Trail of Tears
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Trail of Tears of 1838 History What is the Trail of Tears? Results of the Trail of Tears Causes of the Trail of Tears Killed during Trail of Tears Where was the Trail of Tears located routes

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The "Trail of Tears" refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of approximately 16,000 Cherokee Indians to the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (see Trail of Tears Mapped Routes). The Trail of Tears resulted from the enforcement of the Treaty of New Echota, an agreement signed under the provisions of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Cherokee Indian Agent William Holland Thomas, a self-taught lawyer and future Cherokee chief, successfully lobbied Washington for the right of a number of Cherokee to remain in Western North Carolina; these Cherokee are the present-day Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation. The United States, consequently, would later justify its Indian Removal as Manifest Destiny. 

 

"Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave old nation. Women cry and make sad wails. Children cry and many men cry, and all look sad like when friends die, but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much. We bury close by Trail."
— Survivor of the Trail of Tears
 
Related Reading:
 

Recommended Reading: Cherokee History, 1830 Indian Removal Act, 1835 Treaty of New Echota, 1838 Trail of Tears, and Cherokee Culture and Customs.

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