In 1830 the Cherokees and other Indian Tribes had to be removed including the Cherokees, Muskogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations. They were forced to move west of the Mississippi River.
The president, Andrew Jackson got requests from Georgia that they wanted the Indians to move west and out of their homelands. (They inherited the land for generations) and because the people in Georgia could vote and the Indians could not vote, Andrew Jackson (because he wanted to get elected again and stay in presidency) went with the people of Goergia who could elect him president again. The Cherokees and other Indian tribes were forked out of their homelands to move west.
The Indians went across the (east of) Mississippi River and went to Oklahoma, but it wasn't the same because they were living in Georgia which is place their fathers and their fathers and their fathers and so on, past down to them for generations.
A quarter of the Indian tribes died (aproaxametely 4000) along the way. They died for many reasons. For example, exhaustion, hypothermia, Nemonia, etc. Federal troops rounded up the Cherokees ( and other Indian tribes) and imprisoned them in stockades ("a barrier formed from upright wooden posts or stakes, especially as a defense against attack or as means of confronting animals.") A lot of the Indians died while in thee stockades. (While they were waiting) Most of the Cherokees did the journey. (2,200 miles) Rebecca Neguin said, "There was much sickness among the emigrants." Also she said, "and a great many little children died of whooping cough."
Because Oklahaoma wasn't their home the Cherokees wanted to be home. But because the government didn't care about the Cherokees (and other Indian tribes) the Cherokees wanted to form their own government. "Three different groups were involved: (1) the Treaty Party which had the support of the Old settlers and the planters, (2) the Natinal Party which had the loyalties of two-thirds of the Cherokees population and was loyal to principal Chief John Ross, and (3) the keetoowah society..." (Ojibwa.ojibwa,6Nov.2013,nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1588)
The trail of tears was not beneficial for the Cherokees (and other Indian tribes) at all. For example, a quarter of them died along the way and they got forced to move somewhere their fathers were inheriting to them for generations and generations. And basically just because Andrew Jackson wanted to be elected president again and just because the people of Georgia wanted more land they made the Indians move and they caused 4,000 Indians to die just so they would have more land.