The Trail of Tears: The Forced Removal of the Five Civilized Tribes

*Includes pictures *Includes eyewitness accounts of the Trail of Tears *Includes a Bibliography for further reading.  “I fought through the War Between the States and have seen many men shot, but the Cherokee Removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” – Georgia soldier on the Trail of Tears  The “Five Civilized Tribes” are among the best known Native American groups in American history, and they were even celebrated by contemporary Americans for their abilities to adapt to white culture. But tragically, they are also well known tribes due to the trials and tribulations they suffered by being forcibly moved west along the “Trail of Tears”.  Though the Trail of Tears applied to several different tribes, it is most commonly associated today with the Cherokee. The Cherokee began the process of assimilation into European America very early, even before the establishment of the Unites States, but it is unclear what benefits that brought the tribe. Throughout the colonial period and after th