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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

The Removal of the Cherokee Indians

This lesson allows students to assess the influence of the Trail of Tears. Students will read a brief history of the Cherokee Indians, past and present. They will watch the Unto These Hills video and read excerpts from Native Americans and government officials during the Indian Removal. Students will write an essay supporting or opposing the Indian Removal Act.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Information Skills and Social Studies

By Amy Oxendine

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • understand The Trail of Tears, its hardships, and loss experienced by the Cherokee.
  • evaluate and compare the various trails taken by the Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma.
  • form opinions of the government’s motives for the relocation.
  • form an opinion based on the information that has been presented and research.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

90 minutes

Materials/resources

  • Pencil/pen and paper.
  • Map transparency of The Trail of Tears.
  • Copies of Trail of Tears artwork.
  • Video (listed under relevant websites).
  • Copy of primary sources.
  • Copy of excerpts from the book From the Heart: Voices of the American Indian by Lee Miller. From Vintage. Recommended excerpt is pages 152 through 153.
  • Rubric.

Technology resources

  • Overhead
  • Computer/Projector

Pre-activities

Students will have a brief knowledge of the Jackson era and why Americans felt the need to move West.

Activities

  1. Teacher will post the following questions on the board:
    • What feelings, thoughts, and images come to mind when you think of home?
    • Is the “home” that you are envisioning the physical place where you reside currently? Why or why not?
  2. Students will reflect on the above questions and write a journal entry. Teacher will explain to students that this lesson relates to a law that had a dramatic effect on “home” for thousands of Native Americans.
  3. Recall for students what they know about the American movement westward. Explain to students that many Native Americans still lived in the Eastern part of the United States. They lived in such states as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. The American people were not interested in living in dry areas west of the Mississippi River. They wanted the Native Americans to be relocated to the areas of land west of the Mississippi River.
  4. Teacher will use the overhead projector to display a map of the Trail of Tears. Students will discuss the different routes taken.
  5. Explain to your students that they will be watching a video that will re-enact the accounts leading up to the Trail of Tears. These segments are of an outdoor drama called Unto These Hills. Students will need to take notes for the upcoming assignment.
  6. Teacher will distribute copies of The Indian Removal Act of 1830 or other related primary source documents, excerpts from the book From the Heart, and a Rubric for the homework essay. For homework students are to write a persuasive essay supporting or opposing the Indian Removal Act.

Assessment

Evaluate essays against the Rubric. Gauge student participation in class discussions.

Supplemental information

For a brief history of the Trail of Tears, visit the Cherokee North Carolina website.

Visit the National Park Service website for a map of the Trail of Tears.

The NC Classroom Resources Documentaries from the Department of Public Instruction has the video Unto These Hills.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/distancelearning/classroom/documentaries.html#Indian

Comments

Instead of the essay students could create the front page of a newspaper in the year 1830.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Information Skills (2000)

Grades 9–12

  • Goal 1: The learner will EXPLORE sources and formats for reading, listening, and viewing purposes.
    • Objective 1.04: Acknowledge ownership of ideas.
    • Objective 1.05: Identify elements of composition.
    • Objective 1.09: Recognize that ideas are produced in a variety of formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based).
    • Objective 1.11: Explore primary and secondary sources.
  • Goal 5: The learner will COMMUNICATE reading, listening, and viewing experiences.
    • Objective 5.03: Describe, support an opinion, and/or persuade an audience using a variety of media formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based).

Social Studies (2003)

Grades 11–12 — American Indian Studies

  • Goal 2: The learner will analyze the historical developments that characterize Native American life in the period prior to the Civil War.
    • Objective 2.04: Assess the impact of the major events of the period including, but not limited to, the Iroquois Confederacy and the Great Law of Peace; the removal of American Indians from the East; and the participation of American Indians in the Civil War.

Grades 11–12 — United States History

  • Goal 2: Expansion and Reform (1801-1850) - The learner will assess the competing forces of expansionism, nationalism, and sectionalism.
    • Objective 2.01: Analyze the effects of territorial expansion and the admission of new states to the Union.