The Trail of Tears was the act of removing Indians from their homelands from the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama , Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas and Illinois. This action was put into place by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The act was passed by congress on may 28th 1930 with a vote of 102-97 in favor of the act.[1] Chattanooga, Tennessee was an area where the Trail of Tears crossed through the state making its way to Oklahoma. On noticeable point of interest on the route is Ross's Landing in Hamilton County. Over 2000 Cherokee Indians were held up at this location as a port before they were shipped out on three other routes as they were leaving their own homelands.[2] Cherokee Indians were left with no choice and had to do what was made of them by the way of the law. The Cherokees had been know to be a polite group of people as long as no whiskey was involved. Men of the Cherokee were the only ones allowed to drink because of the affects it had on them as a group of people.[3] Some of the Indians going through Ross's Landing were put on boats and sent out of town by way of the Tennessee River. Not all Indians got on boats as others were made to take Land routes through the area. One route that was used that ran up through Chattanooga to Soddy Daisy was called Taylor Route. Richard Taylor lead his group up through the route and then west across the river again and worked their way west on their journey.[4] Cherokee have not forgot the land which the used to live on without issues. Chiefs Hicks talked at a ceremony in Chattanooga about his people land and how it would never be forgot. Hicks called it a Cherokee place.[5] The Cherokee however were not the only indian people in the area being forced to moved. The Choctaw Indians in the area were not as easily to move out the the land. The Choctaw were much more aggressive and had warfare with the american people who tried to make them leave their homes. The Indians had no desire to move west but they were eventually forced to because of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Andrew Jackson was the President at the time of this act. Jackson wanted the Indians to move to the west of the Mississippi River so that the American people could take their valuable land and use it for a profit making industry. [6] Areas such as Chattanooga, Tennessee became such an important land resource because of the railroads that went through the town. This allowed people the ability to ship items throughout the north and south. With the Indians gone that allowed Chattanooga to because a major hot spot. The Battle of Chattanooga in the Civil War was a crucial victory of the north because of the access they gained. This access is never available for the North after their victory if those Indians were never moved off their homeland in the 1830s and forced to travel on The Trail of Tears.
- ^ Jahoda, Gloria (1975). The Trail of Tears (first ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. p. 48.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Trail of Tears National Historic Trail". Purdue Univeristy. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- ^ Ehle, John. Trail of Tears The rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. Anchor Books.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Trail of Tears Driving Tour" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- ^ perdue, Theda (2007). The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears (1st ed.). The Penguin Library of American History. p. 163.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Andrew Jackson's Case for the Removal Act". Retrieved 12 October 2015.