Indian Removal Act

The treaty proposed exchanging Cherokee lands in the Southeast for territory west of the Mississippi River. The government promised assistance in resettling those Cherokees who chose to remove, and approximately 1,500-2,000 did.

The Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, setting up the president to grant unpopulated land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for Indian land within existing state boundaries. While a few tribes left peacefully, many disputed the resettlement policy.

The Supreme Court states the Indian nations were “distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights”

The agreement led to the forced removal of Cherokees from their southeastern homelands to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

John Ross wrote Congress a letter.

President Andrew Jackson, who led the country from 1828 to 1837, the Trail of Tears (1837 to 1839) was the forced westward migration of American Indian tribes from the South and Southeast. Land grabs threatened tribes throughout the South and Southeast in the early 1800s.