-In 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act." Many Americans were against the act, most notably Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, it passed anyway. President Andrew Jackson quickly signed the bill into law.
-The Cherokees attempted to fight removal legally by challenging the removal laws in the Supreme Court and by establishing an independent Cherokee Nation. At first the court seemed to rule against the Indians.
- In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the Court refused to hear a case extending Georgia's laws on the Cherokee because they did not represent a sovereign nation.