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[[B]]Trail of Tears was a forced movement of Indians in the United States. Because so many died, it is called "Trail of Tears". In the Cherokee language the Trail of tears is called "nu na hi du na tlo hi lu i". Through this movement, the USA expanded their country in size.

Reasons

In 1829, gold was found near Dahlonega in Georgia. This resulted in the first Floridian gold rush in American History. But at that time, an Indian nation called Cherokees lived in Georgia. It was a civilized nation. Many Cherokee children went to American schools; the Cherokees had their own newspaper, built three-story houses, and even some owned slaves. Even so, President Andrew Jackson wanted this land to belong to the United States. Therefore, he signed a law that forced the Cherokee nation to move. This was called the Indian Removal Act. At that time, the Cherokee nation had its own government. This means that laws made by the USA could not affect them. Therefore, Jackson signed laws that let him take nearly all the Cherokees' rights. The Cherokee nation did not want to accept those laws or the Indian Removal Act, so the Cherokees' Chief John Ross decided to try to defend the Cherokee rights through U.S. courts.

In 1832, the Supreme Court said that the Indian Removal Act was illegal. The judges said "the Cherokee nation does not belong to the USA. They are living in their own country with their own government 'in which the laws of Georgia can have no force' ". So the U.S. government had no right to take the land.

Nevertheless the U.S. government used a treaty, called Treaty of New Echota, to remove the Cherokee nation by force. The treaty was not signed by an Official Cherokee leader, so it was not legal. A petition signed by 15,000 Cherokees was ignored by the government and the Supreme Court.

Map of United States Indian Removal, 1830-1835. Oklahoma is depicted in light yellow-green.

Source: wikipedia.org