The Indian Removal Act
Native Americans of the Southeast
• When Andrew Jackson became president,
there were more than 100,000 Natives living
east of the Mississippi River
• The major tribes were: Seminoles, Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Cherokee and Creek
• The Cherokee were the most Europeanized
of the tribes, they ran their own businesses
and mills, their kids went to school and
learned both English and Cherokee, and
most had converted to Christianity
• The Cherokee also had invented their own
written language in 1827 when their leader
Sequoyah organized the tribe into a
government based on written laws and rules
like the Americans used, Sequoyah also
created the first Cherokee newspaper
written in both languages
Conflict Over Land
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When gold was found outside of Charlotte NC in the early 1800’s, the government sent land surveyors and scientists to
look for other possible deposits, while little to no other gold was found, these surveyors report back to the government
about the exceptional quality of the soil on native lands
Policies to remove the natives off their land begun under President Jefferson, when he offered voluntary land sales to
the native tribes in exchange for free land west of the Mississippi
After the War of 1812, the government signed peace treaties with many tribes in the Northwest Territory (OH, IL, IN, MI,
MN, WI) in exchange for no more war, the tribes would forfeit their land and move out west
Many tribes in the Southeast, refused these treaties and remained on their land, refusing to deal with any government
orders
In 1825, President Monroe suggested a plan that would require all persons with any native blood to leave the USA and
move into Spanish New Mexico, Congress refused the deal but tensions remained
In 1825 Georgia made a law that all Creeks had to give up their land and move, other tribes in Georgia would also have
to move since they physically looked like Creeks and the government could not distinguish between them
The natives sued the government and the Supreme Court found that because the Creek had signed a contract to leave
they must go, but because the other tribes did not sign the contract they can stay in Georgia
In 1830, President Jackson stated that if the State of Georgia could not force the Natives off their land, then the federal
government would, Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830
On The Trail of Tears
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Believing that they had no choice, many tribes
signed treaties and gave up all of their land, the
tribes who did not were forcibly removed from
their land after 1830
The army protected those tribes who offered to
move peacefully west of the Mississippi River,
once off their land the army refused to provide
food, shelter, protection and began to kill
natives to did not move fast enough, those who
refused to move off their land at all were
immediately killed and their possessions stolen
The Cherokee refused to be removed until 1837
when President Jackson ordered the army to
forcibly take their land and relocate them into
Oklahoma
Martin Van Buren takes over as president the
following year and carries out Jackson’s plan, in
the winter of 1838-39 7,000 soldiers forced the
Cherokee off their land in the worst cold winter
to point without any provisions, when the
Cherokee were dying fast enough, they were
purposely given small pox
By the time the Cherokee reach Oklahoma over
25% of their total population has died
The Seminoles also refused to relocate and
were fought and beaten by the army in 1840