1830 Indian Removal Act
While Indian removal as a policy was first envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, and structured by James Monroe, it was Andrew Jackson who fully realized removal, pushing the policy into law. Jackson had long been a supporter of removal. Prior to his presidency, he had commanded military forces in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to quell Indian resistance to white expansion and settlement. He also negotiated several treaties in the 1810s and 1820s which divested southern Indian tribes of their eastern land in exchange for land in the west. Jackson offered his own justification for Indian removal in December 1829, claiming that the removal was necessary for the preservation of American Indians – essentially asserting that removal was a humanitarian act for the good of the Indian tribes. (© and Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Indian Removal Act May 28, 1830
Courtesy of NARA
Major General Winfield Scott’s Order No. 25, May 17, 1838
Courtesy of NARA
Trail of Tears for the Creek People
Courtesy of NPS
Trail of Tears for the Creek People
Courtesy of NPS
As president, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law on May 28, 1830. It authorized him to reserve land west of the Mississippi River and exchange it for Native American land to the east of the Mississippi. Those Indians who did not wish to relocate would become citizens of their home state. The conditions and offers, as Jackson proposed them, were as follows: each tribe would receive a territory exceeding the size that they had relinquished to the U.S government. They would be moved to that new territory at the expense of the U.S., and provided supplies such as clothing, arms, and ammunition. They would continue to be provided with these supplies for a period of one year after their arrival to their new homeland. Arrangements would be made for the support of schools and for the maintenance of the poor. As Jackson wrote, “Such are the arrangements for the physical comfort and for the moral improvement of the Indians.” (© and Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum)
