In 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed and that gave President Andrew Jackson the authority and funds to remove indians by force. The Cherokee chief was persuaded in 1835 by federal agents to sign the Treaty of New Echota, which bought all the Cherokee land for $5.6 million. Their was around six million acres bought for around $1.40 per acre. Now land sells for around $8,000 - $10,000 an acre.
The majority of the Cherokee were against the treaty but that didn't matter because they were going to be forced west between 1835 and 1838. The Cherokee were moved across the Mississippi River on the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears went through the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The Trail of Tears was 2,200 miles long and lasted for three years.
Their was around 4,000 Cherokee Indians die out of the 16,000 on the trail. On September 16,1893 President Grover Cleveland put the word out of opening the Cherokee land they bought. As soon as the word spread more than 100,000 white settlers rushed in to the newly bought land and claimed their chunk of land to establish a farm and raise their families. This day became known as the "greatest horse race ever."
In that same day towns had already been established like Enid, Perry, Alva, and Woodward. The Homestead Act made surveyed lands available to homesteaders. The harsh treatment to the Cherokee Indians during the Westward Expansion became known as the Trail of Tears.
I think the settlers were very hard on the Indians for making them walk over 2,000 miles away from their home land and for taking their land from them and saying they own it.
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922062.html
www.sparknotes.com/history/american/westwardexpansion/terms.html
www.felihkatubbe.com/TheCherokeePutlet/index.html
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