June 17, 1838
The Cherokee Nation began the 1,200-mile forced march later known as the Trail of Tears. Their removal from ancestral land in the southeast U.S. had been ordered by President Andrew Jackson as the result of a treaty signed by a small minority of the tribe, and approved in the Senate by a one-vote margin. Ordered to move on the Cherokee, General John Wool resigned his command in protest; General Winfield Scott and 7,000 troops moved in to enforce the treaty.
June 17, 1963
The Supreme Court struck down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or the reading of Bible verses in public schools as a violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition on establishment of religion. [Murray v. Curlett and Abington School District v. Schempp]
