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Open the Cherokee Removal: Recollections map journal. Points along the Trail of Tears are marked on the map. Each point represents the approximate location of and year in which a description of the Cherokee removal was created. Click on the dates at the bottom of the map to bring up each document. Some were created by participants; some by relatives of participants. Some were created at the time of the event; some over a century later. Some were created by Cherokee; some not. And some were personal accounts, while some were public. All these factors will affect your judgement of the reliability of the accounts and how readily you accept the stories presented as fact. In the end your understanding, or your history, of the Trail of Tears will be a synthesis of the sources you find most credible.

Print a copy of the Analyzing Documents diagram for each of the accounts of the Trail of Tears that you examine. Use the worksheet to guide your reading of the documents and your evaluation of their quality as credible sources of information.