Category: The Trail of Tears

American history is full of tragic and controversial moments. The very formative years of the American nation, i. e. the first decades after the War of Independence, were marked by the young nations trying to defend its independence. However, the further development of the American state proved to be rather aggressive and destructive. Of course, the country itself developed, expanded, and gained international political authority, but the domestic policies the US government implemented were rather controversial. One of the most argued episodes in US history is the anti-Native policies that reached their peak during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The early 19^th century was the time when American Indians were forcefully moved to the West of the country or killed by the US military. The book under consideration in this paper, Mountain Windsong: A novel of the trail of tears by Robert Conley depicts the events of those times showing the tragedy of the Indian people of the Cherokee tribe.

Thus, the major topic of the book by Robert Conley is the history of the Cherokee people to which he himself belongs. The very book presents the communication of two Indians, an aged Grandpa and his grandson LeRoy during which Grandpa tells the boy about all the misfortunes of their tribe back in the 19^th century. What is also worth noticing is that the title of the book reflects one of its plotlines  namely the love story of the two Indian people, Oconeechee and Whippoorwill. Having heard the wind blowing like a song in the mountains, LeRoy asks Grandpa if he heard the same, and Grandpa puts his explanation of it in the historical context: Its the lovesong of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill. (Conley Pg.6) Developing the story, Grandpa tells LeRoy about the governmental actions towards the Cherokee people, and explains that the Indians hesitated whether they should go to the West willingly or fight to death for their native lands. As for the motivations the US government had to kill Cherokees and want their resettlement to the West, Grandpa sees the reality as it is: Well, Its kind of hard to say&But mostly, I think, they just wanted all our land. I think thats why they wanted to kick us out. (Conley Pg.10  11) Further on, two plot lines are developed in the book  the love story of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill and the Indians removal to the West. The former turns out to be tragic as Whippoorwill dies after one of the battles, while the latter takes the form of genocide against the Indians: I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the crudest work I ever knew. (Conley Pg.81)

Drawing from all this data, it is rather difficult to single out some information of special interest as there is much in the book about the Cherokees that most people do not know. As for me, the fact that the Cherokee people had their own government was rather surprising. Moreover, they had towns where the authority was distributed between the people in charge of peace and war affairs of each town: Each town had its own government, and they had two chiefs  a war chief and a piece chief. (Conley Pg.8) As a result, the idea of democracy was not new for the Cherokees, and the book proves this idea: They let each town have its own government with two chiefs and a council and advisor. They had democracy. (Conley Pg.9) Speaking of the tribal customs, the Cherokees rejected the shaving their heads after the White people came and introduced their traditions into the Indian society, however, certain people remained loyal to the native Indian traditions: The young men had all stopped the old practice of shaving their heads. They had their hair like white men, cut just below the ears or at the shoulders. (Conley Pg.16) Finally, the Cherokee belief that the woman should find a man at once after she reaches the age of sexual maturity was also an unfamiliar fact about this Indian tribe: Cherokees felt that something was wrong with a woman who remained a virgin too long after her body had matured. (Conley Pg.15) However, this book is read as a part of the course of history and there are enough ground for this.

First of all, the book by Robert Conley is a well-documented research work, which combines scholarly data with the novel-like narration and a love story. The documents the author uses for his book are the primary sources including the treaties between the Cherokee tribe and the US government, the documented accounts of the contemporaries on the Cherokee removal process. The secondary scholarly sources used include the reputable historical works by such authors as Charles C. Royce (1887), etc. Thus, besides the ethnic and cultural information on Cherokees, the book presents a great amount of specific data on the ways in which the US government took control over the Cherokee lands. Among these ways, the articles of a treaty concluded at New Echota in the State of Georgia on the 29^th day of Decr. 1835 by General William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn commissioners on the part of the United States and the Chiefs Head Men and People of the Cherokee tribe of Indians can be mentioned (Conley Pg.47). Also, April 24, 1802 agreement between Georgia and the USA is of great importance for the documenting of the book, and for the readers understanding of the events it depicts. Presenting both the Cherokee and the US government points of view, the author manages to create the objective picture of the historic events in question. If the pure literary value of the book is taken into consideration, it becomes evident why it is a history reading. Students obtain historical information through an interesting and involving reading; there is no need to make oneself study as the basic dates, events and names are memorized in the process of reading a fascinating novel.

So, the book by Robert Conley is a bright example of combining the historical and literary ideas in a single work provoking the interest of diverse groups of readers. As a reading in the history course, this book is also of great value as it provides considerable amounts of information about one of the most controversial and tragic episodes in US history  the period of the Indians removal from their native lands. Presenting the objective picture of the period, the author also praises the Cherokee traditions and customs, thus enlarging the students ethnographic knowledge as well.

American history is full of tragic and controversial moments. The very formative years of the American nation, i. e. the first decades after the War of Independence, were marked by the young nation’s trying to defend its independence. However, the further development of the American state proved to be rather aggressive and destructive. Of course, the country itself developed, expanded, and gained international political authority, but the domestic policies the US government implemented were rather controversial. One of the most argued episodes in US history is the anti-Native policies that reached their peak during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The early 19^th century was the time when American Indians were forcefully moved to the West of the country or killed by the US military. The book under consideration in this paper, “Mountain Windsong: A novel of the trail of tears” by Robert Conley depicts the events of those times showing the tragedy of the Indian people of the Cherokee tribe.

Thus, the major topic of the book by Robert Conley is the history of the Cherokee people to which he himself belongs. The very book presents the communication of two Indians, an aged Grandpa and his grandson LeRoy during which Grandpa tells the boy about all the misfortunes of their tribe back in the 19^th century. What is also worth noticing is that the title of the book reflects one of its plotlines – namely the love story of the two Indian people, Oconeechee and Whippoorwill. Having heard the wind blowing like a song in the mountains, LeRoy asks Grandpa if he heard the same, and Grandpa puts his explanation of it in the historical context: “It’s the lovesong of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill.” (Conley Pg.6) Developing the story, Grandpa tells LeRoy about the governmental actions towards the Cherokee people, and explains that the Indians hesitated whether they should go to the West willingly or fight to death for their native lands. As for the motivations the US government had to kill Cherokees and want their resettlement to the West, Grandpa sees the reality as it is: “Well, It’s kind of hard to say…But mostly, I think, they just wanted all our land. I think that’s why they wanted to kick us out.” (Conley Pg.10 – 11) Further on, two plot lines are developed in the book – the love story of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill and the Indians’ removal to the West. The former turns out to be tragic as Whippoorwill dies after one of the battles, while the latter takes the form of genocide against the Indians: “I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the crudest work I ever knew.” (Conley Pg.81)

Drawing from all this data, it is rather difficult to single out some information of special interest as there is much in the book about the Cherokees that most people do not know. As for me, the fact that the Cherokee people had their own government was rather surprising. Moreover, they had towns where the authority was distributed between the people in charge of peace and war affairs of each town: “Each town had its own government, and they had two chiefs – a war chief and a piece chief.” (Conley Pg.8) As a result, the idea of democracy was not new for the Cherokees, and the book proves this idea: “They let each town have its own government with two chiefs and a council and advisor. They had democracy.” (Conley Pg.9) Speaking of the tribal customs, the Cherokees rejected the shaving their heads after the White people came and introduced their traditions into the Indian society, however, certain people remained loyal to the native Indian traditions: “The young men had all stopped the old practice of shaving their heads. They had their hair like white men, cut just below the ears or at the shoulders.” (Conley Pg.16) Finally, the Cherokee belief that the woman should find a man at once after she reaches the age of sexual maturity was also an unfamiliar fact about this Indian tribe: “Cherokees felt that something was wrong with a woman who remained a virgin too long after her body had matured.” (Conley Pg.15) However, this book is read as a part of the course of history and there are enough ground for this.

First of all, the book by Robert Conley is a well-documented research work, which combines scholarly data with the novel-like narration and a love story. The documents the author uses for his book are the primary sources including the treaties between the Cherokee tribe and the US government, the documented accounts of the contemporaries on the Cherokee removal process. The secondary scholarly sources used include the reputable historical works by such authors as Charles C. Royce (1887), etc. Thus, besides the ethnic and cultural information on Cherokees, the book presents a great amount of specific data on the ways in which the US government took control over the Cherokee lands. Among these ways, the “articles of a treaty concluded at New Echota in the State of Georgia on the 29^th day of Decr. 1835 by General William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn commissioners on the part of the United States and the Chiefs Head Men and People of the Cherokee tribe of Indians” can be mentioned (Conley Pg.47). Also, April 24, 1802 agreement between Georgia and the USA is of great importance for the documenting of the book, and for the readers’ understanding of the events it depicts. Presenting both the Cherokee and the US government points of view, the author manages to create the objective picture of the historic events in question. If the pure literary value of the book is taken into consideration, it becomes evident why it is a history reading. Students obtain historical information through an interesting and involving reading; there is no need to make oneself study as the basic dates, events and names are memorized in the process of reading a fascinating novel.

So, the book by Robert Conley is a bright example of combining the historical and literary ideas in a single work provoking the interest of diverse groups of readers. As a reading in the history course, this book is also of great value as it provides considerable amounts of information about one of the most controversial and tragic episodes in US history – the period of the Indians’ removal from their native lands. Presenting the objective picture of the period, the author also praises the Cherokee traditions and customs, thus enlarging the students’ ethnographic knowledge as well.

In his book, John Ehle describes the events that are connected with the Indian Removal Act that led to the notorious Trail of Tears. In time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the Cherokee tribe was removed to “Indian Territory”, today’s states of Oklahoma and Arkansas. There are different points of view on reasons for such removal. The most popular version is the American greed for Indian land and gold; however, Ehle argues that President Jackson had consistent and logical reasons to displace Native Americans. Ehle is convinced that the Cherokee removal was related to the question of national security. Despite common opinion that Native Americans have always been the peaceful and innocent victims of the White racism and unlimited desire for material wealth, Indians can be fairly accused of numerous cases of atrocity against settlers. Ehle claims that Whites are no more racist than Indians since the discourse of Indian experience evidences the pride for their copper-colored skin and frequent cases of desire to murder the “ugly whites” (Ehle 45). Tribal chiefs discouraged Indians from marriages with Whites because they were worried for the purity of their blood. Whites are often depicted as a nation of slaveholders: it is a primary accusation of all American settlers; however, Native Americans were not strange to slavery as well.

Although history and experience show that Indians’ attitude to their slaves was better than that of white Americans, they provided much worse living conditions for the slaves due to the lack of food and resources. Ehle exemplifies the brutality of Native Americans in a wide range of ways, providing the detailed depiction of their rites and traditions such as hostage tortures, digestion of enemies’ body parts, etc. He argues that the decision to remove Indians to the “Indian Territory” was the only way to provide the national security. As Ehle states, at the beginning of the 19th century, the American government faced the problems of slavery and Indian rights; “the first was solved by the bloodiest war ever fought on the continent, and the second by a method of feints and dives and problems and evasions” (105). He argues that if the American administration chose to solve the problem of Indian rights by military actions, the war would be much more violent and atrocious. Therefore, the Trail of Tears was the best of a bad bunch, even if Indians considered White Americans as cowards because they did not want to shed the blood (in Native American tradition, people should fight for their land and die in battle if it is their fate). However, the Washington unwillingness to start a war risking the lives of thousands of people and the Indian Removal Act were the reasonable and justified political decisions.

Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation addresses the wide audience as it is written in a simple language. The obvious drawback of the book is the lack of thorough analysis of possible decisions of the situation. Ehle does not admit the version of a compromise between two folks completely neglecting the idea of a peace calumet. However, the primary advantage of the book is that it presents a different perspective and casts light on some facts of relationships between Native and White Americans that people, whether intentionally or not, tend to forget.

Work Cited

Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. Anchor Books, 1988.

Introduction

What specific reasons should people have to name their long-term journey the ‘Trail Where We Cried’ or ‘Trail of Tears’? It is possible to assume that 4,000 deaths during the journey are a credible reason to discuss the trail as full of tears and agony.

From 1833 to 1839, the Cherokee Tribe was forcedly removed from their native lands to the United States’ western territories, and that trail was associated with a lot of Indians’ deaths and sufferings.

This controversial event is very important to be discussed because it demonstrates the role of historic lessons for the nation’s development. The history of relations between white Americans and Native Americans teaches the nation a lot of significant lessons associated with the ideas of humanity and democracy. As a result, the fact that more than 4,000 Cherokees died because of the consequences of the ineffective government’s actions is painful for the whole nation, and it should be discussed in detail.

I am interested in this topic for two years, and I researched a lot of materials on the problem during the period. To discuss this controversial topic in-depth, I have focused on the most reputable studies in the field as well as on the recent researches.

Thus, I should state that the Cherokees had many reasons to discuss the forced relocation as the ‘Trail of Tears’ because they suffered significantly and saw a lot of deaths during the journey.

There are at least three main reasons to support this view: first, the Cherokees were forced to leave their native lands and homes; second, the tribe suffered from the mistreatment, diseases, and inappropriate conditions; third, the Cherokee’s population losses were dramatic.

Body

The Cherokees were relocated from their native lands forcedly, and the fact made the nation suffer significantly. During the centuries, the tribe lived in the territories of Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas, and Alabama. Bakken and Kindell note that in 1833-1836, President Andrew Jackson initiates the active removal procedures to support the idea that white settlers and Native Americans should live separately and in different states (Bakken and Kindell 25). Thus, the relocation becomes the result of the United States Indian Removal Act of 1830. The act made thousands of Indians lose their homes and struggle for survival (Bakken and Kindell 101). However, Satz states that the Cherokees were rather peaceful, and they did not use any guns or bows to protect their rights, but they accepted the relocation as the most painful event in their history (Satz 447). Nevertheless, the loss of homes was not the only problem experienced by the tribe.

The Cherokees suffered from mistreatment, many diseases, inappropriate conditions, bad weather, and the lack of food during the trail. That is why, observing the results of the discriminative government policy, they named the dramatic journey the ‘Trail Where We Cried’. Thornton pays attention to the fact that the nation’s sufferings were extreme because they were mistreated by soldiers who did not discuss them as equals, and they were not provided with the elementary resources to survive during the trial (Thornton 290-292). Thus, the observed horrors of the relocation were very dramatic. Magliocca claims that these events even influenced the governments’ approach to developing the Fourteenth Amendment as an attempt to avoid discrimination and promote the abolitionist movement (Magliocca 880-881).

However, the number of the Cherokees’ deaths is the most striking result of the discussed trail.

The trial resulted in Cherokees in significant population losses. The experienced diseases and inappropriate treatment caused the increase in the tribe’s mortality rate because soldiers paid little attention to the Cherokees’ needs and sufferings while forcing their trail. The official numbers associated with the Cherokees’ population losses are 4,000 people. However, Thornton states that these numbers should be read as 8,000 people and even more while following the researches of the twentieth century (Thornton 289-290). The losses were not controlled, and the flow of the Cherokees’ tears was not stopped. For instance, Fixico states that many Cherokees died even after the trial’s ending because of the severe consequences of the journey on the people’s health (Fixico 112).

Conclusion

From this point, the historical data on the aspects of the Cherokees’ removal in 1833-1839 provides many reasons to state that the process of relocation was the real ‘Trail of Tears’ for the tribe because of many sufferings and losses.

The Indians not only lost their native lands and homes, but they also suffered from a lot of challenges during the trial, and the relocation cost was equal to the thousands of deaths.

Any policy or law cannot cost thousands of people’s deaths. That is why the lessons of the Cherokees’ removal are extremely important for the American nation and the development of democratic principles.

Works Cited

Bakken, Gordon Morris, and Alexandra Kindell. Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2006. Print.

Fixico, Donald. Treaties with American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008. Print.

Magliocca, Gerard. “The Cherokee Removal and the Fourteenth Amendment”. Business Insights: Duke Law Journal 53.3 (2003): 875-965. Print.

Satz, Ronald. “The Cherokee Trail of Tears: A Sequential Perspective”. The Georgia Historical Quarterly LXXIII.3 (1989), 344-450. Print.

Thornton, Russell. “Cherokee Population Losses during the Trail of Tears: A New Perspective and a New Estimate”. Ethnohistory 31.4 (1984): 289-300. Print.

This analysis by John Ehle is about the rise and fall of the Cherokee nation resulting from the forced removal of the Cherokees who were Native Americans from their ancestral lands in Georgia to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). It is referred to as the Cherokee Trail of Tears where from the start to the end it approximately led to the deaths of 4,000 Cherokees. In their language, this forceful relocation is known as “Nunna daujl Isunyi” meaning “the Trail Where They Cried”. During this time the U.S government embarked on a mission to remove Native American groups hence the Cherokees were not the only affected group by this injustice of forced emigration. The trail of tears is in another context used to refer to similar events done to Indian people and more specifically among the Five Civilized Tribes (Ehle, 1988, p.19).

The Cherokee Trail of Tears was a result of the implementation of the treaty of New Echota which was an agreement provided for in the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Under this act, the signed treaty entailed the exchange of Native American land in the east for other lands to the west of the Mississippi River. This was a controversial issue among the Cherokees and was strongly opposed by their prominent statesmen and vast numbers of the Cherokees. The invasion by the U.S government on these lands started in 1828 after it was discovered that the land was rich in gold resulting in the first gold rush in U.S history. The discovery of gold deposits in Georgia led to a crisis and fuelled the ever-increasing tensions between Georgia and the Cherokee nation (Ehle, 1988, p.75).

The Cherokee land became of great interest to a greater majority with people trespassing on it and this consequently mounted pressure on the Georgia government to undertake the promises as it was required under the compact of 1802. Now the issue being of major concern to many ended up in U.S supreme court as Georgia attempted to make their state laws control Cherokee tribal lands. The matter was hotly debated in congress and the court ruled that Georgia could not control Cherokee territory in any way because only the national governments had the power to interfere with the Indian affairs. The tension between Georgia and the Cherokee was to the benefit of President Jackson who capitalized on the issue by mounting pressure on the Cherokees to agree to sign a treaty for their removal (Ehle, 1988, p.106).

The population in the U.S was rapidly expanding and this further created more problems and tensions among the Native American tribes settled within the borders of many states. State governments were against the idea of Indian tribes attaining the status of independence and sovereign powers as long as they settled within state boundaries. However Indian tribes opposed the idea to relocate and were not prepared either to give up their already established identities. Under the compact of 1802, Georgia surrendered the western lands it owned to the national government on an agreement that the government on the other hand will sign treaties to remove the Indian tribes occupying lands within Georgia. This could eventually make Georgia have full control over all the land within its borders (Ehle, 1988, p.153).

The Cherokee refused to move out of their ancestral tribal lands which crossed the boundaries of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. They consolidated their occupancy by establishing a capital at New Echota and the adopting a written constitution that declared the Cherokee nation as a sovereign and an independent nation. The ancestral lands of the Cherokee were considered to be of great value to them because upon these lands there could be developments of rail and road communications hence their reason for remaining adamant of any relocation (Ehle, 1988, p.194).

In 1832 after the re-election of Jackson some of the Cherokee leaders who had opposed the removal entered into talks with the government. Under the leadership of Major Ridge, son John and nephews Boudinot, Watie talks commenced because they believed that it was to the benefit of the Cherokee to have favorable terms from the government before other issues such as state governments, white squatters and violence made the situation more chaotic. However, the majority of the Cherokee people and their principal Chief John Ross were still adamant and remained strongly opposed to the plan of removal (Ehle, 1988, p.203).

There was intense political lobbying and in 1835 the government and the Cherokee representatives being Major Ridge and Boudinot signed the Treaty of New Echota but when it was brought to Chief Ross he refused to sign as expected. This treaty was considered by many as illegal and no one of the Cherokee Council signed the document. Under this treaty, the people were supposed to give up all their land east of the Mississippi and occupants to move to the west. There were protests all over with the Cherokee National Council together with Chief Ross terming the document as illegal but despite the outrage, Congress ratified it on May 1836 after it surprisingly won by just a single vote. Some people left for the west while a considerable number remained in the south but as per the terms of the treaty, they were given two years to leave (Ehle, 1988, p.221).

Voluntary removal deadline approached and forcible removal operation was too startled by General Winfield Scott. In command of about 7,000 soldiers, he arrived at New Echota, and on May 26 1838 operations began in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama where people were rounded up and taken to concentration camps. People were not given time to pack their properties, were removed from homes at gunpoint, others were separated from their families and gathered in camps. At this point the journey to unfamiliar land begun where the majority was to travel on foot or with the help of horse, wagon, and boat for a distance of about 1,200 miles (Ehle, 1988, p.280).

This came to be known as the Trail of Tears because of the suffering, deaths which characterized the journey. It represented the saddest episodes of the removal of the Cherokee from their ancestral lands. In the camps deaths were reported caused by diseases, other illnesses, colds, starvation, and also those on the Trail also died as a result of difficulties encountered along the way. It is estimated that from the start to the finish of the Trail of Tears about 4,000 Cherokees lost their lives. People who were removed finally settled in Oklahoma and developed to a strong nation since then with its population rebounding (Ehle, 1988, p.353).

John Ehle in this book is trying to convince readers to learn more of the past injustices committed by some groups, states against the weak, defenseless, minority, and powerless. This action by the U.S of the removal is one of the most regrettable episodes in American history. It indicates the ill-conceived policies, settler behaviors of expanding horizons, and colonialism among the so-called world powers (Ehle, 1988, p.367).

The Cherokee people were treated as slaves who were not equal with other men, had no fundamental rights such as those to own property and the right to live. In this analysis, the reader is made to believe that in the past many people have suffered from the injustices committed by those considered powerful. It’s therefore of a great lesson to know what happened, how it happened so as we can prevent it from happening any other time in the future. The travesties, tragedies, difficulties, white man’s lust, injustices on the Cherokee nation can never evade the wrath of condemnation from generation to generation putting on the spotlight how this led to social, economical, and political problems (Ehle, 1988, p.385).

The author has successfully succeeded in putting across his objective. Anyone who reads this story can not stop condemning these injustices done on poor, defenseless humanity who are even denied what their creator endowed them with. However, according to my view, his analysis was biased against the U.S government. This is because it talks more of the injustices, unfairness, and illegalities on the side of the government not giving the good the government could have done during this time. For instance, the government could have had other plans after the removal such as compensating the affected and using the revenue from the gold mines for the growth of the economy (Ehle,1988, p.420).

List of references

Ehle, J (1988), The Rise and Fall of The Cherokee Nation, Newyork Doubleday