The Trail of Tears: They Knew It Was Wrong

Amy Sturgis

Amy Sturgis is a professor of interdisciplinary-​studies at Lenoir-​Rhyne University and the Mythgard Institute specializing in the fields of Science Fiction/​Fantasy and Native American Studies. Sturgis is the author of four books related to U.S. presidential and Native American history, including The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal and Presidents from Washington through Monroe.

The Trail of Tears shouldn’t have happened. People at the time knew that it was wrong, that it was illegal, and that it was unconstitutional, but they did it anyway. Historian Amy Sturgis explains why the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to “Indian Territory” (modern-​day Oklahoma) was wrong on both moral and legal grounds. How can the Trail of Tears provide lessons to us today? We can’t look aside and ignore the Trail of Tears as an example of something that was just part of the mid-​19th century mindset. It is a story about how a group that had power gained at the expense of a minority unable to defend itself. The Trail of Tears set precedents we can only hope to avoid repeating.

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