Trail of Tears Native Americans lost their land to the Indian Removal Act, many of them dying along the trail that is known in American history as the Trail of Tears. There were 5 tribes involved in this removal, including the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Muscogee Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees. This was a tragic moment in history. Was it the right thing to do to these people or was it worth it? It was an act of injustice by white men, it could have been handled very humanely. The first treaty signed by Native Americans was the Treaty of Hopewell. On November 28, 1785, the Cherokee signed this treaty. It served as a peace treaty between the European settlers and the Cherokee. The Treaty of Hopewell was signed to secure Cherokee land, but Georgia refused to recognize it (“Trail of Tears”). The Cherokees didn't agree with this, so they took it to the Supreme Court. In 1831 the Cherokee fought removal in Cherokee v. Georgia. The court had to choose whether to cede its rights to the Cherokees or those of the state of Georgia (Trail of Tears.). A law was later passed requiring that white men must have a license from the state before entering Indian country (Trail of Tears.”). Indian deportation began with formal President Thomas Jefferson, who had two sides to this. The first part was to encourage tribes to take out large debts to US trading houses, so that they would have to give up their land to pay off the debts. The second part was to populate the Mississippi River region with white settlers so that the Indians would be surrounded by whites (Birchfield). President Jefferson first attempted to move the Choctaws in 1805. Choctaw chief Pushmataha said, “We want to stay here,