The Trail of Tears | Periscope

The Cherokee are the largest tribe in the United States. They have also suffered some of the greatest losses in history of the United States. At one time, "Cherokee country" stretched from the Piedmont of South Carolina into the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 1670, it is estimated the Cherokee population was around 50,000. During the 1700s, disease brought by European settlers killed nearly half the population.

In 1838, the Indian Removal Act forced many Cherokee in South Carolina to leave their tribal lands. Along with other tribes from the Southeast, the Cherokee had to walk the Trail of Tears to reservations in Oklahoma. Many lives were lost along the way. 

Standards

• 4.3.CE Analyze the effects of government policies in promoting United States territorial expansion into the west.
• This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the geographic and human factors that contributed to the development of South Carolina’s economic system. This indicator was also written to encourage inquiry into South Carolina’s distinct social and economic system as influenced by British Barbados.
  • This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into Native American civilizations and cultures prior to European contact and their interactions with Europeans during the period of settlement and colonization, including their efforts to preserve the