Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
NyamiiriBiel
WritingLevel2
MrsKoettSena
March2,2015
TheMiseryBroughtUponTheNatives
ThediscoveryofgoldontheNativeAmericanslandsbroughtmiserytoallNative
Americans.ThisledtotheIndianRemovalActwhichforcedallNativeAmericanstomove
beyondtheMississippiRiversothatthesettlerscouldmineforgoldandexpandwest.Thenative
tribesthatweremostaffectedwerethe
Cherokee,Creek,Choctaw,ChickasawandSeminole
nations.TheNativeAmericansmiserywascausedbytheEuropeandiscoveryofgoldanda
greedforland
,
anditimpactedtheNativeAmericansbyleadingtotheTrailofTearsandthe
HomesteadActof1862.
In1829goldwasdiscoveredinGeorgia.Thismovementofpeoplehungryforricheswas
calledtheDahlonegaGoldRush.Whennewsgotoutaboutthediscovery,thousandsofpeople
floodedtoGeorgia.Manyboomtownsstartedtopopupallaroundthearearightinthemiddle
oftheCherokeenation.Manypeopledidn'trealizethattherewerepeoplelivingaroundthearea
oftheDahlonegagoldmine.TheoccupantsofthatlandweretheCherokeenation.The
southernersespeciallywantedtheCherokeetoleavesotheycouldgainaccesstotheland,mostly
becauseofthegoldfoundthere.Thegovernmentstartedholdinglotteriestosellthelittleland
theytookfromtheCherokee.Butthatstillwasn'tenoughforthesettlers.Thisgreedledtothe
sufferingoftheNativeAmericannationsalloverthecountry.
Biel2
DuringthegoldrushtheNativeAmericanswerenotonlyforcedawayfromtheirhomes
buttheywerealsotreatedbadly.Manywomenandchildrendiedfromthetreatmenttheythey
receivedfromthesettlers.Thenativeswerethoughtofasuncivilizedpeople,whodidn'thave
rights.TheNativeAmericansalsodiedfromdiseasesthattheywereunfamiliarwithfromthe
settlers.ThiscausedthepopulationofNativeAmericanstogodowndrastically.Asmoresettlers
continuedmovingontheirland,thestrongertheirgreedfortheNativeAmericanslandgrew.
ThisiswhatledtothegovernmentmakeadecisionthatwouldchangethelivesofNative
Americanseverywhere.
In1835thetreatyofNewEchotawassignedbyPresidentJackson.Thetreatywasan
agreementbetweentheCherokeeandthegovernment.TheCherokeeagreedtomovebehindthe
MississippiRiverontoreservedland,thegovernmentpromisedthattheywouldkeepthatland
forever.ThisleadtothetragicremovaloftheCherokee,knownastheTrailsofTears.Manyof
theCherokeedidnotwanttomove,sosoldiersweresenttospeeduptherelocation.Onthetrail
theyfacedharshweatherandbadtreatmentforthesoldiers.Thisleadto25percentofthe
Cherokeetodieonthetrail.
AftertheNativeAmericanswererelocatedthegovernmentpassedthehomesteadactof
1862.Theactletanycitizenbuy160acresoflandforlittletonothinginexchangeofyou
workingonthelandfor5years.Thiswasachanceforformerslavesandimmigrantstoown
landoftheirown.Ifeveryonekeepsgetting160acresoflandthismeansatribeofNative
Americansareremovedfromtheirland.
TreatmentofthenativeswasoneofthegreatestmomentsinAmericanhistory.Keeping
peoplefromknowingthisitwillmakeithardtomakeabetterfuture.Ifpeoplelookatexample
Biel2
ofthingsthatarehappeningnowsuchastheantiIslammovement,itshowshowpeoplekeep
repeatinghistory.SoifAmericansknowabouthowtheNativesweretreated,andhowitaffect
themtillthisday,itwillhelppeoplerealizewhatkindofaffectittakesonpeople.
Biel2
WorkCited
Berry,Christina.NewEchota.
AllThingsCherokee
.AllThingsCherokee.7July
2014.Web.25March.
Williams,David.GoldRush.
NewGeorgiaencyclopedia.
GeorgiaHumanitiesCouncil
andtheUniversityofGeorgiaPress.11August2014.Web.25March.
AgeofJackson.
U.SHistory
.
IndependenceHallAssociationinPhiladelphia.2014.25
March2015