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Chapter 6The Age of Expansion

1783 to 1838

Pages 177 to 203

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How was land east of the Oconee River given to settlers?

Given to settlers under the “headright system”

Under this system, each white male counted as “head of the family” and was entitled to receive up to 1000 acres

Replaced by the land lottery in 1803

Head-Right System- Each white male counted as “head” of the family and had the “right” to receive up to 1,000 acres

The land lottery system in 1803

The land lottery system in 1803

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A brief history of headright

Many revolutionary war soldiers were given land under the headright system It was however, a corrupt system. Military commanders would give those serving under them papers promising land, and then the soldiers would turn the land over to the commanders.

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What are public domain lands?

Public domain lands are those lands owned by the state or federal government

These lands were opened for settlement and distributed by means of a “Land Lottery”

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Describe the land lottery

For a small fee, any white male twenty one years or older could buy a chance to spin the wheel and win land

Heads of household with children, war veterans and widows were given extra chances

For a small fee, any white male twenty-one years of age or older could buy a chance

and, on the spin of a wheel, win land.

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More information on land lotteries…..

Eight times between 1805 and 1833 Georgia held lotteries to distribute land, the largest held in the United States. The lotteries followed a simple pattern: The General Assembly passed an act that authorized the lottery and spelled out who would be eligible to participate and the grant fees that would apply. Eligible citizens registered their names in their county of residence and paid a small fee. The names were sent to the governor’s office at the state capital. Beginning with the second lottery the names were copied onto slips of paper called “tickets” and placed in a large drum called a “wheel.” The land to be distributed was surveyed and laid out in districts and lots. The surveyors sent the district and lot numbers to the governor’s office. These were placed in a separate wheel. (At first, blank tickets were added to this wheel, so that the number of tickets would equal the number of persons drawing.) Commissioners appointed by the governor drew a name ticket from one wheel and a district/lot ticket from the other wheel. If the district/lot ticket was blank, the person received nothing. If the ticket contained a district/lot number, the person received a prize of that parcel of land. A ticket that contained a number was called a “Fortunate Draw.” With later lotteries (after 1820), when blank tickets were not added to the prize wheel, individuals whose names remained in the second wheel were considered to have drawn blanks. Anyone who received a Fortunate Draw could take out a grant for the lot he drew, after paying the grant fee. If he did not take out a grant, the lot reverted back to the state to be sold to the highest bidder.

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Describe the Western boundaries of Georgia in 1795.

Western boundaries: Mississippi River and its tributary, the Yazoo River

A tributary of the Mississippi River

Part of Georgia’s western boundary in 1795

What is the Yazoo River?

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What was the Yazoo Land Fraud?

Four land companies approached Gov George Matthews and the GA General AssemblyThe land companies bribed the officials into allowing them to buy the western lands (present day Mississippi and Alabama) – between 35 and 50 million acres for $500,000(that’s about 1 ½ cents an acre)

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Why did the officials go along with this?

Georgia was too weak after the Revolution to defend its vast western land claims, called the "Yazoo lands" for the river that flowed through the westernmost part. Consequently, the legislature listened eagerly to proposals from speculators willing to pay for the right to form settlements there.

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What happened to the members of the Georgia legislature involved in the Yazoo land fraud?

The citizens were angry about this practice and voted the involved legislators out of office.

Yazoo land fraud The state government sale of land to companies for about 1 ½ cents an acre - citizens called for the resignations of the

legislators involved – this became called the Yazoo land fraud. While the law was

repealed and records burned in public at Georgia’s then 1796 state capital in Louisville, citizens refused to move.

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On Feb 21, 1796, all the records of the Yazoo Land Fraud sales were burned in the Capitol building in Louisville.

They lost land rather than gaining.

Spain renounced its claims to the area, the federal government contested Georgia’s right to it. The long aftermath of the Yazoo affair

created bad feelings among many of the state’s citizens, and they appealed to the legislature to give in to the federal government.

Therefore, in 1802, Georgia ceded (gave up) its land west of the Chattahoochee River to the federal government for $1.25 million, making the river Georgia’s western boundary

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The federal government resolved the matter by paying over 4 million dollars to settle the claims

Georgia lost land from the Yazoo land fraud – Georgia giving up land west of the Chattahoochee River and making the river Georgia’s western boundary

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But was it legal to rescind the contract?

Northern speculators who had acquired land from the Yazoo companies pressed Congress for payment, but for more than a decade congressmen sympathetic to Georgia rebuffed them. Frustrated claimants sued for redress. In the case of Fletcher v. Peck (1810), Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Rescinding Act had been an unconstitutional violation of the right of contract. Finally, in 1814, Congress resolved the issue, providing $5 million from the proceeds of land sales in the Mississippi Territory to be shared by the claimants.

When Assembly enacted the bill, the land companies bought between 35

and 50 million acres of land for $500,000- which is about 1 ½ cents

per acre.

Citizens called for legislators resignations

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The nation, however, was growing. Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase – the United States extended to the Rocky MountainsThe US wanted this area so that it would have New Orleans and therefore a port for the Mississippi RiverTotal purchase price: 15 million

The size doubled due to the Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, President Jefferson bought the Louisiana

Territory from France for $15 million. This transaction, which was known as the Louisiana Purchase, doubled the size of the country. The

United States now extended west to the Rocky Mountains.

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CHECKPOINT 1.

What two methods were used in Georgia to distribute land in the late 1700’s and 1800’s

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Headright and Land Lottery

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What happened to the members of the Georgia legislature involved in the Yazoo land fraud?

They were voted out of office

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Compare the Yazoo Land Fraud to our present day economic situation….

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What member of the Constitutional Congress was involved in the Yazoo Land Fraud?

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James Wilson!

“Such men as James Wilson of Pennsylvania, signer of the Declaration of Independence and at the time a Justice of the US Supreme Court, General Wade Hampton of South Carolina, and Senator James Gunn of Georgia were also members of the companies which bought the Yazoo land.”

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What about land ownership for free black men?Problem # 1: Slave tax was in place and not only taxed slaves, but free black men – the rate was actually higher for free black men than white men or slaves

If a free black man could not pay his taxes, his land was seized and he was sold at auction as a slave

In Chatham County, 1806, there were 45 free “persons of color” listed in the tax assessment (Chatham County population in 1806: 13,540 compared to 241,000 today!)

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What 1803 transaction between France and the US doubled the size of the country?

The Louisiana Purchase

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Section 3: Economic Growth in Georgia

The state had no money to pay it’s huge war debtFew citizens had money to pay taxesThe state had no money to pay its huge war

debts,

and few citizens had money to pay taxes. When the British left Savannah toward the end of the war, one thousand Tories went with them. They took

with them the equivalent of thousands of dollars, plus four to six thousand slaves and indentured servants.

How did the Revolutionary War cause financial difficulties for Georgia?

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How did the revolutionary war cause financial difficulties for Georgia?

State had no money to pay war debt, thousands of Tories left Georgia after the war and took their wealth with them

However, Georgia’s future was a bit brighter due to technological advances

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What land disputes arose in Georgia post revolutionary war?

Torie land was given to soldiers as a reward for their service

As a result, several families had claims to the same land!

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What were the main crops in Georgia post revolutionary war?

Cotton and tobacco

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What invention changed the agricultural landscape of Georgia? Describe this invention.

Cotton gin

Mechanical Reaper

The cotton gin, it had wire teeth on a turning cylinder. It worked, but lint got caught in the wire teeth and stopped up the machine.

The mechanical reaper, it had wooden paddles fastened to the harness of a horse, when the farmer guided the horse, the paddles turned and cut the grain. Before its invention, a worker

might have been able to separate six or seven pounds of cotton seed a day by hand. After the cotton gin’s introduction, workers were able to separate about fifty pounds a day.

Cotton gin- helped make cotton by separating cotton from the seeds

Mechanical reaper- helped cut the grain

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What industries and inventions were part of the Industrialized Revolution?

The development of mechanized farming tools, steamboats, railroad engines and advances in industry, business and commerce were all part of the Industrial Revolution in America.

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What led Eli Whitney to discover the cotton gin?The request from a family friend, Catherine Greene Miller, who lived at Mulberry Grove PlantationMulberry Grove was also the home of Nathaniel Greene – Revolutionary War HERO While visiting Catherine Greene Miller, Whitney, a known inventor from Massachusetts, was asked to make a machine to separate cotton fibers from seed!

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How did the cotton gin change the Southern economy?

Cotton was very labor intensive – with the invention of the cotton gin, a worker could separate about 50 pounds of cotton per day – compared with the previous amount of 6 or 7 pounds

Now large scale plantation agriculture WAS very profitable

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How did the mechanical reaper help with improving profitability of GA farms?

The reaper, invented by Cyrus McCormick, had wooden paddles fastened to the harness of a horse. The paddles turned and cut the grain. The farmer could cut six times more grain in a day than he could do with a hand held scythe.

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What was the panic of 1837?With the improved economy in the South and the increasing demand for land, the price for land also increased. Under President Jackson, the federal banks required “specie” or gold/silver to purchase land. Local banks, lacking the gold and silver themselves and having changed to a bank note system, had to call in all loans in order to exchange these loans for hard currency (gold or silver). This resulted in a depression – individuals stopped investing, the global community also experienced the depression and decreased their importation of goods.

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How does this relate to today’s economic concerns?

The period that improved ways of farming that helped Georgia’s economy become strong after the revolution. The boom period ended suddenly, causing the panic of 1837- it lasted until the 1840s

Improved ways of farming helped Georgia’s economy become strong after the Revolution. However, the boom period suddenly ended, causing the Panic of 1837. This was

followed by a depression (a sharp economic downturn) that lasted into the early 1840s. During the depression years, many businesses failed, banks failed, some closing for good. At the height of the depression,

only eleven banks were open in Georgia

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How did transportation change during this time?

Building of railroads changed how goods could be transportedRoads in wet swampy places previously relied upon plank roads. The federal government now built some major highways called turnpikes because they had “pikes” or gatesTravelers had to pay a fee to remain on the road.

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How were ferries used in transportation?

Horse drawn log rafts carried travelers across the rivers at their shallowest points, especially along the Flint River

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Why was rail travel initially unpopular?

Rail travel was the least favored means of transportation as there were only 13 miles of laid track in the US and those belonged to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1830)Ten years later, there were 3,300 miles of track Most of the track in Georgia belonged to the Western and Atlantic Railroad, chartered in 1836.It ran from Chattanooga Tennessee to a point on the southeastern bank of the Chattahoochee River called Terminus – now present day Atlanta!

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Checkpoints

1. What two crops produced in Georgia were in great demand?

What was Eli Whitney’s invention? How did it affect the growing of cotton?

Who demonstrated the first mechanical grain reaper?

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Answers to checkpoints:

1. Cotton and tobacco

2. The cotton gin gave new life to agriculture in Georgia and the South, increased the need for slave labor, and provided a new economic stability and wealth to the area

3. Cyrus McCormick

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Section 4: Georgia at the Dawn of a New Century: page 184

After the Rev. War many ministers left America for Great Britain

Still the churches in Georgia grew in numbers and importance to their communities

In addition to the Anglican, Quakers, and Baptists, Methodist, circuit riders (ministers who went from district to district) founded churches in the frontier region.

After the Rev. War many ministers left America for Great Britain

Still the churches in Georgia grew in numbers and importance to their communities

In addition to the Anglican, Quakers, and Baptists, Methodist, circuit riders (ministers who went from district to district) founded churches in the frontier region.

Describe the spread of Baptist and Methodist churches in Georgia during this time period and how economic growth was affected.

1796 First Roman Catholic church established

Established in Wilkes county In 1801, a second parish was formed in

Savannah.

1816 Philadelphia denomination of five churches join Allen’s “Mother Bethel” church – become the AME (African Methodist Episcopal)

First AME church in Savannah is 1865

In 1787, free blacks founded the Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta.

Where was the first AME church established?

A school for which the federal government donated the land.

Governor Lyman Hall recommended that the state set aside land for schools, but few were built. In 1785, the University of Georgia was chartered as a land grant university (a school for which the federal government donated the land). It is the oldest school of its kind in the nation

Governor Lyman Hall

1784 In 1786, the Georgia legislature passed a law

requiring each county to open academies (schools). But the lawmakers did not set aside money to build them. In 1820, there were only forty academies in the state. In 1822,

some members of the legislature tried unsuccessfully to get money for public

schools. However, money was placed in a special “state fund” to pay for the education of poor children.

1785At UGA The Academy of Richmond County, chartered in 1783, is the oldest educational institution in Georgia and one of the oldest in the

nation. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What tensions arose during the end of the 18th century that would lead to the War of 1812?

An undeclared naval war with France that had broken out in 1798

Great Britain “impressed” American sailors.Thought that Great Britain “stirring up”

Native Americans in Western territoriesIn 1807, President Jefferson began an

unsuccessful embargo to stop trade with foreign countries. Jefferson hoped the embargo would force Great Britain and France to change their policies. (It did not. Instead, it had a disastrous effect on American shipping.)

Who were the War Hawks?War Hawks wanted the United States to

declare war. The goal was to capture Canada and eliminate the British and Indian menace in the West. In

June 1812, President James Madison askedCongress to declare war on Great Britain. Bya narrow vote, Congress agreed.

What is the War of 1812?It was the War against France and America against Great Britain.

What is an embargo?To stop trading with foreign

countries.

Why did most citizens think joining the War of 1812 was not a good idea?

They thought the country was not prepared to fight against a major power such as Great

Britain.

What was the result of the war?Lasted two years - In 1814, British forces

invaded the Chesapeake Bay and made their way to Washington - they burned much of the city, including the Capitol and the president’s residence.

Ended with Treaty of Ghent, although Battle of New Orleans, led by Andrew Jackson, occurred after the treaty (where Star Spangled Banner was written)

What was one of the memorable battles of the War of 1812?Battle of New Orleans, took place January 8,

1815.

How did the War of 1812 end?The Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium in

1814 ending the war.

Why were the Americans still fighting after the treaty was signed?The soldiers of the Battle Of New Orleans

didn’t know that the war was over.

What did the U.S. gain during the war?Gained no land but showed the U.S. was

willing to fight for its continued independence.

Older nations started to pay attention to the young country.

The experience convinced the U.S. to stay away from European politics.

What affects did the war have on the U.S.?Helped make the separate states feel

united as one nation. The economy grew because when the

Americans could not get goods for the war they were forced to make them.

The U.S. could supply many of its own needs such as irons, textiles, woods, glass wares, leather, and pottery.

It ended the United State’s hopes to gain Canada as part of our nation.

After the war ended in 1817, what president asked Andrew Jackson to look into the problems that Georgians were having with the Seminole Indians?President James Monroe

What Jackson do instead of investigating?He invaded Florida and overthrew the

Spanish governor.

How much did the U.S. buy Florida for?$5,000,000

Chapter 6, Section 6

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• In 1800, most Native Americans in Georgia still made their living in the traditional ways—by hunting or farming. Some, however, were quick to learn from white settlers. The Cherokee, in particular, were considered to be the most advanced of the tribes.

What was Cherokee life like at the beginning of the 19th century?

What was one of the most important advances of the

Cherokee culture?• The development of a written language

• George Gist (whose Indian name was Sequoyah) spent twelve years developing symbols to represent the 80 sounds of the tribe’s language

• A group of symbols that stands for whole syllables.

• In 1809, Sequoyah began to make a syllabary. Unlike an alphabet of letters, a syllabary is a group of symbols that stand for whole syllables.

What is a syllabary?

What year did Sequoyah begin working on the syllabary?

• 1809

What is a syllabary?

• A group of symbols that stands for whole syllables.

• People in the United States and Europe praised Sequoyah for his work. The Cherokee gave him a medal that he wore as long as he lived. The Cherokee Nation also rewarded him

• with a gift of about $500 a year for life.

How was the syllabary received?

Who was the editor of the first Indian newspaper?

• Elias Boundinot

• Newspaper printed in Cherokee and English - achievement was that it was able to draw together the various tribes of the Cherokee Nation.

• 1828 - Elias Boudinot, became the editor of the Indian newspaper. The tribes were scattered in such far-flung places as Virginia,

• North Carolina, northeast Alabama, and Georgia. The newspaper made it possible to spread news among all of them.

What was the Cherokee Phoenix?

In 1825 what was the permanent Cherokee capital?

• New Echota near the present day Calhoun

• New Echota near the present day Calhoun

• At one time, it was to be located where the chief lived. In 1715, for example, it was in Stephens County, Georgia. Atvother times, the capital was in Tennessee or South Carolina. However, by

• 1825, the Cherokee had established a permanent capital at New Echota, near the present-day city of Calhoun.

In 1825 what was the permanent Cherokee capital?

How was the Cherokee government organized?

• It was much like the constitution governing basic rights and had three branches of government:– Executive– Legislative– Judicial

How did the settlers and Creek Indians interact?

• There was a lot of tension as settlers kept pushing into Creek land along the Oconee River

• The Ocnoee War• Tensions between the Creek and the settlers had grown

during the late 1700s as pioneers kept pushing into Creek lands along the Oconee River.

• Tribes led by Chief Alexander McGillivray sent warriors against some of the pioneer settlements. The Indians burned houses, stole horses and cattle, and killed or captured over two hundred settlers. Georgia settlers got some men together and told them to kill on sight any Creek who were not members of friendly tribes. Although it was not quite a full-scale conflict, these skirmishes and attacks became known as the Oconee War.

What did this lead to?

Who was Chief Alexander McGillivrary?

• Led Creek tribes and sent warriors to burn settlements and kill/capture settlers

When did the Oconee war start?

• 1700s

In 1790 President Washington and Chief McGillivray signed the

______ Treaty

• Treaty of New York

What happened under the Treaty of New York?

• Creek Indians gave up land east of the Oconee River and agreed to honor an earlier treaty in which they gave up lands to Tugaloo.

• In return, the whites agreed not to go to land west of the boundary and also agreed to help the Creek start farms by giving them tools and farm animals

Who was Tecumseh?

• A Shawnee leader who tried to unite all Native Americans to fight for their land

• The tribes in the Southeast split over this issue

How did the tribes in the Southeast react?

• The tribes in the Southeast were split on this issue

• Red Sticks – wanted war

• White Sticks – wanted peace

How did this effect the War of 1812?

• During the War of 1812, many of the Red Stick Creek fought alongside the British

• In 1813, one thousand Red Sticks attacked Fort Mims, Alabama. 400 people died at the hands of the Red Sticks, and this became a call of outcry against the Creek

• Troops from Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi gathered and attacked the Creeks

What did this result in?

• Although the White Stick Creek fought with the US troops and General Andrew Jackson to defeat the Red Creek, most Creek land was turned over to the United States government when the Red Creek were defeated (March 27, 1814 at Horseshoe Bend along the Tallapoosa River in Alabama).

What was the Treaty of Indian Springs?

• Under the treaty, the United States paid Creek Chief William McIntosh and a large group of Lower Creek chiefs $200,000 to give up the last Creek lands in Georgia.

• Groups of Creek disagreed with these treaties, met secretly and decided Chief William McIntosh should die for giving up land (in accordance with Creek law)

What happened to McIntosh?

• Rival chief Menawa and 170 to 400 Creeks went to McIntosh’s home, burned the home and scalped McIntosh.

• the Creek set fire to the McIntosh home. They allowed the women and children to leave before they exchanged gunfire with the chief they had come to kill. Smoke and his wounds stopped McIntosh from fighting.

• The Creek dragged him from the house and stabbed him in the chest. McIntosh’s scalp was taken as a warning to others who might want to give Creek land to white men.

How did the fellow Creek react to this?

What was the Indian Removal Act?

• In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States. He was friends with the Native Americans and was wise enough to know that white voters wanted Native Americans removed from the southern states

• In response to that, Congress created an act that called for all Indian to be moved to western territories. This act was called the Indian Removal Act.

What is the Treaty of Washington?

• When the new state Alabama was created, the Creek living there were badly treated by the whites. They were stripped of there legal rights.

• In 1832, the creek signed a treaty called the Treaty of Washington. This stated that the creek would give the government 5 million acres and the government would set aside 2 million acres for them.

• Soon after signing, the treaty was broken. Creek homes were burned, items stolen, and Indians were killed. By 1835, the Creek gave up and headed west.

Describe the Cherokee Removal

• At the time of the creek removal, Georgia planed to get rid of the Cherokee. Georgia wanted to homestead the land and mine for gold found on Cherokee land.

When was Gold first discovered in Dahlonega?

• 1829

At the time of the creek removal, Georgia planed to get rid of the Cherokee. Georgia wanted to homestead the land and mine for gold found on Cherokee land.

Gold was discovered in Dahlonega in the summer of 1829. Although the Cherokee knew there was gold in the hills, the person given credit for the discovery was a farmer named Benjamin Parks. Auraria, in

nearby LumpkinCounty, became the first gold mining centerin the United States. Over ten thousand

miners with gold pans, picks, and shovels moved onto Cherokee land.

The Georgia legislature passed a law that placed part of the Cherokee land under state control. It declared Cherokee laws null and void and would not let the Cherokee speak against white men in a court of law. This meant any white person could hurt or even kill a Cherokee without much fear of punishment.

Georgia legislature passed a law on December 22, 1830, which said a white person could not live on Cherokee land without taking an oath

of allegiance to the governor. Two missionaries living with the Cherokee refused and took their case to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the decision of the Lawrenceville court could not stand because Cherokee territory was not subject to state law.

The Cherokee thought the ruling meant they could keep their land and government. Chief Justice Marshall the

missionaries set free, but Judge Clayton refused. Even President Andrew Jackson refused to honor

the Supreme Court order. Jackson thought that state governments should be in charge of Indian territories.

In December 1835, the Cherokee were told to come to their capital, and sign a treaty giving up all Cherokee land that remained in the Southeast.

In May 1838, General Winfield Scott and nearly seven thousand troops arrived in New Echota and forcibly moved the Cherokee to the stockades. Hundreds of men, women, and children died of

cholera, dysentery, and fever while in the stockades. During the summer of 1838, the army loaded several thousand Cherokee onto crowded boats and sent them on the Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers to their new homes. By the time these Indians arrived in Indian Territory, nearly one third of the group had died. The rest began a 700-800 mile walk to Indian Territory. It took some people six months to make the trip. Others were there in less time. However, winter

winds, snow, and too little food led to the deaths of thousands of Cherokee. The exact number of how many were moved is not known, but about four

thousand of this group died while they were in prison before they left or during the march west (TRAIL OF TEARS)

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the decision of the Lawrenceville court could not stand because Cherokee territory was not subject to state law.

A legal court action

On January 9, 1833, Worchester and Butler gave up and told Governor Lumpkin that they would “abandon litigation”.

Name given to the forced removal of the Cherokee to Indian Territory ( Present day Oklahoma).

President Martin Van Buren, in his December 1838 address to Congress, said, “the measures of the Removal have had the happiest effect . . . the Cherokees have emigrated (moved out) without apparent reluctance.” The Cherokee called the move to Indian Territory “ANuna-da-ut- sun’y,” which means “the trail where they cried.” To this day, the move is sadly remembered as the Trail of Tears.

Look at the map on page 201

• What states did the Cherokee travel through to reach their new home?

Samuel's Memory by Michael Rutledge     This is what I remember. It is the bits and pieces of the memories of a young boy, full of feelings and

observations, but without complete comprehension. The boy is my great-great-grandfather, Samuel Cloud. The memory is from his vantage point, so I will share it with you in the same way.

  It is Spring. The leaves are on the trees. I am playing with my friends when white men in uniforms ride up to

our home. My mother calls me. I can tell by her voice that something is wrong. Some of the men ride off. My mother tells me to gather my things, but the men don't allow us time to get anything. They enter our home and begin knocking over pottery and looking into everything. My mother and I are taken by several men to where their horses are and are held there at gun point. The men who rode off return with my father, Elijah. They have taken his rifle and he is walking toward us.

  I can feel his anger and frustration. There is nothing he can do. From my mother I feel fear. I am filled with

fear, too. What is going on? I was just playing, but now my family and my friends' families are gathered together and told to walk at the point of a bayonet.

  We walk a long ways. My mother does not let me get far from her. My father is walking by the other men,

talking in low, angry tones. The soldiers look weary, as though they'd rather be anywhere else but here.   They lead us to a stockade. They herd us into this pen like we are cattle. No one was given time to gather

any possessions. The nights are still cold in the mountains and we do not have enough blankets to go around. My mother holds me at night to keep me warm. That is the only time I feel safe. I feel her pull me to her tightly. I feel her warm breath in my hair. I feel her softness as I fall asleep at night.

 

As the days pass, more and more of our people are herded into the stockade. I see other members of my clan. We children try to play, but the elders around us are anxious and we do not know what to think. I often sit and watch the others around me. I observe the guards. I try not to think about my hunger. I am cold.

Several months have passed and still we are in the stockades. My father looks tired. He talks with the other men, but no one seems to know what to do or what is going to happen. We hear that white men have moved into our homes and are farming our fields. What will happen to us? We are to march west to join the Western Cherokees. I don't want to leave these mountains.

  My mother, my aunts and uncles take me aside one day. "Your father died last night," they tell me. My

mother and my father's clan members are crying, but I do not understand what this means. I saw him yesterday. He was sick, but still alive. It doesn't seem real. Nothing seems real. I don't know what any of this means. It seems like yesterday, I was playing with my friends.

  It is now Fall. It seems like forever since I was clean. The stockade is nothing but mud. In the morning it is

stiff with frost. By mid-afternoon, it is soft and we are all covered in it. The soldiers suddenly tell us we are to follow them. We are led out of the stockade. The guards all have guns and are watching us closely. We walk. My mother keeps me close to her. I am allowed to walk with my uncle or an aunt, occasionally.

  We walk across the frozen earth. Nothing seems right anymore. The cold seeps through my clothes. I wish I

had my blanket. I remember last winter I had a blanket, when I was warm. I don't feel like I'll ever be warm again. I remember my father's smile. It seems like so long ago.

  We walked for many days. I don't know how long it has been since we left our home, but the mountains are

behind us. Each day, we start walking a little later. They bury the dead in shallow graves, because the ground is frozen. As we walk past white towns, the whites come out to watch us pass. No words are spoken to them. No words are said to us. Still, I wish they would stop staring. I wish it were them walking in this misery and I were watching them. It is because of them that we are walking. I don't understand why, but I know that much. They made us leave our homes. They made us walk to this new place we are heading in the middle of winter. I do not like these people. Still, they stare at me as I walk past.

  We come to a big river, bigger than I have ever seen before. It is flowing with ice. The soldiers are not happy.

We set up camp and wait. We are all cold and the snow and ice seem to hound us, claiming our people one by one. North is the color of blue, defeat and trouble. From there a chill wind blows for us as we wait by a frozen river. We wait to die.

 

My mother is coughing now. She looks worn. Her hands and face are burning hot. My aunts and uncles try to take care of me, so she can get better. I don't want to leave her alone. I just want to sit with her. I want her to stroke my hair, like she used to do. My aunts try to get me to sleep by them, but at night, I creep to her side. She coughs and it wracks her whole body. When she feels me by her side, she opens her blanket and lets me in. I nestle against her feverish body. I can make it another day, I know, because she is here.

  When I went to sleep last night, my mother was hot and coughing worse than usual. When I woke up, she was cold. I tried to

wake her up, but she lay there. The soft warmth she once was, she is no more. I kept touching her, as hot tears stream down my face. She couldn't leave me. She wouldn't leave me.

I hear myself call her name, softly, then louder. She does not answer. My aunt and uncle come over to me to see what is wrong. My aunt looks at my mother. My uncle pulls me from her. My aunt begins to wail. I will never forget that wail. I did not understand when my father died. My mother's death I do not understand, but I suddenly know that I am alone. My clan will take care of me, but I will be forever denied her warmth, the soft fingers in my hair, her gentle breath as we slept. I am alone. I want to cry. I want to scream in rage. I can do nothing.

  We bury her in a shallow grave by the road. I will never forget that lonesome hill of stone that is her final bed, as it fades from

my sight. I tread softly by my uncle, my hand in his. I walk with my head turned, watching that small hill as it fades from my sight. The soldiers make us continue walking. My uncle talks to me, trying to comfort me. I walk in loneliness.

  I know what it is to hate. I hate those white soldiers who took us from our home. I hate the soldiers who make us keep

walking through the snow and ice toward this new home that none of us ever wanted. I hate the people who killed my father and mother.

  I hate the white people who lined the roads in their woolen clothes that kept them warm, watching us pass. None of those

white people are here to say they are sorry that I am alone. None of them care about me or my people. All they ever saw was the color of our skin. All I see is the color of theirs and I hate them.

  The above was retrieved electronically from http://cherokeehistory.com/samuel.html ,October 2008

Removal                   John Ross                 Elias Boudinot               Plantation

Mandatory                Impatient                 Dispense                      Migration

Andrew Jackson       Sequoyah                 Exiled                            Coerced

Systematically          Confinement  

*     Choose four (4) of the above vocabulary words.  Write them in the the grid below.

*     After you have read the "Trail of Tears" story, write four (4) sentences using the above words in the following order:

          * First Sentence - Use the two words across the top of the grid

          * Second Sentence - Use the two words across the bottom of the grid

          * Third Sentence - Use the two words in the first column

          * Fourth Sentence - Use the two words in the second column