The Indian Removal Act, enacted in 1830, had a devastating impact on Native American populations. The law authorized the federal government to negotiate treaties that would require Indigenous peoples to relocate from their ancestral lands in the southeastern U.S. to designated territories west of the Mississippi River. This led to forced removals, notably the Trail of Tears, where thousands of Native Americans faced harsh conditions during their relocation. The Act resulted in significant loss of life, cultural dislocation, and further marginalization of Native communities as their lands were appropriated for settlement by European Americans, fundamentally altering their way of life.