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Primary sourceDocument28 May 1830

Indian Removal Act

United States Congress · 28 May 1830

The 1830 law signed by Andrew Jackson authorizing the forced relocation of American Indian nations west of the Mississippi River.

Jackson championed, pushed for, and signed this law, which became central to his legacy as president.

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Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

This is the Indian Removal Act, a law passed by Congress and signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It gave the president power to negotiate treaties exchanging Native American land east of the Mississippi for land in the west.

Why it matters

The Act is one of the most consequential laws Jackson signed. It led to dozens of removal treaties and the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Native Americans, including the Cherokee, Creek, and others, in a process marked by widespread death and suffering, most famously the Trail of Tears. Historians today debate whether this amounted to ethnic cleansing. The Act shows how Jackson used presidential and legislative power to reshape the country at enormous human cost to Native nations.

Look closer

  • Who benefited from this law, and who was harmed?
  • Why might Congress have passed this law by only a narrow majority?
  • What does the formal legal language of the Act leave out about its human consequences?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Andrew Jackson on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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