In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. This gave the federal government the right to force the Cherokee nation into giving up all of its land east of the Mississippi River. The plan was for the Native Americans to migrate west to an area that today is known as Oklahoma. The Indians negotiated with the government for reimbursement of their ancestor’s hard work and investments.The government would give them $5 million for all of their land east of the Mississippi River, along with $500,000 to help with transportation west and to compensate the native landowners. The speculators who would purchase their property would immediately make a profit, mainly because the work had already been done for them. The fields had been
