What caused the conflict between the Cherokee and the United States government? What were relations like between the two? What happened at the end of...

After the
Trail of Tears, the Cherokee found themselves a shattered nation in a foreign environment. The
grasslands of Oklahoma were very different than their homeland in the southern Appalachian
Mountains. Consequently, they had to adapt quickly to life in this new land. Already weak and
disorganized from the grueling and deadly forced march across the country, the Cherokee
initially found farming difficult on unknown land, and many more starved during the first few
years there.

The Cherokee also suffered from violent infighting after their
forced removal. There was a faction that blamed the leaders, who they felt sold them out to the
federal government by agreeing to abide by the Indian Removal Acts. Several of the older leaders
were killed in retribution for what was seen as a betrayal of the entire tribe. The Cherokee
subsequently fell into a state of civil war that lasted until 1849. This infighting, in addition
to those who died on the Trail of Tears, greatly reduced the size of the Cherokee
nation.

It took the passing of a whole generation before the Cherokee were
able to recover their former cohesion. Eventually, they became one of the predominant tribes in
the Oklahoma territory.