Cherokee Survival in Early America
Cherokee Indians history states that they were natives in the New World. They experienced years of surviving great historical events which began with Western hemisphere explorers coming to the New World bringing sickness, cultural change, and repeatedly invading the native American lands, along with the many wars they were fought in against various factions.
Some archaeological evidence indicates that the Cherokee Indians may have come from Mesoamerica and migrated to the north toward the Great Lakes of Michigan. It is believed that after having conflicts with in New York and Delaware tribes, they moved southeast to the Appalachian Mountains spreading out thru the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. In the early 1700’s they experienced an outbreak of smallpox decreasing the tribe’s size “Cherokee”.
In the later years of the 18th century the Cherokee Indians fought side by side with British government against the French in the American Revolutionary War. Soon after the war the Cherokee signed a peace treaty with the U.S. which gave the Indians rights to their land and to their cultural beliefs. Over time the United States ceded more and more of the Indians territory causing a migration of 3000 tribe members to migrant to the Mississippi, becoming the Western Band of Cherokee Indians. In 1819 Georgia appealed the United States to remove the Cherokee from their lands in Georgia, as attempts were made the Indians retaliated with the punishment of death. In 1828 Georgia outlawed the Indians government to cede their lands. The Cherokee appealed for protection from the United States but was denied by President Andrew Jackson, under his Indian Removal Act in 1830 which gave the Indians 2 years to move out of Indian Territories in Georgia. Most opposed the idea of moving but 500 Cherokee chiefs agreed to give Georgia back their land for exchange of $5,700,000 and for Indian Territory in Oklahoma known has the Treaty of
Some archaeological evidence indicates that the Cherokee Indians may have come from Mesoamerica and migrated to the north toward the Great Lakes of Michigan. It is believed that after having conflicts with in New York and Delaware tribes, they moved southeast to the Appalachian Mountains spreading out thru the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. In the early 1700’s they experienced an outbreak of smallpox decreasing the tribe’s size “Cherokee”.
In the later years of the 18th century the Cherokee Indians fought side by side with British government against the French in the American Revolutionary War. Soon after the war the Cherokee signed a peace treaty with the U.S. which gave the Indians rights to their land and to their cultural beliefs. Over time the United States ceded more and more of the Indians territory causing a migration of 3000 tribe members to migrant to the Mississippi, becoming the Western Band of Cherokee Indians. In 1819 Georgia appealed the United States to remove the Cherokee from their lands in Georgia, as attempts were made the Indians retaliated with the punishment of death. In 1828 Georgia outlawed the Indians government to cede their lands. The Cherokee appealed for protection from the United States but was denied by President Andrew Jackson, under his Indian Removal Act in 1830 which gave the Indians 2 years to move out of Indian Territories in Georgia. Most opposed the idea of moving but 500 Cherokee chiefs agreed to give Georgia back their land for exchange of $5,700,000 and for Indian Territory in Oklahoma known has the Treaty of
Cited: "Cherokee." EBSCOhost. Funk and Wagnells New World Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. Hoxie, Frederick E. "Cherokee." Encyclopedia of North American Indians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. 106-08. Print. Hoxie, Frederick E. "The Civil War in Indian Territory." Encyclopedia of North American Indians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. 123-25. Print. Hoxie, Frederick E. "Trail of Tears." Encyclopedia of North American Indians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. 639-40. Print. Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. "Rebuilding in the West." The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears. New York: Viking, 2007. 141-61. Print.