(Editor's Note: Braden wrote the following as part of a junior high history assignment. He was required to read various primary sources dealing with the Trail of Tears and compose a letter to President Andrew Jackson expressing concerns with the plight of the Cherokee and other native tribes east of the Mississippi River).
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Braden Gottschalk and I am from the little town of Kenny Lake, Alaska. I know that you have relocated the Cherokee to make room for more settlers and farmland. When you did this, many of the Cherokee people suffered more than you could imagine.
When you wanted to relocate them, the Supreme Court said the government had no authority to force the Cherokee to do what they didn’t want to. But you forced them to leave their homes. You justified the act by saying it was for their own good, that they wouldn’t survive in a white man’s world. The Cherokee were surrounded by people who wanted to get rid of them. You said the Indians should be grateful for being sent west of the Mississippi River to be given new land and money because any white person who is given this opportunity would take it. If this were true, then why weren’t there many settlers in the west?
While you sat around in your office to decide what good deed to do next for America, the Indians were being kicked out of their homes and led to stockades like cows are herded into a pen. They went without food for many days. The Cherokee lacked warmth when the nights were cold. Most of them became sick and died because of the lack of nutrition. The dead were put in shallow graves in the frozen earth.
Just imagine yourself in the Cherokee’s place. They felt tired, weak. And when someone feels weak, they just want to give up, but they found that inner strength. They found that motivation to not give up on hope; they got up no matter how hard they fell. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done to these people. All they wanted was life, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, but you took these needs away from them. You ruled over them as if you were the king of America, as if you owned them. The Declaration of Independence and the Preamble were written for the people. If this isn’t true, then the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble were made in vain. I believe they were created for the rights of everyone, no matter what ethnicity or race the people might be.
Sincerely,
Braden Gottschalk
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Braden Gottschalk and I am from the little town of Kenny Lake, Alaska. I know that you have relocated the Cherokee to make room for more settlers and farmland. When you did this, many of the Cherokee people suffered more than you could imagine.
When you wanted to relocate them, the Supreme Court said the government had no authority to force the Cherokee to do what they didn’t want to. But you forced them to leave their homes. You justified the act by saying it was for their own good, that they wouldn’t survive in a white man’s world. The Cherokee were surrounded by people who wanted to get rid of them. You said the Indians should be grateful for being sent west of the Mississippi River to be given new land and money because any white person who is given this opportunity would take it. If this were true, then why weren’t there many settlers in the west?
While you sat around in your office to decide what good deed to do next for America, the Indians were being kicked out of their homes and led to stockades like cows are herded into a pen. They went without food for many days. The Cherokee lacked warmth when the nights were cold. Most of them became sick and died because of the lack of nutrition. The dead were put in shallow graves in the frozen earth.
Just imagine yourself in the Cherokee’s place. They felt tired, weak. And when someone feels weak, they just want to give up, but they found that inner strength. They found that motivation to not give up on hope; they got up no matter how hard they fell. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done to these people. All they wanted was life, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, but you took these needs away from them. You ruled over them as if you were the king of America, as if you owned them. The Declaration of Independence and the Preamble were written for the people. If this isn’t true, then the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble were made in vain. I believe they were created for the rights of everyone, no matter what ethnicity or race the people might be.
Sincerely,
Braden Gottschalk
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