Trail+of+Tears


 * PBS video**

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/video/video_pop.html?id=21&KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=335&width=500

1. What was the key to creating a self-reliant American people? 2. What did the Cherokees decide to do in order to save their land? 3. Do you think Indian removal was the equivalent of today's ethnic cleansing?

Read Jackson's speech to Congress in 1830. Answer the questions following the reading.




 * What were Jackson's motives for removing Native Americans from their lands?
 * Do you agree with his reasons?

Read the primary source below of Samuel, an Indian boy forced to go on the Trail of Tears.



Questions to consider:
 * Did Jackson have the right to remove Native Americans?
 * Should he have removed them?
 * Is it a moral issue?
 * How do his arguments reflect his belief in states' rights vs. federal jurisdiction?


 * Home****wor****k**: Read Jackson's second speech to Congress in 1835 and answer the questions that follow it.

__**AND**__

Write a letter to President Jackson explaining your position on Indian Removal. Remember that you are addressing the president so you need to include facts to back up your ideas.