C.p. Bialois's Reviews > Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation

I'm a third Cherokee so this book really means a lot to me. Using actual written documents from that time, it depicts the Cherokee Nation as it was before the White man began to enforce his ideals and beliefs. It's centered around one of the greatest Cherokees Major Ridge and his family as they grew, adopted the white man's ways, and then fought against Andrew Jackson in court to remain on their ancestral land. Trail of Tears takes the history of a great people and examines what life was like and to what extremes they went to in order to fit in with the white man society growing around them. It was a time of shame for the United States and a must read for any history enthusiast.