How did westward expansion affect Native Americans?
Answers
Answer:
By 1820, the United States had doubled in size and was already one of the
largest countries in the world. The demand for land kept growing, however.
People wanted land to grow cotton, and settlers wanted land for new homes and
communities. Yet Native American tribes inhabited much of the valuable land
that the U.S. government wanted. While the young country was attempting to
grow bigger and stronger, the Native Americans were trying to maintain life as
they knew it.
Deals between Native Americans and colonists were seldom favorable to Native
Americans. Some settlers believed that the tribes did not need land because
they were all nomads, travelers without permanent homes. In fact, this was a
myth. Many Southeast tribes raised crops
and lived in villages. These tribes suffered
greatly as the United States government
took more and more land. Nomadic tribes
suffered as well. They had to leave the
rivers, forests, and mountains and move
to a very different topography.
At first, the native tribes were given a
choice of sorts. They had to either adopt
white culture or move off of their land.
President Thomas Jefferson offered land
out West to the tribes who preferred their
own ways. The Native Americans who
chose to adopt white culture were called
accommodationists. The tribes that rejected white culture outright were called
traditionalists. Later, however, even the accommodationists were forced to
forfeit, or give up, their lands to the United States. For this reason, the options
presented to the Native Americans were not real choices. Either way, they had
to give up their land and lifestyl