Indian+Removal+Act+of+1830

=The Indian Removal Act=

The Indian Removal Act was signed by law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830. This act was strongly supported by the South because they wanted to gain acess to lands and territories inhabited by the "five civilized tribes," which were the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasa, and Choctaw. Whites in Western states and territories view Native Americans as uncivilized savages. The United States feared contact with them would cause endless violence. The Tribes were usually weak and divded. However, the Cherokees, from Georgia, had their own written language and formal constitution. They were more tied to land than the other tribes. Some whites felt the Cherokees should be allowed to return land since they're civilized and had given up their traditions. When the Cherokee nation needed help from newly elected president Andrew Jackson, he told them that he would not interfere with the lawful prerogatives of the state of Georgia. Jackson saw the solution of the problem with the removal of the Cherokee tribes to lands west. This would prevent a relationship between the Indians and colonists. He suggested that laws be past so that the Indians would have to move west of the Mississippi river. This later led to "The Trail of Tears" which was a period of 10 years which 70,000 indians had to give up their himes and relocate.