They Passed This Way

After passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced tens of thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeast for new homes in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. They traveled over established land and water routes, many of which led through Tennessee. Rather than risk disease and other hazards of summer travel, many groups left in the fall and instead faced treacherous winter weather. Thousands died during the ordeal remembered today as the Trail of Tears. Despite the hardships of the journey, the people of the five tribes of the Southeast established new lives in the West and stand now as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century. Federal Indian removal policy aroused fierce and bitter debate. Supporters claimed it was a benevolent action to save the tribes east of the Mississippi River from being overwhelmed and lost in the onslaught of an expanding American population, while opponents decried its inhumanity and the tragic consequences it would have for Indian peoples. Removal also freed millions of acres of Indian lands for use by American settlers. In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee, 21,000 Muscogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from the southeastern United States.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee · United States