The Indian Removal Act, signed into law on this day in 1830, provided the legal authority for the president to force indigenous peoples west of the Mississippi River, leading to the "Trail of Tears", which killed more than 10,000.

The law is an example of the systematic genocide brought against indigenous peoples by the U.S. government because it discriminated against them in such a way as to effectively guarantee the death of vast numbers of their population. The Act was signed into law by Andrew Jackson and was strongly enforced by his and his successors' administrations.

The enforcement of the Indian Removal Act directly led to the "Trail of Tears", which killed over 10,000 indigenous peoples. Although some tribes left peacefully, others fought back, leading to the Second Seminole War of 1835.