Indian Removal · 1830-1839

The Trail of Tears

The Cherokee had a written language, a newspaper and a constitution, and they won their case in the Supreme Court. They were still forced from their homeland. Students follow the removal of the south-eastern nations and ask how it should be remembered.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1830 to AD 1839
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The Cherokee had a written language, a newspaper and a constitution, and they won their case in the Supreme Court. They were still forced from their homeland. Students follow the removal of the south-eastern nations and ask how it should be remembered.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was and which nations it affected.
  • Describe how the Cherokee resisted removal through law, petitions and politics.
  • Explain why the removal of 1838-1839 is remembered as the Trail of Tears.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1830

Homelands

Open the map in 1830 and zoom in on the south-east of the United States. The Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole lived here. Which present-day states cover their lands?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1838

The routes west

Zoom out and follow the Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas rivers west. In 1838-1839 about 16,000 Cherokee were forced along routes like these, and thousands died. Why was a winter journey so deadly?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1839

Indian Territory

Type "Where is Tahlequah?" in Ask the atlas. This land west of Arkansas was then called Indian Territory, today Oklahoma. How different is it from the mountains of Georgia?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Cherokee wrote a constitution, printed a newspaper and went to court. Why did all of that still not protect them?
  2. The Supreme Court ruled for the Cherokee, but the president did not enforce the ruling. What happens when a government ignores its courts?
  3. A small group of Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota without the support of their nation. Can a treaty be valid if most people reject it?
  4. Gold had been found on Cherokee land in Georgia in 1829. How did the wish for land and gold shape the decision?
  5. Why is it important to name and remember events like the Trail of Tears?
4

Game round

10 min

No Rule History ruler made this decision. Play Abraham Lincoln: as a young man in Illinois he served in the Black Hawk War of 1832, another conflict over removal. Discuss: who should decide who belongs in a country and on its land?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.