In 1830, President Andrew Jackson (yes, that guy on the $20 bill) signed the Indian Removal Act, which basically said, "Hey, Native Americans, you have to leave your homes and move to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma)". Can you imagine being forced to leave your home and move to a place you've never seen before? I mean, I get grumpy when my favorite coffee shop closes, let alone being relocated across the country!
The act was supposed to be voluntary, but let's be real, it was more like, "You're going, whether you like it or not". The US government even went as far as to bribe some Native American leaders to sign treaties that would force their people to relocate. I guess you could say it was like a bad real estate deal, but instead of losing your house, you lost your entire way of life.
The Trail of Tears itself was the brutal and heartbreaking journey that thousands of Native Americans were forced to take from their ancestral lands to Indian Territory. It was like a really long and really bad road trip, but instead of getting lost in traffic, people got lost, sick, and even died along the way. The conditions were horrendous, with inadequate food, water, and shelter, making it a nightmare come true.
Trail of Tears: The Visual Non-Glossary
It's estimated that between 2,000 to 8,000 Cherokee people died on the Trail of Tears, which is like, a lot of people. I mean, can you imagine if that many people died on a hike in Yellowstone? There would be outcry and protests galore! But back then, it was just another day in the life of Native American-US government relations.
