Preview

Trail Of Tears Argumentative Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1116 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Trail Of Tears Argumentative Essay
Everyone, no matter what age remembers their childhood and the “bad guys”, no matter what book, movie, or game there was an antagonist. There must be one, it’s a part of writing and storytelling, at the creation of woman and man, God made the Snake to trick Eve into eating the forbidden fruit of the tree. Most of the time, their name had the word “evil” in it, they were the antagonist for the good heroine to beat up and save the girl at the end of their story. However, the word “evil” has been generalized over the years, after being plastered on so many characters for so long. From the change of times, the situation that causes the word to be introduced into the conversation has changed also. We’ve gone through so many wars, genocides, and …show more content…
Even after the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful for the government to remove the Native Americans from their lands, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the law resulting from the ruling. From this action, the US government forcibly removed around 16,000 Cherokees from their land and forced them to walk the Trail of Tears. Around 4,000 of them perished on the 2,200-mile journey; starting at the southwest to Indian Territory, now called Oklahoma. However, the terror didn’t end once they had been relocated against their will. Cultural Genocide was committed against them next, the government forced the married couples to remarry in western attire, cut their hair, and forced the children to attend a boarding school away from their families to learn how to speak and write in English. The government’s excuse for these violations was they were trying to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,”. Due to the government’s cruel action towards the Native Americans; for kicking them off their land for selfish reasons, such as land for new settlers and the discovery or iron ores, and the cultural genocide they were the root cause of, this action in history can be identified as …show more content…
He was the leader of an American cult called The People’s Temple that was stationed in Jamestown, Guyana. Jones grew up in Crete, Indiana during the Great Depression and was a self-proclaimed messiah. As an avid reader growing up, and he focused on military leaders during he became obsessed with religion and death. During his young adult years, he traveled around both his community and the world, trying to desegregate and ease the discrimination. The People’s Temple was first set up in Indian during the 1950’s and grew its members at an alarming rate, and the headquarters moved around every decade to a new state. In November 1978, Jim Jones cause a mass suicide in his cult through cyanide-laced punch after the Soviet Union denied the cult potential exodus. He and his followers believed that intelligent organizations were conspiring against them, and this was the way for them to die with dignity and protect their children from fascism. Children would drink the solution first then their families and they would then lie down next to each other. Jones was found with gunshot head wound; however, the autopsy was unsure if it was self-inflicted or if Jones had directed someone else to shoot him. Due to his leadership, the mass murder of his 918 members of The People’s Temple, Jim Jones’s actions can be considered a modern-day

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Native Americans have shed a river of tears, tears that have been forgotten only to end up written in history later on. The Chickasaw, a Native American tribe that first originated from Mississippi, was part many of many other tribes that suffered from the Indian Removal Act in 1830. President Jackson, demonstrated who his true colors were after he made the Chickasaw among four other groups walk in the middle of the winter into “Indian Territory”, also known as Oklahoma, “The United States promised to resume annuity payments and that the Chickasaw Nation would never become part of a new state. That promise was broken 40 years later” (Encyclopedia). With this said, after the Chickasaw injustice was brought up to the surface, they were finally…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Trail of Tears was caused by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The enforcement of this act was possible through the use of military forces. “The soldiers first erected internment camps and then rounded up the Cherokees. ‘Families at dinner were startled...and rose up to be driven with blows and oaths along the weary miles of trail that led to the stockade’”(Takaki 76). The Cherokees were gathered and forced to go on the trail. They were dragged out of their homes without notice and put on these trails unprepared, where they would face severe conditions of weather, sickness, etc.…

    • 2363 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This act made thousands of Indians, mainly Cherokees, leave their home North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia so that white families could live in their homes because there wasn’t enough room for the both of them. The Indians were forced to walk to Oklahoma, an area designated for the Native Americans. This journey became widely known by “the trail of tears”, because it was a harsh journey, and it caused many diseases to spread, and many people died of starvation. Almost 2000 Indians died because of this Indian Removal Act, which can be considered the main reason Andrew Jackson was such a terrible president.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jim Jones Beliefs

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    James Warren Jones commonly known as Jim Jones was an American cult leader. He was the founder of Peoples Temple which is infamous for mass murder suicide in 1978 November where 918 members of his cult lost their live. It is estimated that nearly 300 innocent children were murdered at Jonestown, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning. He was seen as a very charismatic man by his followers and he attracted people who were feeling isolated for whatever reason. Majority of his followers were African American but there were also some white people, Jew and Mexicans.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1839, Andrew Jackson forced Native Americans to leave their homeland for his own benefits. They had to make a treacherous trip later named by them “The Trail of Tears”. The Native Americans lived peacefully in the homeland to the West. However, their land was wanted…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree that actions committed by the United States on the southeastern American Indians was ethnic cleansing. While viewing the assigned video, I determined two examples of ethnic cleansing. The passing of laws in Georgia restricting the land in which the Cherokee were allowed to inhabit served to concentrate them in a single area for the means of subjugation. Further laws were passed deeming the meeting of leading members to be illegal. Federal agents were also sent in to coerce Cherokee leaders into further giving up parts of their land. Arguably the most widely known evidence of racial cleansing revolves around the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears refers to the forced march of multiple Native American tribes to new lands predetermined by the U.S. government.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For centuries, The United States has made countless decisions. Decisions to battle, decisions to make peace, and decisions to stand down. However, not all of these have been good decisions in the overall scheme of things. In fact, countless ideas America thought were knowledgeable at the time have proved devastating to other parties. One example of this can be seen through the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is a failure in history because it led to the death of thousands of American Indians, the act was unjust, and it caused Andrew Jackson to be known primarily for the cruelty of his rule.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jonestown Massacre Essay

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It didn't turn out to be as easy as they thought it would. The followers worked long days in the fields and were punished severely if they questioned their leaders choices. They phone calls and letters sent back home were censored. At this time Jones was addicted to drugs and was in declining mental health so he thought the world was out to get him, especially the government. Jonestown Massacre happened on November 18th in 1978. More than 900 people who were members of his cult known as the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide/murder under their leader. This happened at a settlement in South American nation of Guyana known as Jonestown. On the same say before the mass murder Leo Ryan a United States representative had gone to Jonestown to check out a few causes of reported abuse but was murdered. Many concerned families came along side him to see what was happening and try to determine why they people were being help against their will. Four other members of his delegation were also killed by gunmen. Shortly after was when Jim Jones demanded that all of his followers ingest a punch that was laced with poison. The children were the first ones to be killed, a potent mix of cyanide, sedatives and powdered fruit juice was forced down their throats. The next day the floors were found lined with bodies, few escaped…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jim Jonestown

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “Jim jones represented the people temple as a progressive movement that was threatened that there was outside forces who didn’t want us to do what we were doing and it was the government. The government was infiltrating and wiretapping and trying to kill people or assassinate people that what was happening. There were always threats. Always always always always threats, they were they were there just about to try to destroy us if we weren’t always vigilant about our movement.” (Peoples’ Temple Member, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple”). Jim Jones became paranoid in the 70s. He constantly believed there were people out to get him and to stop what he had been working so hard to create. Jones would test Peoples’ Temple members on their loyalty. He inflicted fear in his members by telling them that the government wanted to put an end to their movement. Peoples’ Temple was then convinced to move to the jungles of Guyana to begin to create their ideal utopian society. After moving his members there, Jim Jones gave Peoples’ Temple the impression that leaving Guyana was betrayal. When time came, Peoples’ Temple had devoted their trust in Jones; many of them would have laid down their lives to protect what they believed in. when a visit from congressman Ryan and a few reporters did not go as planned, Jones panicked and asked his community to sacrifice themselves to save what they believed in. “If we can’t live in peace, let us die in peace.” (Jim Jones, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple.) “ That’s when I noticed that there were armed guards that kinda taken positions around the pavilion.” (Tim Carter, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple.) “ Jones came down off the podium and he said hey, we gotta do this, we gotta go, that if we don’t go this way [ drinking the cyanide filled Kool-Aid] we’re…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some students are taught about power and authority through a farmer and cow analogy in order to further explain the differences. In summary, there is a farmer with cows who eat hay. The farmer is the government, the cow are the citizens and hay is similar to money but in a looser context because “currency and credit are our lifeblood” (Fineman, 2009, pg. 128). For example, capitalism is like a farmer having two cows, one of which he laid off. The farmer then expects the only remaining cow to pick up the slack of the other cow. Another example would be socialism, where the farmer has all the hay and distributes it evenly to all of the cows. However, certain cow demographics may receive more hay than others. As the authority of the government…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The path the cherokee followed became a national monument in 1987, because of the misfigured pursuit of the indians and how they suffered. The story of the trail of tears is part of american indian history. Throughout the past 200 years, tribes have been educated all too well that acceptance of their dominance starts from scratch with each new presidential administration . The trail of tears point out the route displaced by 15 thousand cherokees during their 1838 deportation and forced to walk from georgia to indian territory (present day oklahoma). in 1971, a u.s. Treaty had recognized cherokee territory in georgia as independent, and the cherokee territory in georgia as independent, and the cherokee people had created a thriving republic…

    • 125 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When most people think of the history in the United States, many think of the first settlers, Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and the Pilgrims. Indians were visibly the first people to settle in the United States, and the many to be taken away from their sacred motherland. White Americans had said that they feared the Indians because they we’re aliens who took over land, more so savages, heathens and barbarians (Minges, 454). President Andrew Jackson was the one who stood out to people, trying his best to make executive decisions to help his nation and that led to the removal the Indians from their land. In 1830, Jackson had signed a very important document which enforced the Indian Removal Act. The Act had affected five “Civilized…

    • 1651 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jonestown

    • 4409 Words
    • 11 Pages

    To better understand how such a tragedy could occur it is important to understand the background of Jim Jones. Jones was born in Indianaand from an early age expressed interest in socialism and communism, studying the works and lives of Stalin, Marx, Gandhi, and Hitler among others. As he grew older, he became more and more politically involved in the communism movement, joining the Communist Party USA in 1951 (II). Jones was surprised with the reaction he received from Americans when he shared his beliefs and at that time decided that the best way to spread his Marxism was through the church. He became involved as a student pastor at Sommerset Southside Methodist Churchin 1952 and grew his career in the church from that point. Interestingly enough, by the time the Jonestown colony was thriving Jones was an admitted atheist (III). Jones and his wife, Marceline, adopted many children during this time, most being of a mixed race. He and his wife were the first couple in Indianato…

    • 4409 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Seminole Nation

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When Andrew Jackson became president, he issued the Indian Removal act, which would in turn force thousands of native off their homeland and to be relocated to new lands (Weisman). This act played a huge part in the Seminole nation since they were adversely affected by this federal policy (Weisman). The Seminoles were forcible removed from their homeland, due to the Seminole wars, which was brought on by the Seminoles taking in slaves (Weisman). With the loss of the war, they were forced to move to Oklahoma in a very Trail of Tears like death walk, which would result in many Seminoles deaths (Weisman). This was seen in many other native nations as well, for example the Cherokee nation were forcible removed from their lands, just like the Seminoles were (Trail of Tears). Due to the Indian Removal act many Seminoles would die and be forced to move to new lands, but they did not only die on the death walk (Weisman). Any also died trying to defend their homelands from being taken…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This law required it to be negotiated peacefully and voluntarily, but President Jackson and the government ignored this and forced Native Americans to move off the lands they’ve inhabited for generations. One winter in 1831, the Choctaw were expelled from their lands and made their way to the new territory on foot without any food, supplies or assistance from the government whom have placed the predicament on them. It was, one Choctaw leader told an Alabama newspaper, a “trail of tears and…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays