In 1830, the United States was changing. President Andrew Jackson, a champion of westward expansion, saw the ancestral lands of Native American nations in the southeast as an opportunity. On May 28, he signed the Indian Removal Act into law. This act gave him the authority to exchange tribal lands for new territory west of the Mississippi River. Though presented as voluntary, it was a tool for coercion, opening 25 million acres to white settlement. The bill passed by a slim margin in the House of Representatives. Not everyone agreed. Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee, a famous frontiersman, broke with Jackson, calling the act unjust. But the law was passed, setting a devastating policy in motion for the Cherokee and other nations.
The Trail of Tears
The forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral lands after the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
Chapter 1
The Indian Removal Act
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Indian Removal Act?
The Indian Removal Act was a law signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American nations for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral lands. While framed as voluntary, it was used to forcibly displace several nations.
Did the Supreme Court try to stop the removal?
Yes. In the 1832 case Worcester v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a sovereign community and that Georgia's laws did not apply on their lands. However, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the court's decision, rendering the legal victory ineffective.
How many people died on the Trail of Tears?
Historians estimate that out of approximately 16,000 Cherokee who were forcibly removed, between 2,000 and 4,000 people died. They perished during the initial roundup, in internment camps, and along the 800-mile march west from exposure, disease, and starvation.
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