Indian Removal Jackson’s Goal? 1830  Indian Removal Act Cherokee Nation v. GA (1831) * “domestic dependent nation” Worcester v. GA (1832) Jackson: John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!

Indian Removal Act of 1830 The motivation behind the law was greed for the vast Native American lands. An Indian-hating mentality by certain groups of frontiersmen also contributed to the passage of the act. Mandated the removal of all American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the west. President Jackson outlined his Indian removal policy to Congress on December 6, 1830: "It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages."

Jackson’s Professed “Love” for Native Americans

1830  Indian Removal Act Many American thought that the Great Plans were a wasteland. They thought that they should move the Native Americans there. Many Native Americans were given money to relocate, and they did. Most moved, but not the Cherokee of Georgia. Many Cherokee had adopted white culture. They hired lawyers to sue the State of Georgia. Worcester v. GA (1832)

Cherokee of Georgia

"Trail of Tears" In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 16,000 of the Cherokees and other Native American Tribes died.

Worcester v. GA (1832) Trail of Tears (1838-1839) Eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall said for Georgia to honor the Cherokee property rights. Jackson said “Fine then, now let John Marshall enforce it!” Until 1838 the Cherokee Indians refused to take land out west, and whites in Georgia were still mad. Martin Van Buren, the President after A. Jackson, would eventually send an Army to Georgia to remove the Cherokee. These Cherokee were forced to march to what is now Oklahoma. Over 4,000 Native Americans died during this migration. Trail of Tears (1838-1839)

Trail of Tears In 1838, the army forcibly removed more than 16,000 Cherokee Indians from their homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, and sent them to Indian Territory (today known as Oklahoma). One in four died along the journey, and thousands more perished later from the consequences of relocation. John Ross, veteran of various wars in which he fought with Jackson, served as president of the Cherokee nation from 1839 until his death in 1866. Although he opposed relocation, the tribe was forced to move.

Trail of Tears (1838-1839)

This picture, The Trail of Tears, was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942. It commemorates the suffering of the Cherokee people under forced removal. If any depictions of the "Trail of Tears" were created at the time of the march, they have not survived.

Trail of tears today

Trail of Tears (1838-1839)

The term "Trail of Tears" refers to the ten years in which over 70,000 Indians were forced to give up their homes and move to areas assigned to tribes within Oklahoma. The tribes were given a right to all of Oklahoma except the Panhandle. The government promised this land to them "as long as grass shall grow and rivers run." This lasted until about 1906 when they were forced to move to other reservations.

The Cherokee Nation After 1820

Indian Removal

Trail of Tears (1838-1839)