<P> Between 1830 and 1850, the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee people (including mixed - race and black freedmen and slaves who lived among them) were forcibly removed from their traditional lands in the Southeastern United States, and relocated farther west . Those Native Americans who were relocated were forced to march to their destinations by state and local militias . The Cherokee removal in 1838 (the last forced removal east of the Mississippi) was brought on by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush . Approximately 2,000--6,000 of the 16,543 relocated Cherokee perished along the way . </P> <P> In 1830, a group of Indians collectively referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole tribes) were living as autonomous nations in what would be later called the American Deep South . The process of cultural transformation, as proposed by George Washington and Henry Knox, was gaining momentum, especially among the Cherokee and Choctaw . </P> <P> American settlers had been pressuring the federal government to remove Indians from the Southeast; many settlers were encroaching on Indian lands, while others wanted more land made available to white settlers . Although the effort was vehemently opposed by some, including U.S. Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee, President Andrew Jackson was able to gain Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the government to extinguish Indian title to lands in the Southeast . </P> <P> In 1831, the Choctaw became the first Nation to be removed, and their removal served as the model for all future relocations . After two wars, many Seminoles were removed in 1832 . The Creek removal followed in 1834, the Chickasaw in 1837, and lastly the Cherokee in 1838 . However, some managed to evade the removals and remained in their ancestral homelands; some Choctaw are living in Mississippi, Creek in Alabama and Florida, Cherokee in North Carolina, and Seminole in Florida; a small group had escaped into the Everglades and were never defeated by the United States government . A small number of non-Native Americans who lived with the tribes, including some of African descent (some as slaves, and others as spouses or freedmen), also accompanied the Indians on the trek westward . By 1837, 46,000 Indians from the southeastern states had been removed from their homelands, thereby opening 25 million acres (100,000 km) for predominantly white settlement . </P>

What was the point of the trail of tears
find me the text answering this question