Jackson Signs Removal Act: The Trail of Tears Begins
President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830, authorizing the federal government to negotiate removal treaties with Native American nations living east of the Mississippi River. The act affected approximately 60,000 people from the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations, collectively known as the "Five Civilized Tribes." The Cherokee challenged removal in the Supreme Court and won in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), but Jackson allegedly said "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it" and proceeded with removal. The Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1838 killed an estimated 4,000 of 15,000 people through disease, starvation, and exposure during a forced winter march of over 1,000 miles to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
May 26, 1830
196 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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