Removal and the Cherokee Nation

This chapter provides an overview of removal-era Cherokee history. It recounts the rise of the Indian removal policy and the state of Georgia's campaign to compel the Cherokee Nation to negotiate a removal treaty. It describes Cherokee resistance to removal and the experience of the "Trail of Tears." It also offers a brief narrative of Cherokee Nation history after removal, while explaining the emergence of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. The chapter ends by describing several ways in which Cherokees and non-Indians employed the memory of removal in writings from the late nineteenth century. These writings established themes later broadcast by twentieth century commemorations.