He promised the act would extend to Indians the freedom to “pursue happiness in their own way” and, gradually, “to ease off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized and Christian community.”
In 1828, Jackson was elected president. He declared that the only hope for the Southeastern tribes' survival would be for them to give up all their land and move west of the Mississippi River. ... The U.S. government promised to compensate the tribes for the property they would have to abandon.
