The Trail of Tears
By Anna Gresham
The Indian Removal Policy
Between 1816 through 1840, many Native American tribes that lived east of the Mississippi River, formed over 40 different treaties giving up land the the federal government.Despite the land cessions, multiple states wanted the Natives relocated to the Native American reserve west of the Mississippi River.In 1825, the United States government formally adopted an Indian Removal Policy. The forced relocation of American Indians by federal troops resulted in the Trail of Tears-one of the darkest chapters in American history.