Congressional Debate

Votes Within the House

In addition to the emphatically-vociferated opposition from Christian parties, President Jackson’s Indian Removal Act sparked much debate within Congress itself, ultimately passing by a mere four votes: 101 for, 97 against, and 11 abstaining (according to the Congressional bill and voting record tracking site GovTrack). In graph form, the significantly small margin by which this bill passed—by which it was allowed even to come into being—is all the more striking; the average American citizen’s objection to the Removal Act was not the only voice of dissent, as there was a nearly even split within Congress of those in favor and those opposed: