The Trail of Tears was an event that forever changed Native Americans and their relationship with Americans. The Trail of Tears occurred when Native people were forced to relocate, due to the Indian Removal Act. American President, Andrew Jackson, created this plan to gain more land and achieve Manifest Destiny. In 1830 he signed the Indian Act of Removal, giving the power to relocate Native Americans. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the early 1820s, many Native Americans lived throughout America. American settlers desperately wanted the land. They wanted to expand America and be able to occupy the land, to make money. Native Americans also seemed strange and different. They had different costumes, clothes and food. Initially, the goal of the American colonists was to make them assimilate. To get the Native Americans to behave and act like the American colonists, they had to threaten the Natives. The logic behind this was that the Natives would be too scared to refuse and would eventually become part of the American nation. For Americans, their goal was to become one great nation. Many tribes accepted "civilized" lifestyles and began to follow these conditions. The tribes among them were the famous Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole and many others. They began to participate in this, so that their land would not be taken away by the settlers. The problem with the Native Americans soon became a question of their land, and not their assimilation. American settlers wanted to inhabit all the land, to make money and receive more resources. To convince the natives to give up their land to them, relocation was the ideal solution. It was decided that many tribes would move into a specific "Indian Territory". While traveling to their “territory,” the Native Americans were provided no food, supplies, or help from the government. Many natives died of disease, starvation, lack of shelter and protection. This event was called "The Trail of Tears" because it was a journey filled with death and tears. The impact that the Trail of Tears left was tremendous. More than a quarter of all relocated Native Americans died. The small residue of trust that had existed before the event was now crushed. During the relocation, Native Americans were stripped of their land, possessions, and identity. For Native people, the land they lived in defined them. To the natives you were part of your land and your land was part of you. The land represented Native Americans and had been their home for thousands of years. Being forced to move from home meant depriving them of their identity. With American settlers forcing them off their land, they were ultimately destroying the trust and friendship they had with each other. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayThe effect that the Trail of Tears had on the relationship between Native Americans and the colonists was irreversible. The bonds of friendship between them had been destroyed forever. This event had killed thousands of Native Americans and left the survivors in complete despair. The event forever left an indelible mark on the relationship between them.