“In the 1830s the American government decided that they wanted the land in which the Native Americans owned. This caused the Americans to push out many Native Americans, primarily the Cherokee Indians, to leave their homes, and walk over 1000 miles to there new settlement that was provided to them by the Americans. This long journey is called the Trail of Tears. In this paper, I will explain to you the batlles and hardships that they had to overcome.
The Americans thought the Native Americans were trouble and decided that they should basically treat them like they weren’t human beings, but property they could control. The people in the Western United States were very much afraid of the Indians, which caused much hatred towards them (History.com). This caused a dilemma in the United States because the Americans wanted them out of their land, but the land was rightfully their’s. The American’s then tried to force the Indians to speak English and become Christians, so they could appeal to the white settlers who lived near them (History.com). This was a big deal, the Americans basically told the Indians to throw away all their traditions and beliefs just because they said so. There were a total of 5 tribes that went through this process, they were; the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee. They became known as the “Five Civilized Tribes” (History.com).
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The civilization of the tribes still was not enough for the Americans, they wanted nothing to do with them, they wanted them as far away as possible. Andrew Jackson was the president at this time, and he was well-known for his battles in Georgia and Alabama, in which he fought the Creeks (History.com). As you can tell President Jackson had a major issue with the Indians, which was extremely bad for all the Native Americans. In 1830 Andrew Jackson signed the “Indian Removal Act” which was a document that stated that the “Five Civilized Tribes” had to leave their homeland and move west of the Mississippi River (War Paths). The Indians were heartbroken by this because most of there land had been in their tribes and families for many years.
After the Removal Act was signed some of the tribes were displeased and took a stand against it. The Cherokees in west Georgia took legal action to try and stop the removal from being enforced, so they went to the Supreme Court, in which where a man by the name of John Marshal agreed with them and said they could stay. This angered the president so he ignored the ruling and went in with the removal anyway (US History). If the president had listened to the court and stayed away the terrible events to come would not have happened, but they did. In 1838 President Martin Van Buren ordered General Winfield Scott to enforce the removal on to the Cherokee, 7,000 troops were sent into the Cherokee land and they disarmed the Cherokees, woman and children were dragged out of their homes, and they were sent off without anything besides the clothes they had on, no food, no blankets, nothing. The farms that had been in the tribe for many generations were auctioned off to white settlers (War Paths). Can you imagine something as terrible as this happening to you and your family? It makes me sick that our ancestors did this.
After the Cherokees were driven out they were forced to walk all the way to their new reservation, which was around 1,000 miles away and the preparation for the trip was very lack-luster. The Cherokee had around 600 wagons, 5,000 horses, and a few over 100 oxen, little clothing, along with shoes, were not provided. The removal began in November 1838, so they had to walk in the terribly cold winter weather (War Paths). The weather made the trip so much harder and caused more deaths. Along with the weather, the death counts were increased significantly through disease and infection. The main sicknesses were; smallpox, malaria, measles, cholera, whooping cough, influenza, and pneumonia. These diseases today aren’t that big of a deal, but back then, there was no cure for any of it. All of this caused the deaths of about 4,000 Cherokees (War Paths).
When the Cherokees got to there new land they were in for a big surprise. The Cherokees were promised the land but it didn’t hold up, for it was sold off to white settlers (War Paths). In 1893 Henry L. Dawes negotiated land with the Cherokees, he stated that if they got rid of their tribal government that they were then entitled to land (War Paths). The Americans basically took away what was promised and sucker punched them and they were like “ Hey if u want your land you can’t have a government!”.
As you can see, the Americans really gave the Indians a hard time and basically tortured them. We forced them to walk a extremely long distance in the cold, which caused many of them to die, on top of the ones that died from sickness. The gist of it is, that the early Americans were terrible human beings.”
Printing Press And Protestant Reformation
“In the 16th century, The Roman Catholic Church had massive amounts of power. They had lots of political influence, which stopped people from speaking out in fear of being executed. This caused people to become displeased because the Church could do whatever it pleased without consequence. The people’s growing anger led to the beginning of a reformation effort targeting the Church’s practices led by a German monk named Martin Luther. This period is now known as the Protestant Reformation. Without the invention of the printing press, Martin Luther couldn’t have created as many copies of his writings or spread them quickly across Europe. Had this been the case, Luther would have likely been excommunicated by the Church before people heard what he had to say, and the Protestant Reformation may never have happened. Johannes Gutenberg, by inventing the printing press, made a significant contribution to the start of the Protestant Reformation.
In the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church’s power extended far beyond religious matters. They had extreme political influence, and many people believed whatever the Church did was right because it was the word of God. The people who did not think the Church was doing what was right were too afraid to speak out due to fear of being executed. The Roman Catholic Church’s corrupt power led to people being dissatisfied with the Church. This dissatisfaction was the major cause of the Protestant Reformation. Beginning in Germany, the Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century European movement aimed at reforming the Church’s practices, which began in Germany. The Reformation led to the creation of Lutheranism, a new form of Christianity, and it had many lasting effects on the way people viewed Christianity and the Church. It also, according to many historians, was the beginning of the Modern Age.
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Martin Luther was a German monk and an important figure of the Protestant Reformation. When he was young, his parents who were peasants, wanted him to become a lawyer and not work as a miner like his father. Luther studied grammar, logic, and rhetoric, which is a method of persuasive speaking. However, his plans to become a lawyer changed when he was twenty-two when he found himself stuck in a large thunderstorm. After a bolt of lightning struck the ground near him, he immediately stopped to pray to Saint Anne, promising that he would become a monk if he survived the storm. When he made it through the storm unharmed, he gave away all of his possessions and followed through on his promise. Martin Luther became a German monk as a member of St. Augustine in what is now Erfurt, Germany.
As a monk, Martin Luther became increasingly dissatisfied with some of the Catholic Church’s practices. He believed that the Church’s practices were corrupt and did not truly connect people with God. Luther believed that people should be connected to God directly through the Bible, and not through the Pope. What finally caused him to speak out against the Church were Indulgences. Indulgences were a way of reducing the amount of punishment you would go through in the afterlife for your sins by paying the Church. Luther believed they corrupted people’s faith, and were simply meant for the Church to make money.
The printing press, which helped Luther to spread his ideas, was invented in 1439 by Johannes Gutenberg 78 years before the Protestant Reformation in 1517. It allowed people to print up to 250 sheets per hour. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a long handle turned a heavy wooden screw, which would press downwards on top of a paper. Underneath the paper was a type, which was then copied onto the paper, all of which was mounted on a wooden frame. With this technology, books and other works were mass produced and became much cheaper and reachable by a wider class of people. With the printing press being used across Europe, literacy rates rose.
To protest against Indulgences, Luther wrote his 95 Theses and nailed them to the church door. Nailing things to the door of the Church was a common way to put things up for community discussion. Luther also sent a copy of the Theses to Archbishop Albert Albrecht of Mainz, asking him to stop the Church from selling Indulgences. After just a few weeks, Luther’s theses began to spread across Europe. “Aided by the printing press, copies of the 95 Theses spread throughout Germany within two weeks and throughout Europe within two months,” (Biography.com). To sum up the Theses, Luther said that Indulgences don’t truly lessen the amount of punishment you would have to face. He also said that the Church was using Indulgences as a way to make money and that their existence only made the Church more greedy. In October of 1518, the Church began taking action against Luther. He was ordered to recant, or say that he no longer held the opinions included in his 95 theses. When Luther refused, the meeting turned into a heated argument and ended with his excommunication from the Church.
The spread copies of Luther’s 95 Theses convinced more and more people to start speaking out against the Church and encouraged the Protestant Reformation. If the printing press had not existed, Luther’s Theses would not have spread across Europe by word of mouth as quickly if at all, as it did in print. Luther’s excommunication would have stopped him from speaking out against the Church. That would likely have been the end of his legacy, and the Protestant Reformation may never have started.
While Martin Luther did begin the Protestant Reformation movement, it would have been much less likely without the printing press, without the ability to make affordable copied, Luther’s 95 Theses would not have spread across Europe and caused so many people to speak out against the Church. The Reformation may have occurred much later, or not at all. Johannes Gutenberg, by inventing the printing press, which improved literacy rates and made books much cheaper, influenced the Protestant Reformation. Without the printing press, the Roman Catholic Church would have excommunicated Luther before the people began to learn about his Theses. As a result, would not have had him to follow in speaking out. Had people not spoken out, the Roman Catholic Church would have continued to expand and strengthen its powerful role, and the Protestant Reformation would not have begun.”
