The Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830 by the United States government, authorising the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the southeastern states to lands west of the Mississippi River. The most infamous part of this policy was the Trail of Tears, a series of forced marches that resulted in the suffering and death of thousands of Native Americans.

Source A: Excerpt from a government report, 1832

'The removal of the tribes is for their own protection and the benefit of the state. It will open up land for settlers and promote the growth of the nation.'

Source B: Memoir of a Cherokee survivor, 1838

'We endured hunger, disease, and death as we traveled the long, brutal journey. Many of my people did not survive.'