President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a controversial law signed by President Andrew Jackson that authorized the U.S. government to negotiate treaties forcing Native American tribes in the southeastern United States to relocate west of the Mississippi River. Though framed as a voluntary exchange of lands, the act led to widespread coercion and displacement, most notoriously resulting in the Trail of Tears, where thousands of Cherokee and other tribal members died during forced marches. The legislation was driven by white settlers’ demand for land, especially after the discovery of gold in Georgia, and reflected the era’s broader policy of manifest destiny and racialized expansion. While it fulfilled settler ambitions, it devastated Native communities and remains a stark example of state-sanctioned dispossession in American history.