Summary Of The Trail Of Tears: A Cherokee Legacy

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The Trail o f Tears: A Cherokee LegacyThe discovery of the New World in the late 1400s by Christopher Columbus led to the end of the Old World. Many troubles have arisen amongst the original inhabitants of the New World such as Native Americans. After the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, Native Americans were abused, exploited, and suffered at the hands of many Europeans. In the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Legacy, Chip Richie analyzes the forced removal ofNative Americans from their sacred land by President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Indian Removal Act resulted in the deaths of many Native Americans, and this long journey became known as The Trail of Tears. For hundreds of years, Native Americans …show more content…

Some Native Americans adapted to Anglo-Saxon ways of life such as education, Christianity, and agricultural methods such as the use of the plow.The eager assimilation by the Native Americans to European culture is the main reason why many Europeans felt as if they could exploit them for their land. Europeans believed because God gave them the ability to “help,” Native Americans by introducing Anglo-Saxon ways of living to them, that in return, Europeans would receive their sacred Native American lands as a
Emokpae 2tradeoff. This process which is known as ‘Manifest Destiny,’ is defined by history.com as, “the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast.” The acquisition of Native American …show more content…

Out of the 16,000 Cherokees that migrated this long journey, almost 4,000 died, and still, to this day, even after something as horrifyingly unjust as this, Native Americans are still not represented in the United States, which can be seen in the Dakota Pipeline crisis. The land Cherokees and many other Native American tribes were forced to move to, and have finally become accustomed to are now being taken back; due to the United States government wanting to bring back domestic oil business.Prejudice and discrimination tend to go hand in hand, though the two are very different they are similar. Prejudice is the act of judging one without any first-hand interactions, while discrimination is acting on prejudice thoughts, or treating one a certain way due to certainaspects such as gender, race, etc. For years, Native Americans have had to deal with many instances of prejudice and discrimination. The discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus became the sinister start of this unfair treatment that Native Americans still face today. Europeans believed they could kill, abuse, and exploit Native Americans for many reasons.Manifest Destiny became the sole reason why many European settlers exploited Native Americans, they believed God was giving them the opportunity because they deserved it; and Native American sacred land was a gift that God wanted to give to them. Religion was very important to many Europeans, but these same people were not

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