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Why did American settlers move into Indian territory?
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson and his successors viewed much of the land west of the Mississippi River as a place to resettle the Native Americans, so that white settlers would be free to live in the lands east of the river.
Why did the US want to move Native Americans west?
Though some Native American tribes lived for centuries in the American West, as the white man pushed westward, always wanting more land and resources, they pushed the American Indians out of their way, further populating the West with various tribes.
How did Native Americans move?
Between the 1830 Indian Removal Act and 1850, the U.S. government used forced treaties and/or U.S. Army action to move about 100,000 American Indians living east of the Mississippi River, westward to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.
Why did the United States move the Indians west?
Under significant external pressure, some groups did voluntarily move west; such stories complicate the dominant historical narrative, which maintains that the United States simply swept away the vestiges of Indian communities in the east.
What was the strategy of the Native American tribes?
Under this kind of pressure, Native American tribes—specifically the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw—realized that they could not defeat the Americans in war. The appetite of the settlers for land would not abate, so the Indians adopted a strategy of appeasement.
Why did the US create the Indian reservations?
In 1851, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act which created the Indian reservation system and provided funds to move Indian tribes onto farming reservations and hopefully keep them under control. Indians were not allowed to leave the reservations without permission. Daily living on the reservations was hard at best.
How did the US encroach on Native American lands?
The expansion of the United States that encroached upon Native American lands occurred faster than many policymakers had predicted, with events such as the Mexican-American War in 1848 placing new territories and tribes under federal jurisdiction.