Trail Of Tears :: American America History

Trail Of TearsOn September 15, 1830, at smaller Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Chiefs of the Choctaw Nation and representatives of the U.S. met to discuss the impact of a bloom recently passed by the Congress of the U.S. This bill, with all the same good intentions of those at one time who believe they know better than we how to conduct our lives, allowed for the removal of all Indian peoples to the West of the Mississippi River. It had been made clear to the Choctaw, that the Whites in Washington cared petty(a) for our situation, that either we willingly moved, or by military force we would be moved. We were not ignorant savages, but industrious farmers, merchants, and businessmen of all types. We were educated people, many were Christians. We had an organized system of government and a codified carcass of law. Some of these people were not even Indians, many strangers and orphans had been taken in over the years. The Chiefs and Warriors signed the treaty, realizing they had no op tion. For doing this the government officials guaranteed, in the body of the treaty, impregnable conveyance to our virgin homes. (Do not forget for a moment that in this treaty, the Choctaw traded 10.3 million acres of land east of the Mississippi for 10.3 acres in Oklahoma and Arkansas that we already owned under previous treaties) Further, it include provisions and monetary annuities, to assist the people to make a new start. One half of the people were to depart almost immediately, the rest the undermentioned year. After the signing of the treaty, many saw their land and property sell before their own eyes. The conveyances promised turn out to be a coerce march. At the point of a gun, the pace killed many of the old, exposure and uncollectible food killed most. Rotten beef and vegetables are poor provisions, even for the idle. legion(predicate) walked the entire distance without shoes, barely clothed. What supplies were given had been rejected by the whites. This cannot dir ectly blamed on the government, nearly all of this was done by unscrupulous men, interested only in maximizing their profits. They governments fault lies in not being watchful of those taken into their charge. Many of the old and the children died on the road. At each allowed stop, the dead were buried. Hearing of this many escaped. They knew that as they signed the rolls, to be removed, that this might as well be their death warrants.