Friday, May 3rd, we had a fishbowl debate on what should happen to the Cherokee people, which led up to the Trail of Tears. President Jackson didn't like the Amerindians, and passed the Indian Removal Act. The Cherokee, being one of the civilized tribes, went to court to demand the right to stay on their land. They had a treaty and should have stayed on their land, but Jackson ignored them. He could easily have been impeached for his actions, but many Congress members were with him. Here is a poem I wrote based on the White Man's Burden, changed to be the Cherokee Burden:
"Pile on the Cherokee Burden,
Send them to lands unknown,
Drive them from their homeland,
Through where Winter's breath is blown.
Pile on the Cherokee Burden,
Plunder their few possessions,
Use the land you swindle
To fuel your petty progressions.
Pile on the Cherokee Burden,
No pleasant roads he shall tread;
Exile of the living,
Marked by the dead.
Pile on the Cherokee Burden,
Feed them with your lies.
Yet it shall weigh upon your soul
Whenever one of them dies.
Pile on the Cherokee Burden,
For throughout the future years,
The exile you've commanded
Shall be known as the Trail of Tears."
Today, May 6th, we worked on our Smithsonian quests.
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