Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Removal, 1828 to 1832 (cards A to D). Card A, a summary in our words: on May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. It let the president negotiate with Native nations in the Southeast to trade their lands for land west of the Mississippi River. The House of Representatives passed it on May 26 by a vote of 102 to 97. Card B, Andrew Jackson, president, in his message to Congress (December 6, 1830; cuts marked): "It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the general and state governments on account of the Indians. … It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the states; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions …". Card C, George W. Harkins, a Choctaw leader, in a letter to the American people (1832): "It is said that our present movements are our own voluntary acts—such is not the case." and later "Let us alone—we will not harm you, we want rest.". Card D, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: beginning in 1791, treaties between the United States and the Cherokee led to recognition of the Cherokee Nation as a sovereign nation. In 1819 the Cherokee National Council told the federal government it would give up no more land. Gold was found on Cherokee land in northern Georgia in 1829. In 1828 Georgia passed a law declaring the laws of the Cherokee Nation void after June 1, 1830.

2. 1.

   Card B is Jackson's own message to Congress. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • What Jackson wanted and the reasons he gave
   • What most Americans wanted in 1830
   • What historians later found about removal's effects
   • What Native leaders thought of removal in 1830
3. 2.

   Cards B and C both speak about whether Native nations would choose to move. How do they differ, Bo asks?

   • Jackson described removal as a benefit; Harkins said it was not freely chosen
   • Jackson said removal was forced on the nations; Harkins said it was voluntary
   • Both said the move was a free choice that the Native nations had made themselves
   • Harkins agreed with Jackson about the benefits but disliked the date of the move
4. 3.

   Card B was written to Congress, and card C to the American people. How might each audience shape what the writer stresses, Jun asks?

   • Both wrote for Native readers alone, so both stress treaty terms and land boundaries
   • Both writers stressed the dates of the treaties and the sizes of the lands to be traded
   • Jackson wrote to the Choctaw people; Harkins wrote to Congress to ask for fairness
   • Jackson stressed order and benefits to lawmakers; Harkins asked the public for fairness
5. 4.

   In card B Jackson calls Native institutions "rude". What does that word choice show about his view, Kira asks?

   • He described them neutrally, as simple, and he did not judge them as lower or higher
   • He was quoting a Cherokee leader, so the word shows how that leader saw the Nation's laws
   • He judged them lower than his own society's, which supports his case for removal
   • He praised their governments, which supports his case for letting the nations stay
6. 5.

   A student says: "Card B shows Jackson planned the 1838 forced march of the Cherokee." How strong is that claim, Luz asks?

   • Weak: card B is from 1830 and does not mention a march in 1838
   • Strong: card B says Native peoples would be separated from settlements
   • Weak: card B says removal would be voluntary
   • Strong: card A says the Act ordered the army to move the Cherokee
7. 6.

   Cards A and D both bear on the Indian Removal Act. What do they support together, Noah asks?

   • The Act came after the Cherokee Nation had refused to give up more land
   • The Act ended the treaties with the Cherokee and let Georgia take their land
   • The Act was written because the Cherokee had asked to move to the West
   • The Act passed Congress unanimously after Georgia's law, so Congress agreed without a split
8. 7.

   A student writes: "Americans were united behind removal in 1830." How strong is that claim, given card A, Pia asks?

   • Weak: a 102 to 97 House vote shows a divided Congress
   • Strong: card A says the House passed the Act
   • Strong: card B shows the whole country agreed with Jackson
   • Weak: card A says the Senate rejected the Act
9. 8.

   To learn how Choctaw people themselves felt about leaving, which source is best, Ren asks?

   • Writings by Choctaw people, like Harkins's letter, from the time
   • A textbook that retells the story in a few lines for young students
   • Jackson's message to Congress, which describes removal as a benefit to them
   • A map of the Southeast from 1830, showing where each nation lived
10. 9.

    Card D runs from 1791 to 1829. What pattern does it show, Tala asks?

    • Both the United States and Georgia gave the Cherokee Nation full protection of its land
    • By 1829 Georgia's law had already forced the Cherokee Nation from its land entirely
    • The United States recognized the Cherokee Nation while Georgia pressed against it
    • The Cherokee Nation gave up its land step by step until nothing was left in 1819
11. 10.

    Cards B and C both speak about leaving homelands. How do their words about the move compare, Zee asks?

    • Card B stresses being forced; card C stresses benefit
    • Both use the language of free choice
    • Card B stresses benefit; card C stresses being forced
    • Both say little about the move itself