In 1838 one of the most horrible events in American history occurred. This event was a forced relocation of thousands of Indians from their homelands to areas west of the Mississippi River. This march, named the “Trail of Tears”, resulted in the death of thousands of Native Americans from numerous tribes including the Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. Most of the deaths were the result of disease and exposure to the extremely cold weather.

Benjamin Franklin learned a lot about democracy by observing the Iroquois Indians. The Iroquois had a chief who ruled only as long as the tribes supported his decisions. The Iroquois were a union of several tribes that had in place limits to power held in place by checks and balances, one of the corner stones of democracy for the United States of America.

American Indians have appeared on many U.S. coins including the Buffalo nickel (Indian Head nickel) minted between 1913 and 1938 and more recently the Sacagawea dollar which features the famous Indian women who served as a guide on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.