Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series) [Paperback]

Vicki Rozema (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003 | Series: Real Voices, Real History Series

Although British and American governmental policy had been pushing Native Americans westward for much of the 18th and early 19th centuries, passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 brought this policy to a head. This act, which provided for the exchange of American Indian lands in the East for lands west of the Mississippi River and for the removal of the Indians to those lands, resulted in the relocation of an estimated 100,000 Native Americans.

Although many tribes were involved in this process, the most publicized removal was that of the Cherokees. In Voices from the Trail of Tears, Vicki Rozema draws from letters, military records, physicians' records, and journal excerpts to provide insight into what actually happened during this period. Through these primary sources, which are presented in chronological order, we follow the feuding within the Cherokee ranks about whether to accept the white man's ultimatum, and if so, how it should be implemented. We have firsthand accounts of how the Indians from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were rounded up to prepare for their removal. We hear the sympathetic white missionaries pleading for the Cherokees to be allowed to stay in their homeland, and we see how some of these same missionaries dealt with the testing of their faith as they accompanied the Indians on their westward journey. We read official reports and private musings from the soldiers who were ordered to carry out the removal, many of whom ended up sympathizing with their wards. We see the conditions that the people endured as they traveled on what they called "the Trail Where They Cried." We even follow the confusion that resulted when the new arrivals in the West faced assimilation into a culture already established by those who had emigrated 20 to 30 years earlier.

In Voices from the Trail of Tears, the actual participants give us a perspective on what happened during this infamous chapter in American history.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the Federal government to relocate the so-called Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast to lands beyond the Mississippi River. Perhaps the fate of the Cherokees was most tragic; the Cherokees had developed a written language, became fervent Christians, and some even owned slaves. Apparently, they did everything possible to act "civilized" (or white). What they couldn't do, of course, was change the color of their skin, and that doomed them. Rozema, who has previously written extensively on Cherokee history and culture, uses a variety of primary sources, including eyewitness accounts, to recount their sad fate, climaxed by a forced march to Oklahoma during which thousands died. Missionaries write outraged letters describing the mistreatment of Cherokees by white opportunists and government officials. Ordinary soldiers charged with rousting families from their homes describe the suffering of victims. This compilation is often stunning and heartbreaking in its impact, and it is a necessary reminder of one of the most shameful episodes in our history. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Vicki Rozema is the author of Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation and editor of Cherokee Voices: Early Accounts of Cherokee Life in the East. She lives in Harrison, Tennessee.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: John F. Blair Publisher; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895872714
• ISBN-13: 978-0895872715
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Excellent Book from Ms. Rozema, March 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series) (Paperback)

This is Ms. Rozema's third book on Cherokee History and an excellent complement to her others. Voices from the Trail of Tears is a collection of first person accounts of the infamous Cherokee Removal of 1838. Drawn from letters, journals, military reports, contemporary newspaper accounts, and even physicians' reports, it offers an in-depth and very personal account of the tragedy referred to by the Cherokees as `The Trail Where We Cried.' This book is different from previous books on the Cherokee Removal because it consists primarily of first person accounts of events leading up to, during, and immediately after the removal and while Ms. Rozema provides introductory notes to each account to explain the events and people who wrote the accounts, the eye-witness accounts are the focus of the book. This book deals more with the experience of the Cherokees held in camps during the summer of 1838 while they were waiting for removal led by Chief John Ross and where it is believed most of the deaths (due to sickness) actually occurred rather than on the trail than previous books. This book also deals more with the actual experiences of the Cherokees on the `Trail Where they Cried' where previous books deal more with the events leading up to the removal.
Voices from the Trail of Tears is an excellent choice for anyone interested in Cherokee history or the removal of the southeastern Indians. It would also be an excellent choice for teachers or researchers including those doing genealogy research. The book is thoughtfully indexed and carefully noted with unobtrusive endnotes and extensive bibliography at the end of the book.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True To Life, August 4, 2005

By 

kondor,kondor (Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series) (Paperback)

You can't get a better perspective on an event than first person accounts. This book was written in such a way. There are accounts by people who were actually there taken from medical reports and recorded information taken from first person accounts of people who were actually in the middle of "The Trail of Tears" as it was happening. An excellent read and factual event of history that just happened to be overlooked in school history books.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series), July 1, 2008

By 

Mountainquiet (Green Bank, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series) (Paperback)

This book made you feel like you were a bystander actually watching history happening. A good read.