Baldwin Wallace Letter

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lottering off their homelands. The Cherokee tried to sue the state of Georgia, arguing that because they were a separate nation the U.S. had no right to cease their land. The state had used the Cherokee statements and logic against them, claiming that because they were their own separate nation the case would not be accepted and Georgia continued to act out their will. The Cherokee then looked to help from Samuel Worcester who was a missionary to the Cherokee because he was a United States citizen. This time when the court case was tried, chief justice John Marshall had ruled in favor of the Cherokee. This was a great victory in the eyes of the Ross party and majority of the Cherokee people but to be short lived due to the undermining and opposing efforts of the treaty party. In 1835 the treaty party secretly signed over the Cherokee land without asking or considering the fatal fates that would come to haunt the tribe still to this day. When the Ross party and majority of Cherokee caught word of this deserting act they petitioned to protest the signing of it, explaining that the minority group could not speak on behalf the majority. Andrew Jackson being in support of Cherokee removal paid this petition almost no mind and ordered for natives to leave their lands or be forced off.

    For the Cherokee remembering the trail of tears and removal was but all too easy, because of their understanding that the past and present are woven together. “This means that even today Cherokees live with and relive the Trail of Tears.”. During the time of Cherokee removal most settlers had not considered the past of the Cherokee, not until after the Civil War did Americans become more reflective about the events that took place over 30 years before. In their reflection they focused on memorializing the dead instead of asking questions about the event and looking into the cause and effect of the removal. By the 1900s in the settlers eyes, Cherokee were considered brave men struggling to fight for their homeland as well as their culture. The removal from their land remains a turning point and disastrous event in the minds of  Cherokee of modern day, and it cannot help but to have a feeling of injustice and resentment for the lost motherlands.

Cited Works

“Lewis Cass Removal of the Indians North American Review, January 1830.” Cassremoval.pdf, National Humanitaries Center, nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/triumphnationalism/expansion/text4/cassremoval.pdf.

“John Ross.” John Ross, Cherokee Nation, www.cherokee.org/About-The-Nation/History/Chiefs/John-Ross

    Perdue, Theda. Cherokee Removal: a Brief History with Documents. Bedford Bks St Martin’S, 2016.