For many, the Trail of Tears has no meaning or relevance in their lives, but for some, the Trail of Tears has great significance since many indigenous ancestors endured the hardships of this period. time. By the 1830s, Native Americans occupied many acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida. The main reason for the Trail of Tears was that the Americans wanted the Indian lands for themselves so they could raise their livestock, and because of the good land to be able to cultivate and harvest crops. Their ancestors had lived and farmed this land for generations, and by the end of that generation, very few Native Americans remained in the southeastern United States. Many believe that The Trail of Tears only concerned the "five civilized tribes", but many other smaller tribes were also involved. Some tribes agreed to sign, others were forced to do so, but regardless, they all had to leave. Many Native Americans suffered from cold, disease, and starvation on the way to their destination, making The Trail of Tears one of the greatest trials in Native American history. In 1830, United States President Andrew Jackson issued a deportation order. of Native Americans, which was adopted by both houses of Congress. “When Andrew Jackson became president (1829-1837), he decided to build a systematic approach to Indian removal based on these legal precedents.” (Guillaume. Page 5). This gave the president the authority to negotiate expulsion treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were required to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for land to the west. "Thomas Jefferson was the original instigator of the idea of ​​removing a...... middle of paper....... White settlers began to resent the Cherokees. There was pressure on the tribe to move voluntarily, but their homelands, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, have lived here for generations and did not want to move. In conclusion, The Trail of Tears was a very low point in Native American History. Works Cited De Rosier, Arthur H. Jr. The Removal of the Choctaw Indians. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville; 1970Gloria Jahoda. The trail of tears. New York: Wing Books. 1975Herman A. Peterson. The trail of tears. Lanham: The Scare Crow Press, Inc. 2011Hicks, Brain. The resistance fighters. Smithsonian 41.11 (2011): 50-60. Premier Academic Research. Internet. Nov 8, 2013Trail of Tears. History.com. A&E Television Networks. November 8, 2013. www.history.com. 2013 William T. Hagan. Take Indian lands. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 2003