The Ongoing Indian Removal Act of 1830

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830. The Indian Removal Act paved the way for the emigration of tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral lands to foreign lands in the west.

In 1830, Native American Tribes occupied what white settlers considered to be prime real estate. Tribes such as the Seminole and Choctaw occupied thousands of acres which contained fertile ground for agriculture, hunting, fishing and development.

The Indian Removal Act would ensure that white settlers would gain control of Native American ancestral lands. Farmers from the south were more than eager to support such an act being passed into law.

The premise of the Indian Removal Act can be summed up as no more than a money hungry real estate deal. Though there was opposition to the act from a few Christian missionaries, as well as by future president Abraham Lincoln, the Native Americans did not stand a chance at keeping traditional lands.

Many treaties following the passing of the act were signed, including the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and more notably the Treaty of New Echota. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek led to the Choctaws in Mississippi forfeiting land east of the Mississippi River for monetary compensation and land west of the Mississippi. The Treaty of New Echota led to the forced removal of the Cherokee people, which later became known as the Trail of Tears.

Many tribes including the Seminole did not leave their lands peacefully, although no tribes, including the Seminole, stood a chance of resisting. They were horribly outnumbered and had inferior weapons.

Even tribes that did not resist the forced removal still suffered casualties due to harsh conditions involved in the removal. Many of those being removed would go to lands with which they were unfamiliar; they did not know how to hunt, fish, or survive in these lands. They were expected to farm and grow crops, yet were given barren land and inadequate supplies.

Unfortunately, even those tribes that wanted to remain peaceful and sign treaties as a means of trying to keep peace had no clue about what they were signing. They did not understand that they would lose their land, never to return to hunt, fish, pray and live in the home of their ancestors.

Of all the atrocities committed against indigenous peoples across the globe, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 continues to stand as the longest ongoing act of violence, still being carried out to this day. Tribes that did not sign treaties and were forcibly removed are still not allowed to return to their ancestral lands. Those who did sign the treaties continue to suffer the same fate.