A Century of Dishonor

In her book A Century of Dishonor, published in 1881, Helen Hunt Jackson wrote, “There will come a time in the remote future when, to the student of American history [the Cherokee removal] will seem well-nigh incredible.” The events leading up to the infamous Trail of Tears, when U.S. soldiers marched Cherokee Indians at bayonet-point almost a thousand miles from Georgia to Oklahoma, offer a window into the nature of U.S. expansion—in the early 19th century, but also throughout this country’s history. The story of the Cherokees’ uprooting may seem “well-nigh incredible” today, but it shares important characteristics with much of U.S. policy: economic interests paramount, race as a key factor, legality flaunted, the use of violence to enforce U.S. will, a language of justification thick with democratic and humanitarian platitudes. The Cherokees were not the only indigenous people affected by the Indian Removal law and the decade of dispossession that followed. The Seminoles, living in Florida, were another group targeted for resettlement. For years, they had lived side by side with people of African ancestry, most of whom were escaped slaves or descendants of escaped slaves.

In this Video Essay your job is to consider the Bill that became the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and role play as a speaker testifying before Congress. A minimum of 1000 words is required. Please spell and grammar check your writing. You will only need citations if you plan on referring to sources outside the textbook or film. You must take the position of one group representing a particular side of the political argument. You may select either the Cherokee, the Andrew Jackson Administration, Plantation Owners and Farmers, Missionaries and Northern Reformers, or another targeted Native American people such as the Seminole. Bear in mind that the film largely omits other southeastern Indians which would require outside reading if you choose that position. Be sure to include some discussion of the motivations of other groups.

Your essay should include background, or context, for proposed removal. Be sure to respond to three questions: whether they support the bill, what questions they have of other groups, and how they will react if the bill passes or fails. Consider in the last question that because Congress decides something does not necessarily mean people will passively accept that decision. In reality, the vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of removal was 102 to 97—an underwhelming majority. Many Americans such as William Lloyd Garrison and David Crockett staunchly opposed the law.

As with your first Video Essay, please upload your paper as a PDF or Word file. The video is found below.