United States government also gave the Cherokee about 660 wagons.

It is said that many Cherokees sang a Cherokee version of the song Amazing Grace, which became a kind of anthem for the Cherokee nation.

The trip was about 1,200 miles long. During the trip, the Cherokee had to deal with winter weather, blizzards, and diseases. Not everybody agrees on how many people died on the trip. Some say 2,000 and others say 6,000, but most say about 4,000 people died. Finally, the Cherokee who were still alive arrived in what is now Oklahoma.

The Cherokee took different routes. Some were by land and others by water. Some boats were destroyed, which was a danger on water routes. On the ground, people had to walk through mud and cold weather, and it was harder walking on land.

Water route

This route was taken by about 2,800 Cherokees split into three groups. All groups started at Ross's Landing at the Tennessee River. They used boats to travel to the Ohio River, which took them south to the Mississippi River. They took the Arkansas River westward from the Mississippi. They arrived near Fort Coffee, Oklahoma. The first group left on June 6 and reached the territory after 13 days. The second and third groups had a lot of problems with diseases, so their trip took longer.

Land routes

The people who did not travel by water took land routes. Leaders chosen by John Ross guided groups of 700-1,600 people, usually on northern routes. The routes led through central Tennessee, southwestern Kentucky, and southern Illinois. The groups crossed the Mississippi north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, then traveled through southern Missouri and west of Arkansas. The people who signed the Treaty of New Enchota were willing to trade their homeland for $5 million and land in Oklahoma. United States soldiers led them and usually took a southern route. All land routes usually ended near Westville, Oklahoma. These routes cover more than 2,200 miles in 9 states. Many people died on the journey because of diseases, lack of water, and bad road conditions.

Interesting facts about the Trail of Tears

The five tribes who were mainly affected by the Indian Removal Act were fairly civilized. They had tried to adopt some of the American culture and were friendly with the colonists.

Even though they were given money for food, many of the Cherokee died of starvation because dishonest merchants sold them bad food at high prices.

The Trail of Tears was not the end of the mistreatment of Native Americans. Much of their in Oklahoma was soon taken from them as well.

The Cherokee who survived the Trail of Tears established a new nation and government in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

John Ross survived the Trail of Tears and was elected Principal Chief of the new Cherokee Nation in 1839.

Some of the Cherokee men who survived the Trail of Tears killed John Ridge, a Cherokee leader who agreed to the Treaty of New Enchota.

The U.S. government did not pay the Cherokee the $5 million they were owed from the Treaty of New Enchota until the Cherokee filed petitions.

The Seminole tribe, one of the tribes that was forced to move, resisted for seven years.

As a result of the Indian Removal Act, 25 million acres of land was left for settlers and colonists in the southeast United States.

Related pages

Images for kids

A Trail of Tears map of Southern Illinois from the USDA - U.S. Forest Service

In Spanish: Sendero de lágrimas para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trail of Tears | We Shall Remain | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this video segment adapted from American Experience: “We Shall Remain,” reenactments help tell the story of how the Cherokee people were forced from their lands in the southeast. The U.S. government initially promised the Cherokee and other Native American tribes that if they could assimilate int…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rwandan Genocide Facts, Worksheets & Ethnic Divide For Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Free Rwandan Genocide facts and information, and a collection of Rwandan Genocide worksheets for use at school in a homeschooling environment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rwanda is a small mountainous country in east-central Africa. The capital is Kigali. Geography Rwanda borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Swastika is a cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either left-facing or right-facing forms. It is a widely-used religious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In the 1920s, the swastika became a the symbol for the Nazi party in the Western world. It was used as the symbol of the Finnish Air Force until 1945.

Religious use

The Swastika is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It is also a sign of spiritual purity. The swastika was a letter in the ancient Sanskrit language. It meant luck or well being. It is also found on Byzantine buildings, Ancient Greek coinage and in Native American burial sites. During the 20th century Adolf Hitler adopted the symbol for the Nazi Party. From 1935 - 1945 it was used on the German flag. The symbol became stigmatized because of its association with Nazi war crimes. But it is still used as a religious sign.

The Nazi 'Hakenkreuz', where the Swastika is at an angle. It was created by Adolf Hitler and was used as the representing symbol for National Socialism.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Swastika is a cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either left-facing or right-facing forms. It is a widely-used religious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In the 1920s, the swastika became a the symbol for the Nazi party in the Western world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the history of the Holocaust during World War II. Jewish people were killed by the German Nazi Party.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1933 the Nazi Party took control of the country of Germany. The Nazis hated Jewish people and tried to make life hard for them. Later, during World War II (1939-45), they...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Holocaust through Children's Eyes | The Last Survivors | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Follow the firsthand testimony of the last generation of Holocaust survivors, as they recount the haunting memories of being sent to Nazi concentration camps, in these videos excerpted from The Last Survivors: FRONTLINE. As camp survivor Ivor Perl and his family take part in a modern-day tour of Auschwitz, fellow survivors recall arriving at the camp as children and the unimaginable horror and loss that awaited them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz (also called Auschwitz-Birkenau) was the largest to be set up by Nazi Germany. It was located near the industrial town of…

# data[].attributes.headline
Do people really think the Holocaust was fake?

# data[].attributes.subject
Do people really think the Holocaust was fake?

# data[].attributes.body
Join our Red/Blue Team Newsela Class to access this article. Use your school account. Article Title: “It happened”: Holocaust survivor, 98, built massive TikTok following to combat deniers

LA Blue Red Team Class Code for Newslea: QN4TSQ

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.body
Join our Red/Blue Team Newsela Classroom to access this article. Make sure to log in to Newsela through Google! Use your school account! Video Title: Confronting Antisemitism After Kanye West's Outbursts

LA Red/Blue Team Newsela Class Code: QN4TSQ

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.body
Check out this slideshow for information and examples on empathy vs sympathy.

# data[].attributes.body
Make sure to log in to Newsela through Google. Use your school account!

# data[].attributes.body
Make sure to log in to Newsela through Google. Use your school account! Article Title: The Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.