Trail of Tears

By that time the Indians were nearly finished, their subjugation complete, their numbers decimated.

But it may have reached its nadir when it became federal policy under President (Andrew) Jackson.

In fact, they had assimilated many European-style customs, including the wearing of gowns by Cherokee women.

By 1840 all the eastern tribes had been subdued, annihilated or forcibly removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.

Some drank stagnant water and succumbed to disease.

Heavy autumn rains and hundreds of wagons on the muddy route made roads impassable; little grazing and game could be found to supplement meager rations.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/images/4tear44b.jpg

Between 1816 and 1840, tribes located between the original states and the Mississippi River, including Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, signed more than 40 treaties ceding their lands to the U.S. In his 1829 inaugural address, President Andrew Jackson set a policy to relocate eastern Indians.

Heavy autumn rains and hundreds of wagons on the muddy route made roads impassable; little grazing and game could be found to supplement meager rations.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/images/4tear44b.jpg

Some drank stagnant water and succumbed to disease.