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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Effects of Removal on American Indian Tribes

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses the removal of the American Indians from their native lands and examines the resulting effects and consequences of U.S. Government policy.
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Lesson Plan
Other

Teach Us History: Indian Removal

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan unit that looks at the efforts of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia between 1817 and 1827 to establish their own system of governance and to keep their lands from being ceded. Even though the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in...
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Website
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Perspectives on the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, student groups will design and create a poster containing facts about the Trail of Tears as well as a collage and concluding statement expressing the group's feelings about the event.
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Website
Other

Trail of Tears Assoc: The Story Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the early history of Native American and European contact in America. As more settlers moved west, a law was passed to relocate the Cherokee from Arkansas. The routes they followed and the cruelties they suffered came to be known...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Excerpt From Trail of Tears Diary" by Jobe Alexander & Mary Hill

For Students 7th - 8th
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
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Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection uses primary sources to explore Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears.
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Primary
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian: National Museum of the American Indian: The Removal Act

For Students 9th - 10th
At first, the Trail of Tears only described the Cherokee removal of 1838. Later it included the removals of all southeastern Native nations. Take a close look at these primary sources from the Smithsonian which include a reproduction of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: Trail of Tears and Forced Relocation of Cherokee

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This Teaching With Historic Places unit, designed for young scholars in grades 5-12 is about the conflict between American settlers and the Cherokee Nation. Students will outline events leading up to the forced relocation of the Cherokee...
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Wikipedia provides a description of the Trail of Tears. Also given is some background information that led to the removal of the Cherokees from northern Georgia as well as information on the actual removal process.
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Activity
Other

Cherokee Messenger: Brief History of the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
This website gives details about the events that led up to the displacement of the Cherokee Indians and the "Trail of Tears."
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Handout
Missouri State University

Delaware Town: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
Read details about the history of the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Missouri, a major event in U.S. history.
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Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

For Students 9th - 10th
National Park Services provides an overview of the Trail of Tears, a nine state wide stretch of America the Cherokee Indians were pushed across by the Federal government in the 1830s.
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Lesson Plan
Volunteer Voices

Volunteer Voices: On the Trail of Tears [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
For this lesson, students work with primary source documents to recapture the experience of traveling on the Trail of Tears.
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Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Native American History

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 27 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12) on the topic Native American History. Before European settlers came to North America, millions of native people lived in many unique societies. Explore the history of Native Americans...
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Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
The sources in this primary set uses documents, images, and music to reveal the story of Cherokee removal, which is part of a larger story known as the Trail of Tears. Includes teaching guide.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: Native American History Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various...
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Website
Other

Crystalinks: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
Detailed information on the Trail of Tears which refers to the forced relocation of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States in 1838-39. This tragic event resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee...
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Website
Other

Kids Konnect: Trail of Tears

For Students 3rd - 5th
Features ten 'fast facts' pertaining to the Trail of Tears.
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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Trail of Tears

For Students 3rd - 5th
Use this site to learn more about the Cherokee's journey from their home and why it's called the Trail of Tears.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Trail of Tears: The Indian Removals

For Students 3rd - 8th
The Cherokee were not the only Native Americans affected by the Indian Removal Policy. Read about the Sac and Fox Indians in Illinois, and the Seminole in Florida. In addition, read about the many attempts, including a law suit filed by...
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
The article provides facts and information about the tragic journey of the Cherokee tribe and other members of the Five Civilised Tribes called the "Trail of Tears" with key dates and a map.