The abolition of the
factory system left a vacuum within the U.S.government regarding Native American relations. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed on March 11, 1824, by
Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, who created the agency as a division within his department, without authorization from the
United States Congress. He appointed McKenney as the first head of the office, which went by several names. McKenney preferred to call it the "
Indian Office", whereas the current name was preferred by Calhoun.