The Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed the government to relocate Native Americans west of the Mississippi River with the promise that the government would support them and compensate for their loss. While most Native Americans left voluntarily, others fought and/or did not take them seriously until they themselves sent the U.S. Army to physically remove them (history, 2009). Under the Indian Removal Act, military soldiers moved thousands of Indians on foot, chained together, thousands of miles without food and water, and contracted many diseases that caused many Indians not to survive the journey. (president n.d.) In memory of this cruel time the path they took became a national historic trail known as the Trail of Tears. “The Trail of Tears is more than 5,043 miles long and covers nine states: Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. (history, 2009). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay President Jackson's rationale for relocating the American Indians was not to make them more civilized but instead to make them feel helpless and inhuman and to make them as if that "white man" is more powerful and authoritative. Based on the original plans of the Indian Removal Act, which was supposed to be fair and voluntary and non-violent and greedy, the Removal Act did not have the “intended” impact. (president, n.d.) In my opinion the original meaning of the removal act was to relocate the Indians to a similar area where the white settlers sought to acquire and also include the Native Americans to be more involved in their customs of living in peace and have treaties to enforce the promises made. The Indian Removal Act should have been called something else if they were going to do something positive instead of killing thousands of people on a pointless and cruel journey. The responsibilities given to President Jefferson under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 were mandated by congress, Thomas Jefferson then took it upon himself to remove the Native Americans by any means necessary. He didn't really care how or what happened to them, all he was focused on was expansion, acquiring more land and power (President, 2009). Jackson's actions towards Native Americans in the context of his first inaugural address with the course of events during the Trail of Tears was that he didn't really care, he told people they were trying to "protect" them and drive them to the right direction but his actions suggested otherwise. The removal of Native Americans from east of the Mississippi River violated the principles contained in the Declaration of Independence starting from the preamble and violated at least 99% of them. “We believe these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to modify or abolish it and institute a new government , laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such a form as seems most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, in fact, will dictate that governments long established are not changed for light and transitory causes; and consequently all experience has shown that men are more disposed to suffer, as long as evils are bearable, than to suffer.