After the Trail of Tears:The Cherokees’ Struggle for Sovereignty, 1839-1880

Description

This powerful narrative traces the social| cultural| and political history of the Cherokee Nation during the forty-year period after its members were forcibly removed from the southern Appalachians and resettled in what is now Oklahoma. In this master work| completed just before his death| William McLoughlin not only explains how the Cherokees rebuilt their lives and society| but also recounts their fight to govern themselves as a separate nation within the borders of the United States. Long regarded by whites as one of the ‘civilized’ tribes| the Cherokees had their own constitution (modeled after that of the United States)| elected officials| and legal system. Once re-settled| they attempted to reestablish these institutions and continued their long struggle for self-government under their own laws–an idea that met with bitter opposition from frontier politicians| settlers| ranchers| and business leaders. After an extremely divisive fight within their own nation during the Civil War| Cherokees faced internal political conflicts as well as the destructive impact of an influx of new settlers and the expansion of the railroad. McLoughlin brings the story up to 1880| when the nation’s fight for the right to govern itself ended in defeat at the hands of Congress.