It was a land of wide-open prairies. No fences,
no boundaries, no ownership. Plentiful game
and large herds of bison provided food and
other materials. Before the United States
began expanding its boundaries and pushing
westward, the Indigenous American tribes of
the West had lived for centuries on the vast
land west of the Mississippi River. Some lived
in permanent villages and raised crops; others
followed a pattern of moving between
locations depending on the season. But all
tribes, regardless of where they lived, had no
concept1 of private land ownership. The
Indigenous Americans were simply caretakers
of what belonged to everyone, and no one.
But a way of life that had lasted for hundreds of years would end. For some, it ended on May
28, 1830, when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. While this granted the
President the power to create treaties with any tribe east of the Mississippi, ultimately, the U.S.
turned to violence to force Indigenous Americans to give up their land. The Indigenous
Americans in the East and South were forced to move west into what at the time was called
Indian Territory and today is part of Oklahoma. These tribes included the Shawnees, Hurons,
Cherokee, and Seminole, as well as many more. Moving west was a diMcult and often deadly
[1]
1. Concept (noun) an idea
1
trip, and for the Cherokee Nation in particular, so many fell ill and died the journey would
become known in history as “The Trail of Tears.”
Much of the violence perpetrated2 against Indigenous Americans was calculated, and it was
justiKed by the misguided idea that they were inferior to white Americans. On the Indigenous
Americans, Jackson said they had “neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor
the desire for improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition...
they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.” Sadly, this
attitude would prevail throughout the rest of the 19th century, causing Indigenous American
tribes to be moved oJ their lands. Shortly following the Indian Removal Act, the land east of the
Mississippi would be deemed not large enough. Americans in the East, particularly those who
struggled to aJord land of their own, began relentlessly seeking new lives for themselves. They
were fueled by their belief in the idea of “manifest destiny” — that the U.S. had a divine, Godgiven right to expand, which they felt gave them the right to push Indigenous Americans from
their lands. After the Louisiana Purchase in May of 1803, which allowed the U.S. to buy 828,000
square miles of land from France between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains,
Americans set their sights on the West.
The U.S. government would continue to provide additional legislation that encouraged settlers
to move West, often at the expense of Indigenous American tribes already residing on the land.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, treaties were signed by the U.S. government and
various tribes, which usually resulted in those tribes losing part of their ancestral lands, or
being moved to other locations where they were no longer independent and were governed by
the U.S. In 1851, The Indian Appropriations Act forced tribes to move to smaller parcels of land
called reservations. In addition to being smaller, the land was also less familiar, severely limiting
their ability to hunt and Ksh and access plants, all part of their traditional ways of life. The
government promised to supply them with food and other items, but this promise largely went
unfulKlled. Because of the loss of land, the disruption to their ways of life, and the lack of
support, many Indigenous Americans suJered from starvation, illness, and depression.
For yet even more Indigenous Americans, conditions would worsen following the Homestead
Act of 1862. The act allowed settlers to acquire free land in the West by living on it for Kve years
and making improvements. This bill created even more pressure on Indigenous Americans to
move from their lands to increasingly smaller, more barren reservations. Thanks to the settlers,
the land itself changed, too. The number of bison, mistakenly referred to as buJalo by
pioneers, decreased from overhunting. There were also more domesticated animals and
fenced-in areas, and non-native crops were planted, pushing out the native plants that
Indigenous Americans had always relied on. Even water was redirected to farms, further
altering the land. Railroads were constructed across the U.S. and into the West, and these
gobbled up large swaths of land as well. President Harry S. Truman would later say about the
westward expansion that “nobody seemed to give much thought to the livelihood of the
[5]
2. Perpetrate (verb) to carry out a crime or harmful act
2
Indians; the whites just casually took all their hunting grounds and all the places where they’d
lived for centuries away from them.”
Indigenous American tribes did not always quietly move to the places they were being forced to
live. Many resisted. In 1850, the Lakota Sioux tribe found that half a million people, many
seeking gold in California, were crossing through the heart of their land, depleting their
resources and disrupting their way of life. The government got involved, and in 1851, they met
with Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfeet, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota tribal
members at Fort Laramie in Wyoming. Ten thousand tribal members turned up to the meeting
with U.S. oMcials, in which tribal leaders agreed to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. The treaty
called for peace and guaranteed a payment of $50,000 to each tribe every year for ten years. In
return, it required the tribes to allow the government to build roads and forts, as well as
guarantee travelers safe passage along their journey on the Overland Trail which passed
through tribal land. It also drew lines on the map to tell the tribes where they could hunt and
Ksh, which eventually led to the creation of reservations. But peace did not last long. In the
years that followed, conLict between Indigenous Americans and settlers over land did not slow.
The U.S. Army often ended up waging war with tribes like the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho
over issues of land and the presence of an increasing number of settlers due to the rush for
gold in California and the passage of the Homestead Act.
But Americans’ quest for land had no end in sight, and land once promised to the Indigenous
Americans grew smaller as time passed. Chief Joseph was the leader of a band of the Nez Perce
tribe. They were forced to give up 90% of their land in Oregon due to the discovery of gold in
the area. He led his people on a journey to Canada, where they hoped to make a new life, but
the U.S. Army stopped their escape and forced them onto a reservation in Idaho. There were
many bloody battles, but in October of 1877, Chief Joseph surrendered. In his surrender speech
he said, “Hear me my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now
stands, I will Kght no more forever.”
Ultimately, the Indigenous American tribes were stripped of their lands and way of life. The U.S.
government began a process of trying to “civilize” them by integrating them into American
culture. They were no longer allowed to exist as their own nations. Their children would be
taught in government schools and forbidden to speak their native languages. The Dawes Act of
1871 declared that “hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States
shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the
United States may contract by treaty.”
Legislation like The Homestead Act and the Indian Appropriations Act helped expand the
United States by oJering Americans a way to purchase land of their own, and ultimately
established new states for the Union. But it came at a high cost for Indigenous American tribes,
who were seen as standing in the way of America’s pursuit of progress. The Indigenous
Americans resisted, when possible, but ultimately were left to watch as the lands they had lived
on for hundreds of years became unrecognizable, no longer wide open, but fenced oJ. The
property of another. critical idea written like a 8th grader
The Indigenous American tribes of the West lived on vast land without boundaries or ownership. They believed in taking care of the land for everyone. But their way of life was disrupted when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This act forced tribes to move west into what is now Oklahoma, leading to a tragic journey known as "The Trail of Tears" for the Cherokee Nation.
The U.S. continued to push Indigenous Americans off their lands, driven by the belief in manifest destiny. Laws like the Homestead Act and Indian Appropriations Act forced tribes onto reservations, disrupting their traditional ways of life and leading to starvation and illness.
As more settlers moved West, the land changed drastically with the decrease of bison and the introduction of non-native crops. Railroads and new states further encroached on Indigenous American territories. Many tribes resisted, facing conflicts with the U.S. Army.
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe surrendered in 1877 after losing 90% of their land to gold discoveries. The Indigenous Americans were forced to assimilate into American culture, losing their independence and language.
The expansion of the U.S. came at a high cost for Indigenous American tribes, who watched as their lands were taken and fenced off. Despite resistance, their way of life was forever changed by the relentless push Westward.