Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Protest and removal, 1836 to 1838 (cards A to E). Card A, John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to the Senate and House of Representatives (September 28, 1836; spelling as printed): "The instrument in question is not the act of our Nation; we are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people." Card B, Lewis Ross to his brother, Principal Chief John Ross (April 12, 1838; spelling as printed): "It is evident that the Gov'mt is determined to move us at all hazzards and it only remains for us to do the best we can." Card C, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: in May 1838 U.S. Army troops and state militia moved into Cherokee homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia and forced more than 16,000 Cherokee people to leave. More than a thousand lost their lives on the trip west, and an unknown number, perhaps several thousand, lost their lives from the effects of the forced move. After talks with General Winfield Scott, Ross managed fourteen detachments that traveled from August to December 1838, mostly over existing roads. Card D, a summary in our words from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: an estimated 10 to 25 percent of the tribe lost their lives from disease, hunger and exhaustion on the trek west. Card E, from the National Park Service and each nation's own information: most Native peoples fiercely resisted removal, but through the 1830s the Choctaws, Muscogee (Creek), Seminoles and Chickasaws agreed to relocate to Indian Territory, in present-day Oklahoma. Today the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians have governments in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has its government in North Carolina.

2. 1.

   A student says: "By April 1838 even Cherokee leaders thought resistance was over." How strong is that claim, given card B, Bo asks?

   • Weak: card B says removal had already ended before the forced march began in May
   • Strong: card B shows all the Cherokee leaders had given up and accepted that removal would come
   • Overstated: card B shows one leader's view that removal was certain, not that all gave up
   • Weak: card B shows the leaders still believed the treaty was fair, so resistance was not over
3. 2.

   Cards A and B come from two years apart. What change in the Cherokee leaders' words do they show, Esme asks?

   • In 1838 the writers agreed with the signers of the treaty and urged others to follow them
   • In 1836 leaders called the treaty fair; by 1838 they called it invalid and vowed to resist the army with force
   • In both years the writers hoped the army would protect them from the state of Georgia
   • In 1836 a leader called the treaty invalid; by 1838 another judged removal certain and planned to do his best
4. 3.

   Card C says more than 16,000 people were forced to leave, and card D says 10 to 25 percent lost their lives. About what range of people is that, Kira asks?

   • About 160 to 400 people
   • Exactly 4,000 people, since that is the top of the range
   • About 16,000 to 40,000 people
   • About 1,600 to 4,000 people, if 16,000 is used
5. 4.

   Card C says more than a thousand lost their lives on the trip and perhaps several thousand in all. Card D says 10 to 25 percent. How do they compare, Luz asks?

   • They do not clearly conflict: both allow several thousand, though they count differently
   • They agree that the numbers were small, since neither gives more than a few hundred
   • They flatly conflict, since a thousand is far below ten percent of the whole tribe
   • They match exactly, since both came from the National Park Service and count the same things
6. 5.

   Which evidence would best settle how many Cherokee people lost their lives in the removal, Milo asks?

   • A map of the Trail drawn in the 1900s, showing each route the detachments took
   • Army detachment lists and Cherokee counts from before and after 1838
   • Lewis Ross's letter of April 1838, written to his brother before the march began
   • A modern summary that repeats the commonly cited range of 10 to 25 percent
7. 6.

   A student writes: "The Cherokee got what they wanted from the Treaty of New Echota." How strong is that claim, given cards A and C, Noah asks?

   • Strong: card C says the Senate approved the treaty, so the Cherokee got what they wanted
   • Weak: card A says the treaty had the people's sanction, but card C describes a forced move
   • Weak: card A says the people never sanctioned it, and card C describes a forced move
   • Weak: card C says nobody was removed from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama or North Carolina
8. 7.

   Card A was addressed to the Senate and House. How does that audience shape its argument, Pia asks?

   • It argues the treaty is invalid because its makers had no authority, which lawmakers could act on
   • It asks Congress to move the Cherokee faster and to support the signers of the treaty at New Echota
   • It describes army orders for lawmakers to follow as they enforce the treaty's terms on the Nation
   • It thanks Congress for ratifying the treaty and promises that the Nation will obey it
9. 8.

   Card E ends with the present day. Which statement is best supported, Ren asks?

   • A single Cherokee government exists today, in the state of Oklahoma
   • The Cherokee people live in one state, Oklahoma, under a single government
   • Cherokee governments exist today in more than one place
   • Removal ended the Cherokee Nation for good, so no Cherokee government exists now
10. 9.

    A student writes: "The Choctaws, Muscogee, Seminoles and Chickasaws wanted to move west." How strong is that claim, given card E, Tala asks?

    • Strong: card E says they moved before the Indian Removal Act, so they chose to go
    • Strong: card E says they agreed to relocate, so they must have wanted to move
    • Weak: card E says most Native peoples fiercely resisted removal before agreeing
    • Weak: card E says no one moved, since the four nations refused to go
11. 10.

    For a Cherokee view of the trip west itself, which source is best, Zee asks?

    • Army orders for the detachments
    • A modern textbook summary
    • Ross's 1836 protest letter, since he led the Nation
    • Diaries and letters by Cherokee people who made the trip