The Indian Removal Act

Initiated and signed into law by newly elected President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act authorized Jackson to negotiate with Southeastern Indian tribes for their land in return for territory west of the Mississippi River. While not new—the federal government had been relocating eastern tribes to the west for years. This act formalized the intent and provided funding for the forced removal of the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole tribes to Indian Territory. The act and the events that followed included genocide, loss of land, displacement, psychological trauma and uncertainty upon these societies from the southeast.