In 1829 , gold was discovered in the north Georgia mountains , resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush , the second gold rush in U.S. history . A federal mint was established in Dahlonega , Georgia , and continued to operate until 1861 . During the early 1800s , Cherokee Indians owned their ancestral land , operated their own government with a written constitution , and did not recognize the authority of the state of Georgia . An influx of white settlers pressured the U.S. government to expel them . The dispute culminated in the Indian Removal Act of 1830 , under which all eastern tribes were sent west to Indian reservations in present-day Oklahoma . In Worcester v. Georgia , the Supreme Court in 1832 ruled that states were not permitted to redraw the boundaries of Indian lands , but President Andrew Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling . In 1838 , his successor , President Martin van Buren dispatched federal troops to round up the Cherokee and deport them west of the Mississippi . This forced relocation , beginning in White County , became known as the Trail of Tears and led to the death of over 4,000 Cherokees
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
History of Georgia (U.S. state)