Mystery Story

1. Mystery Story • A young boy named John lived on a farm in a beautiful, mountainous, wooded area in Eastern Tennessee in 1837. • His family planted corn and raised animals for meat, milk, and eggs. John had four brothers and three sisters. The family appeared happy and prosperous. • In 1839 the family moved to a treeless, dry, flat prairie. During the journey, two of John’s brothers and one of his sisters died. • When they arrived at their new home, the family could not grow enough to feed themselves. • John’s father became a member of the legislature and his mother helped publish the local newspaper. John missed his brothers and sister, and his beautiful home in the mountains.

2. Your Task • What you must figure out is why John’s family would leave their beautiful farm for a difficult life in this flat dry prairie. • You may ask questions of the instructor, but they must be answerable with only a yes or a no. • We will pause after 5 questions have been asked to allow you and your partner to briefly discuss what you have learned and what you still must discover.

3. Mystery Story • A young boy named John lived on a farm in a beautiful, mountainous, wooded area in Eastern Tennessee in 1837. • His family planted corn and raised animals for meat, milk, and eggs. John had four brothers and three sisters. The family appeared happy and prosperous. • In 1839 the family moved to a treeless, dry, flat prairie. During the journey, two of John’s brothers and one of his sisters died. • When they arrived at their new home, the family could not grow enough to feed themselves. • John’s father became a member of the legislature and his mother helped publish the local newspaper. John missed his brothers and sister, and his beautiful home in the mountains.

5. President Jackson 1829-1837 • Catalyst for western expansion • Promised U.S. would expand into undeveloped territories • “Westward Ho!” Andrew Jackson

6. Indian Removal Act of 1830 • President Andrew Jackson pushed Congress to force Indians to move west of the Mississippi • Congress established Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) as the new Indian homeland

7. Address to Congress • “It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlementsis approaching to a happy consummation.”—Andrew Jackson

8. Indian Removal Begins • Removal of thousands of Native Americans • Native Americans were to move west of the Mississippi

9. Response to Indian Removal • Although many Americans were against the act, (most notably Tennessee Congressman Davey Crockett) it passed anyway. • The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created to manage the removal of the Indians to Indian Land. • Cherokees sued to the government and the case went to the Supreme Court. They won in 1832

10. President Jackson’s Response “Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!”

11. Trail of Tears 1838 • Thousands were forcibly removed • Taken to “Indian territory” in Oklahoma • Journey called “Trail of Tears”

14. Free Response Question “According to John Greene’s viewpoint, American westward expansion was…