USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the “Trail of Tears, ” because of its devastating effects.

Detailed explanation-2: -Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk hundreds of miles to a specially designated “Indian Territory” across the Mississippi River.

Detailed explanation-3: -The removal of the Cherokees was a product of the demand for arable land during the rampant growth of cotton agriculture in the Southeast, the discovery of gold on Cherokee land, and the racial prejudice that many white southerners harbored toward American Indians.

Detailed explanation-4: -During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4, 000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the “Trail of Tears.” A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875.