What did the State of Georgia try to do to the Cherokee tribe?
1 Answer
The State of Georgia not only tried but succeeded in taking the traditional lands of the Cherokee and banishing them to land west of the Mississippi.
Explanation:
The State of Georgia wanted the land of the Cherokee for settlements by white farmers and miners. The discovery of gold in the land reserved by federal treaties to the Cherokee, a sovereign nation at the time sparked the actions.
The State of Georgia passed a law abolishing the treaties with the Cherokee nation and declaring the land of the Cherokee nation the possession of the State of Georgia. Andrew Jackson supported the actions of the State of Georgia and maneuvered a bill through Congress making the law legal.
The United States Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional. However the State of Georgia with the support of president Andrew Jackson and federal troops forced the Cherokee nation off of their land and forced them to move to Oklahoma. This enforced march has become known as the Trail of Tears. Many of the Cherokee died along the trail. Those that survived mourned the loss of their land in Georgia.
