Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act (Eng. Indian Removal Act or Indian expulsion Act) was enacted in 1830 in the USA, for the sake of creating a legal basis for the expulsion Indian (Indian Removal) from the states east of the Mississippi River.

The law was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 24, 1830. The House of Representatives voted 102 to 97 votes with him to ( at the MPs from the north rather rejection, approval from the south ) on May 26. President Andrew Jackson signed it on May 28, 1830. Was advocated mainly from the southern states who wanted the space occupied by the Five Civilized Nations country for themselves. The opposition among whites was large, among the main opponents of the law were the missionary Jeremiah Evarts, Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee, a famous hero of the " Wild West ".

The Act authorized the President to begin living within the territories of tribes negotiations to swap their land against such, which was in 1803 acquired in the Louisiana Purchase territories that were not organized as states or territories (yet). This area was later called Indian Territory and now forms part of the State of Oklahoma.

The first such agreement was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which was signed on 27 September 1830. The Choctaw waived (to the east of the river) to land in the state of Mississippi and we were given money and land west of the river. The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 led to the expulsion of the Cherokee from the fertile south-eastern woodlands of the United States in the rather barren Indian Territory in what is now the State of Oklahoma, known as the " Trail of Tears ". Most tribes in the east bowed to the pressure and signed similar agreements. However, some smaller tribes still live in the Eastern U.S..

The law provided actually that the Indians should be provided during the relocation and in the first years after. However, this was only very careless carried out, which is why there were many deaths. The guarantees that the land should belong to the Indians forever, were not adhered to by the United States.