This Day in History – May 28, 1830 Andrew Jackson Signs Indian Removal Act
Known as Indian-killer President
This Day in History
Published May 28, 2017
WASHINGTON – On this day in 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.
The Act established a process whereby the president could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives and guaranteed that the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United States Government forever.
With the Act in place, Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast.
By the end of his presidency, he had signed into law almost seventy removal treaties, the result of which was to move nearly 50,000 eastern Indians to Indian Territory—defined as the region belonging to the United States west of the Mississippi River but excluding the states of Missouri and Iowa as well as the Territory of Arkansas—and open millions of acres of rich land east of the Mississippi to white settlers. Despite the vastness of the Indian Territory, the government intended that the Indians’ destination would be a more confined area—what later became eastern Oklahoma.
The Indian Removal Act set in motion the Trail of Tears, which attributed to the genocide of thousands of American Indians and the death of one-quarter Cherokee people. For this reason, Jackson is referred to by American Indians as the “Indian-killer” president and does not feel he should be honored or celebrated in any fashion.
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About The Author
Editor
Levi Rickert, a tribal citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, is the publisher and editor of Native News Online. Previously, he served as editor of the Native News Network. He is a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Thanks for the rememberance. you should write about the trail from Mi, Ohio and the Tribes around what became Fort Wayne after the removals, the story of Prophet Town, the walk through Illinois and beyond. It was local history that was never part of my early years there., on what was, once, one of the words largest estuaries for migrant birds…the south shores of Lk. Mi.
Not everyone thinks Jackson was great. His greed overshadowed any good he may have done.
I agree. This guy was a butcher and does not deserve any respect.
Donald Trump hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson on the wall behind his desk in the oval office.
This is Donald Trumps hero.
History is jammed packed with human tragedy but you can’t change history. But if people keep beating a dead horse, the country will never move forward to change things. If you’re an alcoholic, change won’t come until you make the effort to change. Taking down monuments from the civil war changes nothing. It’s what is in a persons heart that makes the difference. A liberal ideology has proven itself to be a total failure when it comes to common sense. President Trump won the action, the left lost. Its over now, move on and quit looking to make excuses for your failed ideology. But as long as the state of California continues to spread their craziness throughout the land, its believers will meander like fish out of wAter living in that utopia that only exists inside an empty head.
“Phd.”-I doubt it. From which University?
its either ‘Post hole Digger” or matchbox U. (vanity by the dollar)