US National Archives
Our Documents:president Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian Removal' (1830)
On December 6, 1830, President Jackson spoke to Congress about his position on relocating Indians in order to make way for settlers in the west. This paved the way for government policy in dealing with native peoples even after his...
Digital History
Digital History: Explorations: Indian Removal
In this exploration, students will examine the federal policy toward American Indians, why President Jackson introduced the Indian Removal Policy, Native American resistance to removal, and the human meaning of removal.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian: National Museum of the American Indian: The Removal Act
At first, the Trail of Tears only described the Cherokee removal of 1838. Later it included the removals of all southeastern Native nations. Take a close look at these primary sources from the Smithsonian which include a reproduction of...
A&E Television
History.com: Native American History Timeline
Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Age of Jackson
An overview of the issues and changes to the political scene in the Age of Jackson. Read about the nullification crisis and Jackson's veto of the national bank charter, and the relocation of Native Americans. Find out about the...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Reading Like a Historian
During this 8-day unit, students will engage in collecting text evidence and then writing about their findings. They will answer the following question with credible, well-explained evidence: Why did Andrew Jackson and Elias Boudinot...
Ohio State University
Osu History Teaching Institute: Indian Removal
This lesson looks at the process whereby a policy of assimilation gave way to one of overt removal under President Jackson.
Digital History
Digital History: Georgia and the Cherokees [Pdf]
The Cherokee nation was one of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Southeast. Read about their achievements, the state of Georgia's attempts to annex their lands, and ultimately, President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Bill. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: Indian Removal
The Indian Removal policy was inhumane and without empathy for the Native Americans who were forced from their lands. Read about the attempts to enforce federal treaties and the final removal of three major tribes from the Southeast.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1848: Indian Removal
In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson pursued a policy of Indian Removal, forcing Native Americans living in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi to trek hundreds of miles to territory in present-day Oklahoma.
Other
Civics Resources: Worcester v. Georgia
In December 1829, President Andrew Jackson announced his Indian removal proposal in an address to the U.S. Congress. In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to grant the Indians unsettled lands west...
PBS
Pbs: Virtual Field Trip: Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation virtual field trip affords an in-depth look at the lives of the Cherokee Indians, from their first encounters with Europeans to events, such as the Gold Rush and the signing of the Indian Removal Act by Andrew...
Curated OER
Etc: Jackson's Indian and Gulf Campaigns, 1813 1818
A map of the Gulf region showing the campaigns of Andrew Jackson during the Red Stick War with the Creeks (1813-1814), his campaign to New Orleans during the War of 1812 (1815), and during the First Seminole War (1817-1818). The map...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Trail of Tears: The Indian Removals
The Cherokee were not the only Native Americans affected by the Indian Removal Policy. Read about the Sac and Fox Indians in Illinois, and the Seminole in Florida. In addition, read about the many attempts, including a law suit filed by...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography: American Indians: Black Hawk
Scroll down to the portrait of Black Hawk to read a brief biography of this famous Native American chief. From the Smithsonian Institution.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Perspectives on the Trail of Tears
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, student groups will design and create a poster containing facts about the Trail of Tears as well as a collage and concluding statement expressing the group's feelings about the event.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Cherokee Nation: Virtual Field Trip
An in-depth look at the lives of the Cherokee Indians, from their first encounters with Europeans to events, such as the Gold Rush and the signing of the Indian Removal Act by Andrew Jackson, that led to their forced relocation to Indian...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Jacksonian Democracy?
The purpose of this primary source set is to weigh both sides of the argument and decide whether Jackson's presidency was a time of democracy, a time of rising nationalism or a combination of the two.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Trail of Tears and Forced Relocation of Cherokee
This Teaching With Historic Places unit, designed for students in grades 5-12 is about the conflict between American settlers and the Cherokee Nation. Students will outline events leading up to the forced relocation of the Cherokee in...
Other
Crystalinks: Trail of Tears
Detailed information on the Trail of Tears which refers to the forced relocation of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States in 1838-39. This tragic event resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Manifest Destiny
This Khan Academy resource provides notes for American History. "Manifest Destiny" is explained on this resource, along with the implications associated with expansion of the North American continent.
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.
New Georgia Encyclopedia: Seminole Wars
Provides discussion of the importance of and the reasons behind the three Seminole Wars that took place between American troops and the Seminoles in Georgia between 1817-1843.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears
The sources in this primary set uses documents, images, and music to reveal the story of Cherokee removal, which is part of a larger story known as the Trail of Tears. Includes teaching guide.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Monroe: Foreign Affairs
Read a great summary of U.S. foreign policy in the Monroe presidency. Find out about the treaties agreed to and the unilateral issuing of the Monroe Doctrine.