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Visit These Non-Profit Web Sites:
Alliance For Native American Indian Rights
Native American Educational Association
Tennessee Trail of Tears Association
Books about Indians:
Loud Hawk : The United States Versus the American Indian Movement
Exploration
of Ancient Key-Dweller Remains on the Gulf Coast of Florida
TOUR GUIDE
Culture Periods Represented: Historic
In 1838 the United States government forced the Cherokee Nation to give up its remaining land in the East and move to land west of the Mississippi. One of the main routes followed by the Cherokee on this "Trail of Tears" passed through Nashville. They crossed the Cumberland River on a toll bridge near the Victory Memorial Bridge.
Victory Memorial Bridge Crosses the Cumberland River
Near the Spot Where the Toll Bridge Once Stood
After 23 years of fighting against the occupation of their land the Chickamauga band of Cherokees signed a peace treaty with the U.S. in 1794. For the next forty years or so the Cherokees enjoyed a period of prosperity. Most of the people had successful small farms. They lived in log cabins and grew corn, potatoes, and other crops, much like they did before the Europeans came. They also raised herds of cattle and horses. During the early 1800's the standard of living for the average Cherokee was probably higher than that of the average white person in the surrounding states. A few Cherokees became very wealthy. They had large plantations and lived in huge mansions.
The Cherokee Nation formed a republican government in 1820. They held elections to choose a president and representatives for a national legislature. In 1821 Sequoyah appeared before the Cherokee government and demonstrated a system that he had invented for writing the Cherokee language. In a few months most of the Cherokee people had learned to read and write their own language.
But this prosperity soon ended. The U.S. government had constantly pressured the Cherokee to give up more land. The discovery of gold on Cherokee land in Georgia increased this pressure. In 1828 Georgia passed an act that "annexed" all Cherokee land in the state. It also declared all Cherokee laws invalid and prevented Indians from testifying against white people in court. This act was designed to harass and intimidate the Cherokee. It took effect in 1830. Later in the same year President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized him to exchange land in the west for Indian land in the east. It was well known that Jackson favored "removing" all Indians to the west. Things didn't look good for the Cherokee, or for any other tribes in the eastern half of the U.S.
In 1832 the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia's annexation of Cherokee land was
unconstitutional, but Georgia would not accept the decision, and President Jackson refused to enforce the ruling
against Georgia. He told the Cherokee that he could do nothing to help them unless they
moved to the west. Jackson's postition was particularly disappointing for the Cherokee. During the Creek
War of 1813-1814, Cherokee volunteers had played an important part in helping Jackson,
then a general in the Tennessee militia, defeat a hostile faction of Creeks called the Red
Sticks in Alabama ( the Red Sticks were fighting against the continuing encroachment on their land by
the United States). Many Cherokees felt Jackson had betrayed them by refusing to stop the
Removal. Jackson's position was also hypocritical: he believed fervently in a strong
Federal government, but supported the "state's rights" position taken by Georgia
when it came to the issue of the Cherokee Removal.
When Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court's decision in 1832, the
Cherokee government went into exile, moving the capitol to Red Clay, Tennessee, site of an
ancient council ground and sacred spring. For the next six years the Cherokee,
led by Chief John Ross, resisted efforts to remove them from their land. A
series of appeals to Congress and to public opinion garnered much support, but
in the end proved unsuccessful.
Chief John Ross
(Bureau of American Ethnology Collection, Smithsonian
Museum)
In 1838 President Martin Van Buren sent troops to round up the Cherokee in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. The Cherokee were being forced to comply with the terms of a disputed treaty signed in 1836 by a few Cherokee leaders, which called for the Cherokee to move to the west. Soldiers herded 17,000 Cherokees into concentration camps. Then they began the forced march to Indian Territory in what is now northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The Cherokee called this western territory the "Nightland." Some estimates say that 4,000 Cherokees died during this "immigration."
The Cherokee "Trail of Tears" actually followed four different routes. The route that passed through Nashville started in Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tennessee, then passed through Dayton and McMinnville. From there the Trail roughly followed Highway 70S through Nashville, then headed to Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The National Park Service has designated the route that passed through Nashville as a National Historic Trail. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail starts in Calhoun, Tennessee and ends in Oklahoma. The Nashville Toll Bridge location is considered to have high potential as an official interpretive site.
Although the Cherokee's forced march has became known as the Trail of Tears, other tribes suffered similar tragedies. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole were also exiled from their lands east of the Mississippi in much the same way. In fact, every Indian nation has walked it’s own Trail of Tears.
See the Tennessee Trail of
Tears Association Web site
for more information on the Trail of Tears
Nashville Toll Bridge Site Map
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