The motivation was often plain economic greed, for land, for resources, for overland routes of settlement and transportation. To justify this greed, a rather complex social system of racism against Indians was created and maintained, even encouraged by the government and society at large. At the time of the Trail of Tears you mention, that racism against Natives was widespread and even typical in the views of most Americans. So while the Supreme Court ruled the removal unconstitutional, Jackson could afford to ignore them because removal was so popular.
The other obvious justification besides outright racism was religion. The idea that Natives were savages because they were not Christian, and because they worshipped many gods was written and spoken of widely in those days. Killing and relocating heathens was not seen as an evil by many people. Most Americans by the 1830's and 40's believed in the idea of Manifest Destiny, that God had blessed the white race with power and wealth, and therefore it was His will that we expand as a nation from coast to coast - through the Indian tribes if we had to - violently, and because of these justifications, largely guilt free.
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