Indian Removal Act
The historic Choctaw people occupied extensive territory in what later became the states of Alabama, the original Mississippi Territory and the original Louisiana Territory. The US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, authorizing the federal government to arrange for exchanges of land in order to remove the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeast and to territory west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw were not eligible for land exchange under the terms of the Indian Removal Act.