[[Andrew Jackson|Jackson]]’s clear support of anti-Indian policies helped Congress pass the 1830[[ Indian Removal Act]] which called for the removal of the [[Five Civilized Tribes]] from their homes in the southeastern United States to a western reservation that is now Oklahoma. Jackson, whose reputation as an [[Native Americans|Indian]]-fighter had helped him become president, declared in December 1830, “It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages.”  The [[Cherokee]] decided to fight the new federal law, however, and took their case to the [[Supreme Court]]. Their challenge had the support of anti-Jackson Congressmen including [[Henry Clay]] and [[Daniel Webster]], and they retained the legal services of [[Gilded Age/John Quincy Adams]]’s Attorney General, [[William Wirt]]. Wirt lost his case,but  a second Supreme Court case called [[Worcester v. Georgia]] asserted the rights of non-natives to live on Indian lands with native permission, which demonstrated native sovereignty. [[Samuel Worcester]] was a Christian missionary and the federal postmaster of [[New Echota]], the capital of the Cherokee nation, who opposed Indian removal. For living among the Cherokee, Worcester was arrested and found guilty along with nine others of violating a Georgia state law banning whites from living on Indian land.  When the case of Worcester v. Georgia came before the Supreme Court in 1832, Chief Justice [[John Marshall]] presided over a ruling in favor of Worcester, finding that the Cherokee constituted “distinct political communities” with sovereign rights to their own territory. Hearing of the court’s decision, President Jackson wrote to a supporter in Tennessee, “the decision of the Supreme Court has fell still born, and they find that they cannot coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate.” Although he had previously disagreed with [[John C. Calhoun]] over the principle of nullification, Jackson was not above ignoring a federal law when it suited him. The Supreme Court did not have any power to enforce its ruling in Worcester v. Georgia and it quickly became clear that the Cherokee would be forced to move. The president sent in the U.S. Army to remove the Indians and about sixteen thousand Cherokee were relocated at gunpoint to Oklahoma. This forced migration, known as the [[Trail of Tears]], resulted in the deaths of as many as half the Cherokee along the way. The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples were also compelled to leave their homes. By the end of the 1830s nearly fifty thousand Indians had been removed from their southeastern homelands, opening 25 million acres for white settlement and cotton plantations. The removal of the Five Civilized Tribes is an early example of the power of majority opinion to override the rule of law in a democracy. ---- Next: [[11.6 - 1832 Election]] Back: [[11.4 - Civilized Tribes]]