Historical Survey: African Americans on the Trail of Tears

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African Americans on the Trail of Tears

The experience of African Americans on the Trail of Tears is an important yet often overlooked aspect of the forced removal of Native American tribes during the 1830s. While the term "Trail of Tears" is most commonly associated with the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), many African Americans, enslaved individuals and freed people, were also affected by this tragic event.

Many Native American tribes, particularly those in the Southeastern United States, enslaved African Americans. This included tribes like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. During the removal process, enslaved African Americans were forcibly relocated alongside their Native American owners to Indian Territory. For these enslaved individuals, the Trail of Tears was just another extension of their forced migration under slavery, with little to no consideration for their well-being. They suffered alongside Native Americans as they traveled, enduring harsh conditions, inadequate supplies, and brutal treatment.

The Choctaw, for example, were one of the first tribes to be forcibly removed. Many Choctaw slaveholders brought their enslaved African Americans with them. The journey was difficult and deadly, with enslaved individuals often suffering from exposure to disease, hunger, and exhaustion. The Cherokee Nation was known to have enslaved African Americans as well. After the forced removal, enslaved African Americans were brought along on the Cherokee’s long trek westward. The estimation is that hundreds of African Americans were part of this involuntary migration. Some African Americans were freed by Native American tribes before or during the removal process, and others were born into freedom within Native American communities. For these freed people, the forced relocation still had significant consequences. While they were not slaves, they were often treated as second-class citizens and faced tremendous hardships during the journey. 

In addition to the suffering of African Americans who were enslaved, many African Americans played roles as laborers or guides during the removal process. Some African American individuals served as workers for the Native American tribes, helping to build infrastructure or manage logistics during the journey. However, most of the African American experience on the Trail of Tears is one of hardship and forced relocation, as they were seen as property or as an unwanted group during the migrations. After the forced removal, African Americans who had been enslaved by Native American tribes found themselves in Indian Territory, where they were often integrated into tribal communities. However, their status was complicated by both their African heritage and the legacy of slavery. The descendants of these African Americans known as "Freedmen" faced challenges of being treated as inferior or as outsiders by both Native Americans and other African Americans. In some tribes, like the Cherokee, Freedmen were granted tribal citizenship, while in others, such as the Choctaw and Chickasaw, they faced more resistance to being accepted as full members of the community.

The story of African Americans on the Trail of Tears is a complex chapter in both African American and Native American histories. Indian Removal, which was devastating for Native Americans, had similarly tragic consequences for African Americans, particularly enslaved individuals. The hardships they endured on the Trail of Tears are a testament to the intersection of race, slavery, and Native American displacement, and the legacy of this history continues to shape the identity and political struggles of African American descendants of these individuals today. The descendants of both African American enslaved people and Freedmen from the Trail of Tears are still fighting for recognition and equality within various Native American communities.

Sources

Debo, Angie. *The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic*. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1934.

Kidwell, Clara Sue. *The Choctaws in Oklahoma: From Tribe to Nation, 1855–1970*. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. *The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears*. New York: Viking, 2007. (While focused on the Cherokee, this book provides valuable context on Native American experiences during the same period.)