The “Indian Problem”

The “Indian Problem”

As the power and population of the Americans grew during the 19^th century, the United States adopted a gradual rejection of the primary principle of treaty-making that included tribes as self-governing countries. The US brought in policies that were seen to undermine the sovereignty of a tribe. The policies contributed to broken treaties,  removal, and relocation, massive land loss, cultural decimation as well as population decline in Indian nations (00:38- 00:50).

White Americans, especially those who lived in the western frontier in most cases, were afraid and usually resented the Native Americans that they came across. This is because the American Indians appeared unfamiliar and also alien individuals who occupied the land that the white settlers believed they should have occupied. The colonization aspect is presented in that the white settlers targeted the valuable land, which grew to become more coveted. The white settlers invaded the region as they yearned to make massive profits through the growing of cotton. They did not take into consideration the native neighbors level of civilization because their goal was acquiring the land by any means possible (01:20- 02:10). This contributed to mass murder, stealing of livestock, burning, and looting of houses, and the white settlers squatted on foreign land.

Hi Adriana Navarro,

I enjoyed reading your post. The Indian Removal Act, signed by Andrew Jackson, allowed the federal administration the authority of exchanging Native-held land. The statute expected the federal government to engage in a negotiation that will see fair, voluntary, and peaceful removal treaties. It prohibited anyone from coercing the Native nations into surrendering their land. Nevertheless, President Jackson, alongside his administration, were observed to frequently ignore the law and compelled Native Americans to leave the lands that were their own for generations.

References

The “Indian Problem” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-BOZgWZPE&t=253s