The Indian Removal Act, signed by President Andrew Jackson (1830) authorized fair, voluntary and peaceful negotiations with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands.
However, US government often violently forced Native Americans to vacate their lands.
In 1831 the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled from its land. Thousands of people died along the way.
In 1836, the federal government drove the Creeks from their land: 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks did not survive the trip.
