Signed by Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties exchanging tribal lands east of the Mississippi for territory in what is now Oklahoma. Though the statute spoke of voluntary negotiation, in practice it produced coerced treaties and, notoriously, the forced removal of the Cherokee — the Trail of Tears — in which thousands died. The Supreme Court in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) recognized the Cherokee as a distinct political community with treaty rights, but President Jackson refused to enforce the ruling. The Removal Act is remembered as one of the most disgraceful statutes ever signed by an American president and a foundational example of federal power weaponized against Native sovereignty.