History of North America

Why did the Cherokee agree to move Oklahoma?

The Cherokee did not willingly agree to move to Oklahoma. They were forcibly removed from their homeland in Georgia and other southeastern states in the 1830s in an event known as the Trail of Tears. The removal was a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the federal government to negotiate treaties with Native American tribes to exchange their lands in the East for lands in the West. The Cherokee resisted removal and challenged the legality of the treaty in the Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia, but they ultimately lost the case and were forced to move.