28th May 1830: The Indian Removal Act signed into law by President Andrew Jackson

The arrival of European colonists in the Americas caused almost immediate conflict with the indigenous population as both sides fought to secure land and natural resources. Following independence, the government under George Washington implemented a policy of acculturation, in which Native American rights would be respected in return for them adopting European customs. However, the early nineteenth century saw the rapid increase in the arrival of white settlers. Many of these sought the fertile lands of the Southeastern United States that were the ancestral home of a number of indigenous tribes, and pressured the federal government to help.

In 1814, while serving as a general in the United States Army, Andrew Jackson secured more than 20 million acres of land in present-day Georgia and Alabama from the Creek confederacy. On becoming President in 1829, he began to advocate for the relocation of Indian populations to land west of the Mississippi River. This led to the Indian Removal Act, which was controversial even at the time. After passing the House on 26 May by a narrow margin of 101 votes to 97, Jackson signed it into law two days later.

The Act required the government to negotiate treaties with the tribes and, while some did sign agreements with the American government, many others refused to leave their ancestral homes. As a result, tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly resettled by the military. Between 1838 and 1839 more than 4,000 Cherokees alone died of cold, hunger, and disease during the infamous ‘Trail of Tears’ that saw approximately 17,000 tribe members forced to undertake a grueling march of more than 1,200 miles.