removal

What happened

On May 28, 1830, Congress passed "An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi." Section 1 made it lawful for the President to set aside districts west of the Mississippi, outside any state, for tribes that chose to exchange their lands. Section 2 let him exchange those districts with any tribe "residing within the limits of any of the states or territories, and with which the United States have existing treaties."

Section 3 attached a promise. The President could assure each tribe that "the United States will forever secure and guaranty to them, and their heirs or successors, the country so exchanged with them," and, if they preferred, issue a patent. The lands would revert to the United States if the Indians became extinct or abandoned them.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs describes what followed: Between 1830 and 1850, Indian Removal Act policies "removed many tribes from their eastern homelands to lands west of the Mississippi River, especially into the area known as Indian Territory." The mass removals "included the 'Trail of Tears,' a long journey traveled primarily on foot by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole, during which many died."

The promise of permanence was tested later. In McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), the Court wrote that Congress "has since broken more than a few promises to the Tribe" (the Creek Nation), yet the Creek Reservation persists.

Good to know. This describes the Act's text; how removal treaties were negotiated or coerced differed by nation.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error