By: Lilian Zhang

and Ana Shin

Industrial Revolution in GA
This documentary with the intention to teach students
about the truth of the American Industrial Revolution
and what came in lieu of it was created by the Lily and
Ana Associations.

Industrial Revolution in GA
The American Industrial Revolution was a time of

prosperity and growth throughout the nation in the

early 1800s. In this time, many new inventions and
new people arose from the general population to lead
the country in mechanical excellence.

Industrial Revolution in GA
One of these leaders was Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton

gin. He had noticed the large profits that only a few plantations
in the Southern states were making off the cash crop, but he also
saw the intense labor and pain that the slaves suffered. Cash
crops are crops that easily grown or harvested in great amounts
to be sold for a profit. Slaves are any type of people or persons
that have been forced to do work without pay, and often, without
freedoms and sometimes, personal or private rights. The work
was grueling. To harvest cotton for commercial use or sale, the
seeds of cotton must be first removed. The seeds of cotton are
small and pointy, embedded in the center of the fluff. Slaves
would often cut their hands on separating seed from cotton. This
way of harvesting cotton was slow, and heavily limited the
amount of cotton harvested.

Industrial Revolution in GA
And so the cotton gin was created. It mechanically

separated the cotton from the seed. However, because

of the greed for more and more cotton, meaning more
and more profit, the number of slaves increased. The
hours that slaves were forced to work increased and
the work got harder. More slaves were bought and
traded for. The need for slaves to make their master
rich fueled another surge in slavery. The cotton market
could not stop growing, but at the same time, the need
for slaves did not either.

Industrial Revolution in GA
"King Cotton" quickly became Americas largest export

in the mid-19th century and fueled the rise of textile

mills in Northern states like New England.

Industrial Revolution in GA
Although Eli Whitney did not not make much profit

himself, the South found themselves drowning in new

profits. Previous to the invention, six or seven pounds
of separated seeds were impressive. After, it became
regular to separate fifty pounds a day. Whitneys
patent on the invention could not save his work from
piracy and newer, better versions were spread
throughout the South. However, many people still
used his invention, the first to be recognized as a mass
production factory.

Industrial Revolution in GA
Next came the famous state-funded Western and Atlantic

Railroad that ran from present-day Atlanta to Chattanooga.

Before, goods were shipped on ferries, riverboats, and wagon
trains. People were transported by stagecoach, horse, and
boats. All of these modes of transportation were very
slow. Finally, a new idea was developed. A new kind of faster
transportation that could take goods or people. And so, a
railroad was planned. At that time, a zero mile marker was set at
a very small town named Terminus, literally meaning the
end. Terminus would one day become Marthasville, but then
Atlanta. It was a vital first step to mechanizing and
industrializing the South. The reason Georgia was faster in the
development of railroads can be credited to its relatively flat
landscape in comparison to the Carolinas.

Industrial Revolution in GA
Terminus began as a small town in the middle of North Georgia.

It was the final stop for the Western and Atlantic Railroad.
Because of its prominence, it quickly became larger and larger,
until it became Georgias railroad center. The railroad was
important in the western expansion period of America because it
was Georgias first route from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Mississippi River. It was then named Atlanta and the capital of
Georgia in 1868. The Historic Western and Atlantic Railroad
Tunnel Museum is a small but fascinating place in Georgia. The
Western and Atlantic Tunnel was the first of its kind in the
South. It took years for workers to create the tunnel through
Chetoogetta Mountain, one of the most formidable between
Atlanta, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Two of the most
famous trains that ran along the Western and Atlantic Railroad
was the Texas and the General trains.

Industrial Revolution in GA
Some of the most prevalent and most famous Georgian rail

services run right over our heads. The MARTA system links
almost all of metropolitan Atlanta to the nearby suburbs. Major
railroads like CSX trails pass through the state and manage 1,626
miles of the states 4,966 miles worth of railroad tracks. High
speed passenger train routes run from Atlanta to Birmingham,
Atlanta to Charlotte, Atlanta to Louisville, and Macon to
Jacksonville. As you can see, railroads are the primary reason
Atlanta is the 40th largest city in the nation, and one of the
leaders of the country in transportation. For example, the
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the
hometown of Delta Airlines and the busiest airport in the world.
For these reasons, we can see why Atlanta has gone from
Terminus, the zero-mile marker, to one of the Souths largest
transportation hubs.

Industrial Revolution in GA
In conclusion, the cotton gin sparked first interest in a

mechanized South. Alongside the cotton gin came the

railroad, which proved to be most valuable in
transporting goods and people.

Industrial Revolution in GA

End of Part 1

Trail of Tears
Before we dive into the tragedy of the Trail of Tears,

lets rewind to the year of 1800. Most Native Americans

in Georgia still made their living traditionally. The
Cherokee tribes were considered the most advanced in
North America, changing their culture and
government and even their names to the ways of the
white man in an effort to be accepted into the new
American nation.

Trail of Tears
One of the reasons why the Cherokee culture was

regarded so highly included the Cherokee syllabary, a a

group of symbols that stand for syllables, that was
created by a man named George Gist. He was also
known as George Guest, but was more often called
Sequoyah, his Indian name.

Trail of Tears
It took twelve years for Sequoyah to create his

syllabary, which had 85 symbols. He was able to later

teach his daughter the writings and she was able to
pick it up very quickly. Sequoyah appealed to the tribal
council and they sent him all over the Cherokee nation
to teach this new written language to his people. It
demonstrated that Indians were independent and
proved their maturity even further.

Trail of Tears
In several legends, Sequoyahs wife burned his work,

for fear that the white government would not like what
he was doing. Sequoyah then reconstructed the
syllabary, bent on his task. Because of his dedication,
the United States did not resent his work, but awarded
it, as did others in Europe. The Cherokee gave him a
medal that he wore for the rest of his life and also a gift
of about $500 dollars for every year for the rest of his
life. These awards were the first records of literary
prizes in America.

Trail of Tears
Another man, Elias Boudinot, became the editor of the

first indian newspaper, called the Cherokee Phoenix,

in 1828. This newspaper was printed in both Cherokee
and English and drew together the tribes of the
Cherokee nation, demonstrating yet another
improvement of the Cherokee.

Trail of Tears
In 1825, the Cherokee established a permanent capital

in New Echota, near present-day Calhoun, which you

can visit today. The Cherokee also established a new
constitution, which was very similar to the U.S.
Constitution and even started with the famous words,
We the People. The new Cherokee government now
consisted of three branches and the chiefs were now to
be elected by the people, instead of being born into
their roles.

Trail of Tears
There was also a very prominent Native American

nation called the Creek. Tensions between the Creek

and settlers had been brewing during the late 1700s as
settlers kept pushing west to Creek lands along the
Oconee River. Tribes under the command of Chief
Alexander McGillivray sent warriors against some of
the pioneer settlements, burning buildings, pillaging,
and killing and capturing settlers. The settlers would
retaliate by killing any Creek in enemy tribes upon
contact. These back and forth movements became
known as the Oconee War.

Trail of Tears
In 1790, President Washington called Chief

McGillivray to New York, which was the capital at the

time because Washington D.C. was not formed yet.
They discussed the Oconee War and how to establish
peace between the white settlers and the Creeks and
came up with the Treaty of New York, which stated
that if the Creek gave up their land east of the Oconee
River, the government would protect the boundaries.
In addition, they promised to honor an earlier treaty
that stayed that no whites would go into land West of
the boundary and the Creek would give up lands West
of the boundary in exchange for farm supplies.

Trail of Tears
When word of the agreements reached Georgia, they

were outraged because it seemed as if the

government had sided with the Creeks. In this
outrage, Governor Edward Telfair was ready to raise an
army of 5,000 to wage war against the Creek, but
Washington managed to convince him otherwise. This
so-called peace lasted for 15 years, from 1797 to
1812. This was during the time of the Yazoo Land
Fraud scandal and during the War of 1812, the peace
was destroyed.

Trail of Tears
Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader, tried to unite Native

Americans to fight for their land and rights. Those

who wanted to fight were called Red Sticks and those
who wanted to solve the issue diplomatically were
White Sticks. During the War of 1812, many Red Sticks
fought with the British. The following year, on August
30th, a thousand Red Sticks attacked Fort Mims in
present day Alabama, killing about four thousand
people.

Trail of Tears
The Creek War ended on March 27, 1814, at Horseshoe

Bend, when over a thousand Red Sticks were

outnumbered by Andrew Jackson's 2,000 troops and
White Stick and Cherokee help. February 12th, Creek
Chief McIntosh and Governor George Troop, his first
cousin, created the Treaty of Indian Springs. The US
government paid McIntosh and other Lower Creek
chiefs $200,000 to give up the remaining Creek lands
in Georgia. When word of this treaty came around, a
rival chief, Menawa, executed McIntosh. His scalp
became a warning to others who might want to give
Creek land to white men.

Trail of Tears
In 1828, Andrew Jackson, who knew that white voters

wanted to see the Native Americans removed from

lands that they wanted to settle, so two years later,
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, that stated
that all Native Americans had to be moved to western
territories. The votes were close, but the side that
favored the removal won with only 14 votes. Once
President Jackson signed the bill, the Removal Act was
to be executed.

Trail of Tears
A tribe called the Choctaw that lived in the newly

formed states of Alabama and Mississippi were the

first of the Creek to be moved. Many of the Choctaw
died on the way to the Indian Territories and as a result
of this news, the remaining Creeks did not want to go.
To force them to leave, the Alabama state government
took away their legal rights, so the Creek couldnt
defend themselves against the whites who took their
land from them.

Trail of Tears
Without their hunting grounds, the remaining Creeks in

Georgia began to starve, reducing themselves to begging

for food on the streets. In 1831, smallpox broke out among
the tribes and many died. A year later, the Creek had had
enough and signed the Treaty of Washington, which stated
that they ceded the remaining 5 million acres of land they
owned to the federal government and the government
agreed to set aside 2 million acres for the Creek to live and
farm and to protect the Creek culture and property from
white settlers. The Creek could choose to own land after
living on it for five years or to sell their land and move west.

Trail of Tears
Once the treaty was signed, it was broken almost at

once. Creek homes were burned, their farms were

looted, and they were killed. By 1835, some Creek gave
up and began to move west. However, in 1836, some
Lower Creeks attacked whites between Tuskegee,
Alabama, and Columbus. To avoid another Indian War,
the U.S. Army captured over a thousand Creek and
took them to the Indian Territory, which was in what is
now Oklahoma. Over the duration of the next two
years, a few Creek escaped and others were made
slaves, and the government continued to force them
west.

Trail of Tears
Towards the end of the Creek removal, the United

States became involved in another Indian War in

Florida and asked seven hundred Creek to help the
army fight the Seminole. After winning the war, the
Creek returned to their families, who were gathered in
camps. Then they were once again moved west,
including those who had just helped the army defeat
the Seminole.

Trail of Tears
While the Creek were being moved, Georgia was also

planning to get rid of the Cherokee. Gold was discovered in

Dahlonega in 1829 by Benjamin Parks and word swept
through the North Georgia mountains. Auraria became the
first gold mining center in the United States when over ten
thousand miners moved onto Cherokee land. The Georgia
legislature passed a law that placed part of the Cherokee
land under government control, declared Cherokee laws
null and void, and would not let the Cherokee speak
against white men in court. Another law, passed on
December 19, 1829, refused the right of Cherokee to any
gold mined in Dahlonega. While miners were hunting for
gold, filled with the greed and desire for this precious,
yellow metal, the Cherokee were losing everything.

Trail of Tears
On December 22, 1830, Georgia legislature passed a law saying a

white person could not live on Cherokee land without taking an

oath of allegiance to the governor in order to get rid of a group of
white missionaries living on Cherokee territory. Eleven people,
including Reverend Samuel Worchester, postmaster in New
Echota, refused to sign the oath and were jailed in March 1831.
They were set free but arrested again in July, chained and forced
to walk from North Georgia to Lawrenceville. At their trial in
September, the jury took only fifteen minutes to return with the
verdict of guilty. Gwinnett County Judge Augustin Clayton
sentenced the group to four years in the state penitentiary in
Milledgeville. Governor George Gilmer agreed to pardon anyone
who would take the oath, and all but two agreed.

Trail of Tears
Missionaries Worchester and Elizur Butler took their cases

to the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Marshall

ordered them free, but Judge Clayton refused. Georgias
new governor, Wilson Lumpkin, wouldnt stand up to the
judge and even President Jackson refused to honor the
order. Jackson thought that the state governments should
be in charge of Indian territories and said, John Marshall
has rendered his decision, now let him enforce it. knowing
that Marshall couldnt due to the checks and balances of
the government. The Cherokee thought the ruling meant
they could keep their land and government, but it most
definitely did not.

Trail of Tears
Cherokee lands were divided into lots of 40 and 160

acres and in 1832, the government held a state lottery

to give the Cherokee lands to white men, but the
Cherokee refused to leave their homes. On January 9,
1833, Worchester and Butler gave up their case to the
governor, who then pardoned them and said that they
must leave the state and never return.

Trail of Tears
More and more, the Cherokee were chased off their

lands, whipped, and sometimes killed. Chief John Ross

wanted to protect the Cherokee and the terms of past
treaties honored, so he made several trips to
Washington to ask Congress for help. No help was
given and time was running out for the Cherokees.

Trail of Tears
In December 1835, the Cherokee were told to come to

their capital at New Echota, where they were to sign a

treaty giving up all Cherokee land that remained in the
Southeast. Any member of the tribe who did not come
was considered to have agreed to the treaty. Only three
to five hundred out of seventeen thousand were
present.

Trail of Tears
Cherokee trader Major Ridge and his son John, along

with a small number of others agreed to sign the

governments treaty, which said that the Cherokee
would move west, and Georgia would supply a little
money and food for the trip.

Trail of Tears
After the treaty was signed, some national leaders such

as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Davy Crockett

tried to get the United States government to give the
Cherokee the rights that they deserved, but no one
listened.

Trail of Tears
By May 1838, about 2,000 Cherokee were gone. General

Winfield Scott was ordered to move the fifteen thousand

plus Cherokee who refused to leave.

Trail of Tears
Scott and about seven thousand troops arrived in New

Echota, building stockades to keep the Cherokee from

escaping, then going into homes and community
buildings to force them into the stockades. Hundreds
of men, women, and even children died of cholera,
dysentery, and fever while they were in the stockades.

Trail of Tears
In the summer of 1838, the army loaded the Cherokee

onto crowded boats and sent them accross the

Tennesee, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers to the
reserves. The boats were constantly filthy and the food
the government supplied was often indedible. By the
time they arrived in Indian Territory, about a third of
the group had died. Or so they say.

Trail of Tears
They had completed a 700-800 mile walk to the homes

that were forced upon them. It took some people six

months to make the trip, a little less for others. The
harsh winter filled with wind, snow, and lack of food
led to the deaths of thousand of Cherokee. The exact
number of deaths is not known, either due to
inconsiderate documenting by the army, or because it
is hidden from the public on purpose, but we do know
that about 4,000 others died in prison before they left
for the march as well.

Trail of Tears
President Martin Van Buren even had the nerve to say,

the measures of the Removal have had the happiest

effect...the Cherokees have emigrated without
apparent reluctance. in his December 1838 address to
Congress, but oh, how he was so wrong.

Trail of Tears
We can only imagine the fear, despair, and sorrow felt

by those who had to leave the land of the principal

people. The Cherokee called the forced removal
ANuna-da-ut-suny, meaning, trail where they cried
and is known to us as the Trail of Tears.

Trail of Truth Closing Statement

Now you know the truth. The full and raw truth. Presidents

and governors wanted to get these people off of the land that
originally belonged to them for the wealth that the land held.
As stated before, no one knows the exact number of those
who died due to the Indian Removal along the Trail of Tears.
Maybe it is hidden from us because the government is
ashamed of it? Maybe its due to ignorant soldiers not
documenting the statistics correctly while on the trail? Either
way, this unintentional genocide of not only the Creek and
Cherokee, but also the Seminoles from Florida is an event
that we hope that no one will forget and an event that we
hope will not repeat itself, as history tends to.