<P> The Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830 . The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands . The act enjoyed strong support from the non-Indian peoples of the South, but there was a large amount of resistance from the Indian tribes, the Whig Party, and whites in the northeast, especially New England . The Cherokee worked together as an independent nation to stop this relocation, but they were unsuccessful . </P> <P> In the early 1800s, the United States government began a systematic effort to remove American Indian tribes from the southeast . The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee - Creek, Seminole, and original Cherokee Nations had been established as autonomous nations in the southeastern United States . </P>

Who supported the passage of the indian removal act in 1830