Indian Removal Act - wikipedia Indian Removal Act Not to be confused with Indian Relocation Act of 1956. The Indian Removal Act resulted in the transplantation of several American Indian tribes and in the Trail of Tears. The Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands. The act enjoyed strong support from the non-Indian peoples of the South, but there was a large amount of resistance from the Indian tribes, the Whig Party, and whites in the northeast, especially New England. The Cherokee worked together as an independent nation to stop this relocation, but they were unsuccessful. Contents 1 Background 2 Support and opposition 3 Vote 4 Implementation 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Background President Andrew Jackson called for an American Indian Removal Act in an 1829 speech. In the early 1800s, the United States government began a systematic effort to remove American Indian tribes from the southeast. The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee - Creek, Seminole, and original Cherokee Nations had been established as autonomous nations in the southeastern United States. This acculturation was originally proposed by George Washington and was well under way among the Cherokee and Choctaw by the turn of the 19th century. In an effort to assimilate with American culture, Indians were encouraged to `` convert to Christianity ; learn to speak and read English ; and adopt European - style economic practices such as the individual ownership of land and other property ( including, in some instances, the ownership of African slaves ). '' Thomas Jefferson 's policy echoed Washington 's proposition : respect the Indians ' rights to their homelands, and allow the Five Tribes to remain east of the Mississippi provided that they adopt behavior and cultural practices that are compatible with those of other Americans. Jefferson encouraged practicing an agriculture - based society. However, Andrew Jackson sought to renew a policy of political and military action for the removal of the Indians from these lands and worked toward enacting a law for Indian removal. In his 1829 State of the Union address, Jackson called for removal. The Indian Removal Act was put in place to give to the southern states the land that Indians had settled on. The act was passed in 1830, although dialogue had been ongoing since 1802 between Georgia and the federal government concerning such an event. Davis states that `` the federal government had promised Georgia that it would extinguish Indian title within the state 's borders by purchase ' as soon as such purchase could be made upon reasonable terms ' ''. As time passed, southern states began to speed up the process by posing the argument that the deal between Georgia and the federal government had no contract and that southern states could pass the law themselves. This scheme forced the national government to pass the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830, in which President Jackson agreed to divide the United States territory west of the Mississippi into districts for tribes to replace the land from which they were removed, and he promised that this land would be owned by the Indians forever. In the 1823 case of Johnson v. M'Intosh, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States but could not hold title to those lands. Jackson viewed the union as a federation of sovereign states, as was common before the American Civil War. He opposed Washington 's policy of establishing treaties with Indian tribes as if they were foreign nations. Thus, the creation of Indian jurisdictions was a violation of state sovereignty under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. As Jackson saw it, either Indians comprised sovereign states ( which violated the Constitution ) or they were subject to the laws of existing states of the Union. Jackson urged Indians to assimilate and obey state laws. Further, he believed that he could only accommodate the desire for Indian self - rule in federal territories, which required resettlement west of the Mississippi River on federal lands. Support and opposition Congressional debates concerning Andrew Jackson 's Indian Removal Act, April 1830 The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, especially in Georgia which was the largest state in 1802 and was involved in a jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee. President Jackson hoped that removal would resolve the Georgia crisis. Besides the Five Civilized Tribes, additional people affected included the Wyandot, the Kickapoo, the Potowatomi, the Shawnee, and the Lenape. The Indian Removal Act was controversial. Many Americans during this time favored its passage, but there was also significant opposition. Many Christian missionaries protested it, most notably missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts. In Congress, New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett spoke out against the legislation. The Removal Act passed only after bitter debate in Congress. Jackson viewed the demise of Indian tribal nations as inevitable, pointing to the advancement of settled life and demise of tribal nations in the American northeast. He called his northern critics hypocrites, given the North 's history. Indian tribes had become nearly extinct, Indian hunting grounds had been replaced with family farms, and state law had replaced tribal law. If the Indians of the south were to survive and their culture be maintained, they faced powerful historical forces that could only be postponed. He dismissed romantic portrayals of lost Indian culture as a sentimental longing for a simpler time in the past, stating that `` progress requires moving forward. '' Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country and philanthropy has long been busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth.... But true philanthropy reconciles the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to the extinction of one generation to make room for another.... Philanthropy could not wish to see this continent restored to the condition in which it was found by our forefathers. What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion ? According to historian H.W. Brands, Jackson sincerely believed that his population transfer was a `` wise and humane policy '' that would save the Indians from `` utter annihilation ''. Brands writes that, given the `` racist realities of the time, Jackson was almost certainly correct in contending that for the Cherokees to remain in Georgia risked their extinction ''. Jackson portrayed his paternalism and federal support as a generous act of mercy. Vote Andrew Jackson 's December 1830 message to Congress, justifying the relocation of southeastern American Indian tribes allowed by the Indian Removal Act On April 24, 1830, the Senate passed the Indian Removal Act by a vote of 28 to 19. On May 26, 1830, the House of Representatives passed the Act by a vote of 101 to 97. On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson. Implementation Main article : Indian removal The Removal Act paved the way for the forced expulsion of tens of thousands of American Indians from their land into the West in an event widely known as the `` Trail of Tears, '' a forced resettlement of the Indian population. The first removal treaty signed was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on September 27, 1830, in which Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West. The Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835 and resulted in the removal of the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. The Seminoles and other tribes did not leave peacefully, as they resisted the removal along with fugitive slaves. The Second Seminole War lasted from 1835 to 1842 and resulted in the government allowing them to remain in the south Florida swamplands. Only a small number remained, and around 3,000 were killed in the war. Wikisource has original text related to this article : Indian Removal Act See also Worcester v. Georgia References Jump up ^ The U.S. Senate passed the bill on April 24, 1830 ( 28 -- 19 ), the U.S. House passed it on May 26, 1830 ( 102 -- 97 ) ; Prucha, Francis Paul, The Great Father : The United States Government and the American Indians, Volume I, Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1984, p. 206. Jump up ^ The Congressional Record ; May 26, 1830 ; House vote No. 149 ; Government Tracker online ; retrieved October 2015 Jump up ^ `` Indian Removal Act : Primary Documents of American History ''. Library of Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Indian Removal ''. PBS Africans in America : Judgment Day. WGBH Educational Foundation. 1999. Jump up ^ These tribes were referred to as the `` Five Civilized Tribes '' by Colonial settlers. Jump up ^ Perdue, Theda ( 2003 ). `` Chapter 2 `` Both White and Red '' ``. Mixed Blood Indians : Racial Construction in the Early South. The University of Georgia Press. p. 51. ISBN 0 - 8203 - 2731 - X. Jump up ^ `` Trail of Tears ''. History.com. A + E Networks. 2009. Jump up ^ Jefferson, Thomas ( 1803 ). `` President Thomas Jefferson to William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana Territory ''. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ Jackson, Andrew. `` President Andrew Jackson 's Case for the Removal Act ''. Mount Holyoke College. Retrieved May 28, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Andrew Jackson calls for Indian removal -- North Carolina Digital History ''. www.learnnc.org. Retrieved 2015 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ Davis, Ethan. `` An Administrative Trail of Tears : Indian Removal ''. The American Journal of Legal History. 50 ( 1 ) : 50 -- 55. Jump up ^ `` Indial Removal 1814 -- 1858 ''. Public Broadcasting System. Retrieved 2009 - 08 - 11. Jump up ^ Brands, H.W. ( 2006 ). Andrew Jackson : His Life and Times. Anchor. p. 488. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4000 - 3072 - 9. Jump up ^ Wilson, Woodrow ( 1898 ). Division and Reunion 1829 -- 1889. Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 35 -- 38. Jump up ^ `` Indian Removal Act ''. A&E Television Networks. 2011. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2012. Jump up ^ Howe pp. 348 -- 52. ^ Jump up to : Brands ; ( 2006 ) ; pp. 489 -- 93 Jump up ^ Brands ; ( 2006 ) ; p. 490 Jump up ^ `` Statements from the Debate on Indian Removal ''. Columbia University. Retrieved March 21, 2014. Jump up ^ Steven Mintz, ed. ( 1995 ). Native American Voices : A History and Anthology. 2. Brandywine Press. pp. 115 -- 16. Jump up ^ `` To Order Engrossment and Third Reading of S. 102. ''. GovTrack. 2013 - 07 - 07. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 21. Jump up ^ `` To Pass S. 102. ( P. 729 ) ''. GovTrack. 2013 - 07 - 07. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 21. The bill passed 101 -- 97, with 11 not voting Jump up ^ Robert E. Greenwood PhD ( 2007 ). Outsourcing Culture : How American Culture has Changed From `` We the People '' Into a One World Government. Outskirts Press. p. 97. Jump up ^ Rajiv Molhotra ( 2009 ). `` American Exceptionalism and the Myth of the American Frontiers ''. In Rajani Kannepalli Kanth. The Challenge of Eurocentrism. Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 180, 184, 189, 199. Jump up ^ Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon ( 2008 ). Congress and the Emergence of Sectionalism. Ohio University Press. pp. 15,141,254. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ Ben Kiernan ( 2007 ). Blood and Soil : A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. Yale University Press. pp. 328, 330. Jump up ^ Foner, Eric ( 2006 ). Give me liberty. Norton. Further reading Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought : The Transformation of America, 1815 -- 1848. ( 2007 ) ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 507894 - 7 External links Indian Removal Act and related resources, at the Library of Congress 1830 State of the Union on Indian Removal ; Text at 100 Milestone Documents Indian Removal Policies and laws Removal Act Termination Policy Georgia Land Lotteries Manifest destiny Worcester v. Georgia Removals Burt Lake burn - out Cherokee removal Choctaw Trail of Tears Indian removals in Indiana Long Walk of the Navajo Nome Cult Trail Potawatomi Trail of Death Sandy Lake Tragedy Trail of Tears American politicians and military officials John C. Calhoun Lewis Cass George Rockingham Gilmer Andrew Jackson Thomas Jefferson James Monroe Winfield Scott John Tipton David Wallace People who helped Indians or documented removals Benjamin Marie Petit George Winter Land cession treaties Treaties of Buffalo Creek First ( 1788 ) Second ( 1838 ) Third ( 1842 ) Fourth ( 1857 ) Cusseta Treaty of Doak 's Stand Dancing Rabbit Creek New Echota Payne 's Landing First Prairie du Chien Second Prairie du Chien Third Prairie du Chien Fourth Prairie du Chien Pontotoc Creek Landbases Arkansas Territory Indian Territory Oklahoma Territory Former Indian reservations in Oklahoma Republic of Texas Rights of Native Americans in the United States Case law Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl Bryan v. Itasca County Cherokee Nation v. Georgia City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York Cobell v. Salazar County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York State Elk v. Wilkins Ex parte Crow Dog Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation Fellows v. Blacksmith Hodel v. Irving Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho Idaho v. United States Johnson v. M'Intosh Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission Menominee Tribe v. United States Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. County of Oneida Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez Seneca Nation of Indians v. Christy Solem v. Bartlett South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. South Dakota v. Bourland Standing Bear v. Crook Talton v. Mayes Tee - Hit - Ton Indians v. United States United States v. Antelope United States v. Lara United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co. Williams v. Lee Worcester v. Georgia Legislation Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act American Indian Religious Freedom Act Burke Act Civilization Act Curtis Act Dawes Act Diminishment Indian Arts and Crafts Act Indian Child Welfare Act Indian Citizenship Act Indian Civil Rights Act Indian Gaming Regulatory Act Indian Removal Act Indian Reorganization Act Indian Self - Determination and Education Assistance Act Nationality Act Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Native American Languages Act Nonintercourse Act Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act Related Aboriginal title Bureau of Indian Affairs Cherokee Commission Dawes Rolls Eagle feather law Eagle - bone whistle Federal recognition of Native Hawaiians Legal status of Hawaii Hunting license In the Courts of the Conqueror National Indian Gaming Commission Native American gaming Native American Rights Fund Public Law 280 Recognition of sacred sites State recognized tribes Treaty rights Tribal sovereignty Federally recognized tribes Aboriginal title in the United States Statutes Colonial era Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions ( 1629 New Netherland ) Royal Proclamation of 1763 ( British North America ) Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 United States Northwest Ordinance ( 1787 ) Nonintercourse Act ( 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834 ) Removal Act ( 1830 ) Dawes Act ( 1887 ) Diminishment Curtis Act of 1898 Reorganization Act ( 1934 ) Indian Claims Commission Act ( 1946 ) Indian Land Claims Settlements ( 1978 -- 2006 ) Indian Claims Limitations Act ( 1982 ) Precedents Marshall Court Johnson v. M'Intosh ( 1823 ) Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ( 1831 ) Taney Court Fellows v. Blacksmith ( 1857 ) New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble ( 1858 ) 1890 -- 1950 Seneca Nation of Indians v. Christy ( 1896 ) United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co. ( 1941 ) Warren Court Tee - Hit - Ton Indians v. United States ( 1955 ) Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation ( 1960 ) Burger Court Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. County of Oneida ( 1974 ) Wilson v. Omaha Indian Tribe ( 1979 ) County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York State ( 1985 ) South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe ( 1986 ) Rehnquist Court Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho ( 1997 ) Idaho v. United States ( 2001 ) City of Sherrill v. 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Question: who supported the passage of the indian removal act in 1830
Answer: the non-Indian peoples of the South