Trail of Tears Timeline by Barbara Barrios

1830 Indian Removal Act

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 15:29:39 UTC

This law was signed into by President Andrew Jackson. It allowed federal government to negotiate treaties whereby Native American tribes in the Southeast exchanged lands for territory west of the Mississippi River. Seeing as their old land no longer belonged to them the Native American tribes, from not only the Southeast but also the North, were heavily affected by this.

1835 Treaty of Echota

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 15:44:41 UTC

In 1835 treaty of Echota was signed. Cherokees were forcibly relocated from their ancestral territories in the Southeast to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River as a result of the deal. In return for their 7 million acres of ancestral land, the Cherokees received $5 million and land in modern-day Oklahoma as part of the Treaty of New Echota.

1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 16:00:17 UTC

The final significant land cession agreement that the Choctaw signed was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. The Choctaw who opted to stay in Mississippi became the first significant non-European ethnic group to be recognized as citizens of the United States after the treaty was ratified by the U.S. Congress in 1831. This was the first removal agreement to be implemented under the Indian Removal Act was this one.

1832 Supreme Court Ruling

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 16:07:49 UTC

Worcester v. Georgia: Jackson ignored the Supreme Courts ruling, stating that the state of Georgia did not have legal right to impose its laws upon Cherokee territory. This made the removal process happen at a faster pace. The Indian Removal Act was then used to distribute Cherokee property.

1836 Forced Removal Starts

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 16:20:38 UTC

Cherokee and other tribes were being removed from their ancestral lands along the Mississippi River, making the Natives more resistant. The Natives were forced out by the government with military inventions to exchange for more Indian land. Around 20 million acres Of land that is now know as parts of Georgia and Alabama.

1837 First Major Relocation

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 19:03:45 UTC

Beginning in 1837, the first of these great relocations began to take place with this forced removal of about 1,000 Cherokee from their ancestral home of Georgia onto: nothing short of disastrous conditions for this first group, hunched weather, little supplies, and not much shelter presaged a larger scale of suffering for the subsequent mass removal that became known as the Trail of Tears.

1828-1839 Trail of Tears

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 19:05:53 UTC

The Trail of Tears is known as the painful relocation, by the US government. An estimated number of 60,000 Native Americans, principally from the Cherokee Nation, where relocated from their ancestral home in the southeastern part of the United States to designated Indian Territory in what is today Oklahoma. This was the consequence of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, through which Native lands were opened up for white settlers. The journey, amidst unbearable conditions, caused immense suffering, and thousands died from disease, exposure, and starvation. The term "Trail of Tears" captures in a nutshell the colossal loss and trauma which the relocated tribes underwent during that tragic era in American history.

1839 Completion of Relocation

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 19:18:14 UTC

The relocation in 1839 brought into completion the brutal policy of forced removal of all Native American tribes, especially the Cherokee from their ancestral lands as mentioned. The process, as it is currently called, the Trail of Tears, was one of great suffering, loss of life, and displacement for thousands of Indigenous peoples. Of the events described, this one most clearly bore the mark of a U.S. policy of expansion and assimilation; the more permanent legacy lay in traumatizing or resiliencies Native communities. Now reflect on the injustices that Native American people suffered and debate on their rights, land disputes and cultural perservation.

1840s Rebuilding in Indian Territory

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 19:21:37 UTC

Rebuilding in Indian Territory in the 1840s involves rebuilding by various Native American tribes, especially those forcibly relocated from the Southeast after the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw labored at rebuilding their societies-establishing new forms of government, schools, and agriculture-in the territory that would eventually become Oklahoma. They faced immense adjustment problems like conflicts with settlers, internal divisions, yet their goal has always been to continue preserving their cultures and adjusting to the new environment.

Late 20th Century Legacy and Recognition

bbarr010 — 2024-10-31 19:25:02 UTC

Going into the end of the 20th century, the rights of Native Americans and their cultures were already so well-founded, and major strides had been accomplished both politically and judicially. For example, landmark pieces of legislation like the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 finally gave much-needed autonomy to the tribes in their affairs and began to formally promote cultural preservation. It shows how such movements to recognize Native history and national sovereignty are catalyzed by greater public awareness and interest in the contributions being made by Indigenous peoples.