U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott begin forcibly removing the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral homelands in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, starting a process that becomes known as the Trail of Tears. President Martin Van Buren, enforcing the fraudulent 1835 Treaty of New …
Martin Van BurenWinfield ScottCherokee NationJohn RossU.S. Army+1 moreethnic-cleansingtrail-of-tearsindian-removalstate-violencemilitary-force+1 more
U.S. government officials sign the Treaty of New Echota with approximately 500 Cherokee Indians claiming to represent the 16,000-member Cherokee Nation, ceding all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi River in exchange for territory in present-day Oklahoma and $5 million. The treaty is negotiated …
Cherokee NationJohn RossTreaty PartyU.S. CongressAndrew Jackson+1 moreindian-removaltreaty-fraudethnic-cleansinginstitutional-corruptiontrail-of-tears+1 more
The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-1 in Worcester v. Georgia that states lack authority to impose regulations on Native American lands, with Chief Justice John Marshall writing that Indian nations are “distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights” and …
John MarshallAndrew JacksonSamuel WorcesterCherokee NationGeorgia+1 morejudicial-nullificationexecutive-overreachindian-removalconstitutional-crisisrule-of-law+2 more
President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act into law, authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi River to Native American tribes in exchange for their ancestral homelands within existing state borders. The legislation passes narrowly in the House (102 to 97) despite …
Andrew JacksonU.S. CongressCherokee NationFive Civilized TribesLand speculators+1 moreethnic-cleansingindian-removalinstitutional-corruptionland-speculationslave-power+2 more