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Trail of Tears

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Trail of Tears The book The Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle was published on September 22, 1988 by Anchor Books. The book has 424 pages. John Ehle, the author, has written over seventeen books. Most of his books deal with civil rights, the Cherokee Nation, French wine and cheese and Irish whiskey. This book specifically deals with the Cherokee Nation during around the 1790s to the 1840s. The book did not seem to really discuss the actual trail of tears but rather the Cherokees Nation rise and fall. However, the book seemed to focus on the more successful or richer Cherokees. Reflecting on the title, it is called the rise and fall of the Cherokee nation but Ehle only seems to cover the rise and fall of specific people and events.
The Trail of Tears focuses mainly on Major Ridge and his family, specifically his son John Ridge and his nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Waite and other missionaries who were sent to convert the Cherokees to Christianity. Major Ridge would not convert to Christianity but did accept some of the white ways for his family. The principal chief of the Cherokee was named John Ross who was believed by many to be in state of denial. Ross and his followers blame Ridge and his followers for selling the Cherokee out when they sign the Treaty of 1835 that puts the seal on the removal.
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Major Ridge was born around 1771 and died on June 22, 1839. Ridge married Sehoya who was a mixed-blood Cherokee in 1792. Ridge could not speak or write; he had no formal education. He received his title as major in 1814 after serving alongside Andrew Jackson. After receiving the title major he used Major as his first name for the remainder of his life. He later in life moved his family to what is now Rome, Georgia. Moving to Georgia helped him develop a plantation and become a successful planter which allowed him to own thirty African-American slaves. The main cash crops for his plantation were corn, tobacco and cotton. John Ridge, his son became an attorney and his nephew Elias Boudinot became the first newspaper editor of the Cherokee newspaper.

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