The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by the future US president, Andrew Jackson, in May 1830. This act was meant to remove the American Indians from their farmlands and send them to a new dominion dubbed “the Indian Territory.”
The main aim of this eviction was to free up land for the white settlers who wanted to grow cotton in the agriculturally rich southeast. However, some Cherokees resisted this notice, remained adamant, and decided to retaliate through physical fights and legal battles. President Andrew Jackson directed the American army to evict the remaining Cherokees forcefully, and this act led to the death of many of these individuals.
The infamous trail of tears occurred when the native Indians refused to exchange their fertile land for an unknown territory, which the American government had promised them. The cause of this forced eviction was greed and the need to control the gold mines that were at stake. This gold rush led the US Congress to debate the need to devolve to the states the management and stewardship of all real property. Congress passed “The Indian removal act,” and President Andrew Jackson fully supported it.