How the Trail of Tears Began
The United States of the 1820s was growing in population and pushing its land boundaries via western expansion. With this growth, there was a problem; Indigenous peoples occupied the land that the Euro-American citizens wanted to settle on. Eastern Woodland’s Indigenous tribes of the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole nations occupied lands in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1823 that the Indigenous peoples’ "right" to occupancy of the southeastern region of the US was a "secondary right" to the right of the US government’s "right of discovery" on those lands, which means that the Euro-American speculators and settlers could settle on that land lawfully. By the end of 1828, gold was found on lands in Georgia where Native Americans were residing on. The United States government took a direct approach to remove the Indigenous people from the land.
On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson. This law authorized the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi river in exchange for lands that Native Americans lived on. However, this exchange land did not have to be of equal or greater value to the land taken from the Indigenous tribes. The Seminole Tribe declared the Indian Removal Act unlawful and refused to move west. The Creek people also refused to migrate and signed a treaty in 1832 to keep some of their lands; however, the US government reneged on that treaty. The Cherokee nation protested by taking the Indian Removal Act to the Supreme Court in 1831. The court felt that the Cherokee nation had a right to self-government and thus acknowledged that the Georgia extension of state law over the Cherokee nation was unconstitutional. Despite this ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States of America, the state of Georgia and President Jackson ignored the court’s ruling and took steps to start the removal process. Once the Indian Removal Act was enacted, many Indigenous people began leaving and headed to the new Indian territory. Many Chickasaw people, who saw removal as inevitable, signed a treaty in 1832 and began migrating. Some of the Cherokee people migrated west on their own between 1833 and 1838. On December 29, 1835, twenty pro-removal minority Cherokee persons signed the Treaty of New Echota, a removal treaty. Principal Chief John Ross had not authorized this to happen, and the majority of the Cherokee people protested this treaty as unlawful. However, President Andrew Jackson submitted the New Echota treaty to the US Senate, where it was ratified and made law. All Cherokee people had two years to leave their homelands or would be moved by force. By February of 1838, 15,665 people of the Cherokee Nation petitioned congress, protesting the Treaty of New Echota, but no headway was made. The Cherokee people were being “rounded up” by the US Army in May of 1838. The first Cherokee group was driven west under Federal guard in June of 1838.
Trail of Tears Time Line
- The Supreme Court ruled in 1823 that the Native Americans' right of occupancy on lands in the United States was secondary to the right of discovery by the United States.
- State of Georgia pushed Indian Removal
- Gold was found in Northern Georgia in 1828
- On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson.
- The Seminole Tribe declared the Indian Removal Act unlawful and refused to move west.
- The Creeks also refused to migrate and signed the treaty in 1832 to keep some of their lands, but the government reneged on that treaty.
- The Cherokee nation went to the Supreme Court in 1831. The court felt that the Cherokee nation had a right to self-government and thus acknowledged that the Georgia extension of the state law over the Cherokee nation was unconstitutional. However, the state of Georgia and President Jackson ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling.
- The Chickasaw tribe, who saw removal as inevitable, signed a treaty in 1832 and began migrating.
- In 1833, a group of Cherokees was tricked into signing the Treaty of New Echota (a removal treaty)
- Some of the Cherokee people migrated west on their own between 1833 and 1838
- The Second Seminole War started in 1835 and lasted for seven years
- The Chickasaw tribe completed the migration in the winter of 1838
- February 1838: 15,665 people of the Cherokee Nation petitioned congress protesting the Treaty of New Echota.
- May 1838: Cherokee roundup begins May 23, 1838. Southeast suffers the worst drought in recorded history.
- June 1838: First group of Cherokees driven west under Federal guard.
- July 1838: Over 13,000 Cherokees imprisoned in military stockades awaiting a break in drought.
- August 1838: In the Aquohee stockade, Cherokee chiefs meet in council, reaffirming the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. Principal Chief John Ross becomes the superintendent of the removal.
- September 1838: Drought breaks -- Cherokee prepare to embark on a forced exodus to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Ross wins additional funds for food and clothing.
- October 1838: For most Cherokee, the "Trail of Tears“ “The trail where they cried” begins.
- December 1838: Principal Chief John Ross leaves the Cherokee homeland with the last group, carrying the records and laws of the Cherokee Nation. 5000 Cherokees trapped east of the Mississippi by harsh winter
Trail of Tears in 1839
- Cherokees traveled by horse, wagon, and mainly foot for 800 miles, taking no less than eight months to reach the Indian Territory.
- March: The last group headed by Ross reaches Oklahoma. More than 3000 Cherokee die on Trail of Tears, 1600 in stockades, and about the same number en route. Eight hundred more died in Oklahoma in 1839.
- May: Western Cherokee invited new arrivals to meet to establish a united Cherokee government.
- September: Cherokee constitution was adopted on September 6, 1839. Tahlequah was established as the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
Despite the hardships of the journey, the people of the five tribes of the Southeast established new lives in the West. They stand now as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions, while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century.
For more information on the National Historic Trail of Tears, visit the Trail of Tears National Historic trails website. Or at:
National Park Service
National Trails: Intermountain Region
PO Box 728
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0728
Trail of Tears Association
1100 North University, Suite 143
Little Rock, AR 72207
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