BARBADOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBERAL ARTS DEPARTMENT HISTORY

RESEARCH PAPER (20 Marks)

Using examples, discuss how the westward expansion affected the Native American people

The westward expansion is the movement to the west coast of North America which

began in the 1810s. It began to get bigger by the belief of the manifest destiny (The manifest

destiny is the idea that in the 19th-century United States, American settlers were destined to

expand across North America), federally issued Indian removal acts, and economic problems.

The westward expansion affected the Native American people in many ways.

Firstly, the westward expansion led to thousands of Native Americans deaths during the

relocation of the Native American peoples along what came to be known as the Trail of

Tears.

The Native Americans were being forced to move reservations (reservations is a small

piece of government land set aside by the Government for Native American people). Settlers

felt justified in taking Native Americans land because they felt that they would make good

use of the land. The treaties that were being put there placed millions of the Native American

people onto reservations.

Government breaks treaties. These treaties were put in place by theNative

Americanpeople that relocated them to these reservations. Although the Us governments and

settlers agreed to these treaties they would frequently break the treaties and take away even

more land from the Native Americans .

The deliberate killing off the food that was frequently consumed by the natives

americans Over 40 million buffalos were killed to get the Native Americans to move into the

reservations.
 Forced assimilation. Assimilation is the act of blending into another’s culture. To accept

another culture as one's own. The Native Americans were also forced to not wear their

traditional and cultural war but to confine to Us clothing and appearances.

They tried to get the Native Americans to become settled farmers, to work for the US,

they believed that this was a way that they were using the land more productively. The Dawes

act stated that reservation land would be divided into 160 acre plots and given to individual

families to farm for profit.

Missionaries forced christianity onto the Native Americans.They were also Indian

boarding schools, these schools were made so children would be sent to these schools to learn

a skill such as carpentry or housekeeping. The Native American people were not considered

citizens until 1924.

Although the Natives were driven from their lands they put up a fight against the settlers.

For example: Geronimo, a tribal leader, in the Southwest region.He was the leader of The

Apache Native Americans. Geronimo fought against Mexico and the United States settlers.

Apache believed he had special powers - walk without leaving tracks. After many battles,

Apache were forced to surrender to the U.S. in 1886 in Arizona. His name is a synonym for

bravery

The westward expansion affected the Native Americans in many ways, it caused them to

lose their lands, their food and in some cases their people (many deaths during the relocation

of the Native American people). The Native American people also had their cultures stripped

from them by the US. And this loss of culture of the Native American people can be seen

even today.