tlers brought with them many diseases that proved deadly to the Indians. Fearing that if they fought back, the American government would interfere and force the Cherokee people out west. The Cherokee nation had no choice but to endure the persecution they received from the white man. The Cherokee had many individual whites to fear, but the real threat was the American government. The government had the power to force the removal of the Cherokee nation from there homes. Not only did they have the power to do so, they did exactly that. In 1838, the federal government acted on a treaty agreement that gave away all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi, in exchange for new lands in the west and a cash settlement. Only a minority of the Cherokee people signed this treaty. Some of the Indians that signed the treaty were bribed by American officials, however the government considered it valid. In fact, all of these treaties were tainted: Some were obtained through bribery; others through threats and intimidation (Kelly 39). Stealing Property through obtaining false treaties had become the way the American government would drive the Indians from their land. The winter of 1838 was the beginning of a long nightmare for the Cherokee Indians. Having no choice, by decision of the United States government, the Cherokee were forced to leave everything they had worked for and cherished behind. They had now been forced to move from their eastern homelands and move out west of the Mississippi. The greed filled white settlers would soon take everything that the Cherokee had left behind, from their homes to the gold and silver that they buried there dead with. With nothing to take with them except for the clothes they had on their backs, the Cherokee would soon endure one of the worst acts of cruelty instituted by the American government (Wilkins). This trek west is known as the Trail of Tears, or as the ...
