The Indian trail of tears is a devastating journey that was made by the Cherokee nation in 1838 and 1839. Andrew Jackson, the future US president, enacted the Indian removal policy, which saw the Cherokee nation evicted from their land near Mississippi to another territory in the present-day state of Oklahoma. This journey was characterized by suffering, starvation, epidemics, and extreme fatigue.
An estimated 4000 migrants died along the way; hence, it gained the name “trail of tears.” The migrants were forced to leave their investments, land, property, farms, and homes. The Cherokee tribe comprised American Indians who were seen as aliens by the white settlers. These settlers encroached into the Cherokee land and stole livestock, looted their belongings, burned down houses, and killed a couple of them. Additionally, they became squatters in the land that belonged to the Cherokee Nation.