Concept: Cherokee Nation History- The Trail of Tears

Objectives: The juniors in American History should be able to describe, in a timeline diagram, the events leading up to the Trail of Tears, and must score a 75 percent or higher.

Introduction: I will show a video displaying the Trail of Tears. The video will introduce the upcoming new information of the Cherokee, since the class learned about the actions the Cherokee took during the Civil War.

Vocabulary: Cherokee Nation, Andrew Jackson, Trail of Tears, civilized tribe(s), death marches, Indian Removal policy, and Chief John Ross

Body of Lesson: Show the video of the Trail of Tears. Then move onto a small lecture. After the lecture is over allow the students to pair share with a partner. This allows time for them to get notes they might have missed. The bring the class back together for a group discuss to talk about if the actions by the Cherokee and United States government can be justified or not. Next I would go onto the interest to access a website that has firsthand experience the Cherokee went through on the Trail of Tears. Lastly, I would give out an assignment for the students to complete that goes over the information learned to take home for homework.

Accommodations/Modifications: For ELL and ESL students I would use some sort of translation site such as Google Translate. I would also walk around the classroom trying to answer any questions the special students might have, or not understand. Emphasize the information students need to understand to ensure the homework would be done correctly. If students are deaf go slow enough to ensure the translator is keeping up, and try to sign some words myself. If student is blind try to be very descriptive. Try to create a classroom that is still challenging to the gifted students, this can be done by having more difficult questions for them to complete, but still able to work easily with one another so no one is bored. Try to have classroom that accommodate any students need.

Multiple Intelligence(s) Addressed: I would like to have a classroom with almost every learning style used, have it range from hands on to visual aids. Anything could really be used, and be beneficial as long as it relates to the Cherokee Nation.

Assessment: Have the student write out a timeline of events leading up to the Trail of Tears, which they will have to score a 75 percent or higher on.

Materials: Textbook (depending what book the school has), use The West: An Illustrated History; By: Geoffrey C. Ward; 9780316735896; Little, Brown and Company, http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4532 for personal experience from soldiers point of view, http://www.bringinghistoryhome.org/assets/bringinghistoryhome/(3)%20indianremoval.pdf has experiences and activity plus talks about the five civilized tribes.

Standards: SS 12.4.2 (US) Students will analyze and evaluate the impact of people, events, ideas, and symbols upon US history using multiple types of sources. SS 12.4.5 (US) Students will develop historical research skills.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the communication between the Cherokee nation and the American government. Resource created by Lucas Spooner, Winnebago Public Schools, as part of the Nebraska ESUCC Social Studies Special Projects 2023 - Inquiry Design Model (IDM).

This inquiry is designed to investigate the idea of Manifest Destiny and the role that Manifest Destiny played in the removal of the Natives from their land. Ultimately, students will create claims with evidence regarding whether or not Manifest Destiny justified the removal of Native Americans from their lands.   Resource created by Becky Michel, Conestoga Public Schools, as part of the Nebraska ESUCC Social Studies Special Projects 2022 - Inquiry Design Model (IDM).

This recourse contains a chart and asks students to compare the Cherokee tribes that stayed in the Appalachians to the tribes that migrated across the US to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears as well as to the Great Plains tribes who were already in the region. The comparison chart contains a section for culture, agriculture, local governance, and treaties with the US government. 

In 1838, poet, essayist, and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a letter to President Martin Van Buren protesting the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its land in Georgia to modern-day Oklahoma. In this extended excerpt from his letter, read by Professor Amy Sturgis from Lenoir-Rhyne University, Emerson demonstrates that people at the time were aware that the Trail of Tears was a grave injustice. Emerson's was only one of many voices protesting the government's treatment of the Cherokee people, but these protests fell on deaf ears. The Trail of Tears remains a blemish on U.S. History.

According to Professor Amy Sturgis of Lenoir-Rhyne University, the Trail of Tears shouldn’t have happened. In this video, Professor Sturgis explains both the moral and legal arguments used to protest the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to "Indian Territory" as well as why it’s so important that we remember the Trail of Tears today.