Editing Trail of Tears (section)

==Background==
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://real-life-heroes.wikia.com/wiki/George_Washington George Washington] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Knox Henry Knox]) was gaining momentum, especially among the Cherokee and Choctaw. US President [[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. The Act was strongly enforced under Jackson's presidency and that of his successor, [[Martin Van Buren]].

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.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. Other groups were rounded up and forced into [[concentration camps]] until new land was found for them to settle on. 

A limited number of non-native Americans (including African-Americans - usually as slaves) also accompanied the Native American nations on the trek westward .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 settlements.

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 [[slavery]] in the South. 

The latter forced relocations have sometimes been referred to as "[[death march]]es", in particular about the Cherokee march across the Midwest in 1838, which occurred on a predominantly land route.

Native Americans who had the means initially provided for their own removal. Contingents that were led by conductors from the U.S. Army included those led by Edward Deas, who was claimed to be a sympathizer for the Cherokee plight.

The largest death toll from the Cherokee forced relocation comes from the period after the May 23, 1838 deadline. This was at the point when the remaining Cherokee were rounded into camps and pressed into oversized detachments, often over 700 in size (larger than the populations of Little Rock or Memphis at that time). Communicable diseases spread quickly through these closely quartered groups, killing many. These contingents were among the last to move, but following the same routes the others had taken; the areas they were going through had been depleted of supplies due to the vast numbers that had gone before them. 

The marchers were subject to extortion and violence along the route. In addition, these final contingents were forced to set out during the hottest and coldest months of the year, killing many. Exposure to the elements, disease, and starvation, harassment by local frontiersmen, and insufficient rations similarly killed up to one-third of the Choctaw and other nations on the march.

There exists some debate among historians and the affected tribes as to whether the term "Trail of Tears" should be used to refer to the entire history of forced relocations from the United States east of the Mississippi into Indian Territory (as was the stated U.S. policy) or to the five tribes described above, to the route of the land march specifically, or to specific marches in which the remaining holdouts from each area were rounded up.


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