The discovery of gold in 1828 in north Georgia intensified pressure to remove the Cherokee. Which event is this?

• A. Indian Removal Act (1830)
• B. Trail of Tears
• C. Dahlonega Gold Rush
• D. Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Answer: (C)

When a resource is found on Native American lands, it often speeds up settlement and pressure to take that land. In north Georgia, gold was discovered in 1828 on Cherokee territory, which sparked the Dahlonega Gold Rush and drew many miners into Cherokee lands. This rush increased white demand to open the land for mining and settlement, making removal of the Cherokees more likely and pressing for government action. The event that directly matches this description is the Dahlonega Gold Rush, the gold discovery that set off widespread mining activity in that region.

The Indian Removal Act is the federal law that later authorized the removal of Native peoples to lands west of the Mississippi. The Trail of Tears refers to the actual forced relocations that followed removal orders. Worcester v. Georgia was a Supreme Court decision attempting to protect Cherokee sovereignty, but it did not prevent the removals that followed.