Trail of Tears: Understanding the Primary Sources[i]

In this learning module, we will examine the various first hand accounts [primary sources] about the decision to remove the Cherokee Nation from its ancestral homeland in the 1830s. From this inquiry we will discover that there was much debate about the decision and the reasons behind that decision. But central to all perspectives was an impulse by Americans to search for greater equality of equality of opportunity within the era of great economic change (the Market Revolution).

General Information

• This inquiry includes documents in three categories.
• Document sets have been assigned to specific groups, and each member of the group will receive his/her own document set.
• All materials are also located on my website.

The Assignment: This assignment divides into six steps

1. Homework: Reading the assignment documents and completing the form, Understanding the Primary Source – Week of October 26
2. In-class group discussion (October 28 & 30)
3. Group summaries/Course compass. 5 points/group
4. Personal Reflection – Discussion Board, Course Compass. Week of October 26 & November 3.
5. Preparing exam essay, Weeks of November 3 & November 10.
6. Essay Due Date, Thursday, November 13.

Assessment: 75 points possible

1. Completed forms/attendance on October 28 & 30: 5 points per form/per class
2. Group statement – summary of thesis/evidence of primary source – 5 points/group points. Location: Coursecompass
3. Personal reflection/Course Compass: 20 points
4. Essay: 30 points. Submission of completed forms for primary sources: 5 points each.

Requirements:

• Before coming to class, each student is required to read the assigned document and complete the form.

• Prior to group discussion, I will “check in” evidence that you have completed the form. If not, you will be not receive credit for that assignment

• Each assignment (completed form) is worth 5 points.

• You will submit the completed form for both documents with the exam essay.

Primary Sources:

Category One: Social Impact – What Happens to the People?

• Cherokee Women Resist Removal – Petitions of the Women’s Councils, 1817, 1818
• White Intruders - Z. H. Brandon, Memoir, 1830 – 1838

Category Two: The Political Argument: Who Owns the Land?

• The “William Penn Essays” – “A Brief View of the Present Relations between the Government and People of the United States and the Indians with Our National Limits” 1829
• Andrew Jackson, Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1830

Category Three: The Cultural Argument: What does “being civilized” mean?

• E. Boudinot’s Editorials in the Cherokee Phoenix, 1829 – 1831
• Lewis Cass, “Removal of the Indians,” January 1830

Words of Caution about the Primary Sources:

• Please remember: Each of these documents challenge the meaning of democracy. Be sure that you focus on this, when answering the following questions.

• Some of the documents include introductions to the ideas and the person. These are included to help you understand the document. But these introductions DO NOT replace reading the document itself.

Note: The form that follows has been designed to help with understanding the central ideas of the assignment documents. Keep and continue to add to this form as we progress through the assignment. It will become your “working outline” for the essay that you will write for this learning module.

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[i] 10/22/2003