Editing Trail of Tears

The '''Trail of Tears''' is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States Native American] nations from southeastern parts of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States United States] following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act_of_1830 Indian Removal Act of 1830]. The removal included many members of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee Cherokee], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscogee_%28Creek%29 Muscogee (Creek)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole Seminole], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickasaw Chickasaw], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw Choctaw] nations, among others in the United States, from their homelands to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Territory Indian Territory] (eastern sections of the present-day state of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma Oklahoma]). The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw Choctaw] Nation in 1831.

Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease and starvation on route to their destinations. Many died, including 4,000 of the 13,000 relocated Cherokee, intermarried and accompanying European-Americans, and the 2,000 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American African-American] free blacks and slaves owned by the Cherokee they took with them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-books.google.com_3-0"></sup> European Americans and African American freedmen and slaves also participated in the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek and Seminole forced relocations.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"></sup>

In 1831, the Cherokee, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickasaw Chickasaw], Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole (sometimes collectively referred to as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Civilized_Tribes Five Civilized Tribes]) were living as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous#Politics autonomous] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation nations] in what would be called the American [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_South Deep South]. The process of cultural transformation (proposed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington George Washington] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Knox Henry Knox]) was gaining momentum, especially among the Cherokee and Choctaw.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-perdue_5-0"></sup> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson Andrew Jackson] continued and renewed the political and military effort for the removal of the Native Americans from these lands with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

In 1831 the Choctaw were the first to be removed, and they became the model for all other removals. After the Choctaw, the Seminole were removed in 1832, the Creek in 1834, then the Chickasaw in 1837, and finally the Cherokee in 1838.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Indian_removals_1814_-_1858_6-0"></sup>After removal, some Native Americans remained in their ancient homelands - the Choctaw are found in Mississippi, the Seminole in Florida, the Creek in Alabama, and the Cherokee in North Carolina. A limited number of non-native Americans (including African-Americans - usually as slaves) also accompanied the Native American nations on the trek westward.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Indian_removals_1814_-_1858_6-1"></sup>By 1837, 46,000 Native Americans from these southeastern states had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres (100,000 km<sup>2</sup>) for predominantly white settlement<sup>.</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Indian_removals_1814_-_1858_6-2"></sup>

The fixed boundaries of these autonomous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_recognized_tribe tribal nations], comprising large areas of the United States, were subject to continual [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cession cession] and annexation prior to 1830, in part due to pressure from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatter squatters] and the threat of military force in the newly declared U.S. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territories_of_the_United_States territories] -- federally administered regions whose boundaries supervened upon the Native treaty claims. As these territories became [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._states U.S. states], state governments sought to dissolve the boundaries of the Indian nations within their borders, which were independent of state jurisdiction, and to expropriate the land therein. These pressures were magnified by U.S. population growth and the expansion of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery slavery] in the South
[[Category:Villainous Event]]