ES NA Study Guide Part 2

The young United States was bursting outward, its people chasing farmland and gold across a growing frontier. Treaties were broken, promises erased, and soldiers arrived with orders from Washington. Which law gave the government power to force Native nations east of the Mississippi from their ancestral homelands?

• The Treaty of Paris

• The Indian Removal Act of 1830

• The Homestead Act

• The Dawes Act of 1887

As expansion fever swept through the South, one president declared that removal would “save” Native peoples by moving them west. His speeches spoke of protection—but his soldiers spoke with guns. Who led the effort to clear tribal lands for white settlers?

• Thomas Jefferson

• Andrew Jackson

• John Quincy Adams

• James Madison

Some Native nations tried a different path—building schools, writing constitutions, and farming like their new neighbors. Hoping that civilization would mean survival, they were called by outsiders a name that dripped with irony once removal came. What was this alliance known as?

• The Woodland League

• The Great Plains Nations

• The Five Civilized Tribes

• The Dakota Confederacy

Years earlier, Thomas Jefferson had painted a hopeful picture: if Native peoples adopted European customs, they might one day be treated as equals. Many believed him—until the plows and surveyors arrived. According to Jefferson’s words, what reward awaited those who “civilized”?

• Land in northern states

• Access to voting rights

• Equality and protection

• Shared statehood

By the late 1830s, diplomacy had failed. Soldiers gathered families at gunpoint, forcing them from Georgia toward a far-off “Indian Territory.” Wagons creaked, winter winds howled—the long exile had begun. In what year did the Trail of Tears start?

• 1838

• 1861

• 1890

• 1812

Step after step, they crossed rivers and plains, their feet bleeding through frost and mud. Children were buried along the roadside as elders whispered prayers to the east. Roughly how far did this deadly journey stretch?

• 50 miles

• 2,000 miles

• 200 miles

• Around 850 miles

Weeks turned into months. Food ran out; blankets froze stiff. Sickness crept through the camps more ruthless than any musket. What caused most Cherokee deaths during the Trail of Tears?

• Battles with soldiers

• Attacks by other tribes

• Disease, exposure, and starvation

• Lack of drinking water

When they finally reached the new land in present-day Oklahoma, few families were left whole. Mothers counted names in silence, realizing how many voices would never answer back. About how many Cherokee people died along the Trail of Tears?

• 25,000

• More than 4,000

• 500

• 1,000

The tragedy echoed through generations. Some Americans defended removal as progress; others called it a stain on the nation’s soul. Why does the Trail of Tears remain one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history?

• It represents injustice and ethnic cleansing

• It caused economic collapse

• It led to war with Britain

• It ended all U.S. expansion

Before the soldiers arrived, Cherokee leaders had pleaded for peace—believing diplomacy might save their homes. They signed petitions, sent envoys, and placed fragile trust in Washington. What did they hope would happen if they cooperated with the government?

• They would move by choice later

• They could stay on their land through assimilation

• They would join western tribes

• They would be given statehood