The Indain Removal Act was passed so the US Government could legally take the Indians' land for white settlement, then ship the Indians off (well, they weren't really 'shipped.' They had to walk) to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) so they would be out of the way of white people. Andrew Jackson was the first president to do this.
The Trail of Tears (1838) was when the US Government moved the Cherokee. They had slowly been moving groups of Indians out of the south to the "indian Territory" (Oklahoma) and now it was the Cherokees' turn.
The Cherokee were forced off their land and paraded from their homes in the south to land in Oklahoma. Thousands died.
