Westward Expansion Analysis

Ceremony and rituals have played a vital and essential role in Native American culture for a long time. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not think their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” the same way that Christians do. Instead, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their being. Like other aboriginal people around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their ways of getting food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also did ceremonies and rituals that gave power to conquer the difficulties of life, as wells as events and milestones, such as puberty, marriage, and death.

In the Fools Crow novel, I have learned, again, that the Pikuni, even all Native American tribes, were in fear for their traditions, land, and lives, because of the white people’s greed for land and power. Throughout the years, the majority of American schools have taught their classes about Native Americans. Most students understand that the immigrants from Europe were greedy for land and resources, providing constant treaties to relocate Native American reservations. If one tribe decided against the colonists’ wishes, they were brutally removed or depleted, typically in massacres. In Fools Crow, the author James Welch gives a better understanding of how the Native Americans, specifically the Pikuni, felt.

The Act led to an array of legal and moral arguments for and against the need to relocate the Indians westward from the agriculturally productive lands of the Mississippi in Georgia and parts of Alabama. This paper compares and contrasts the major arguments for and against the

Indians have always had their things taken from them by whites. However, the U.S. Government may have gone too far on this one. After being taken from their original lands and put on small reservations, some Indians have been wanting all whites to suffer. These people of the Sioux tribe were called Ghost Dancers. They believed if they did a certain dance, their gods would destroy the U.S. and similar establishments.

Many of them moved to their cities to take advantage of their technological innovations. Many natives sent their sons to study the white man’s ways: this was considered very prestigious, for many Indians were completely illiterate. Some of them even willingly converted to Christianity in order to become more spiritually enlightened. Such peace, however, did not last long: Axtell finishes his essay by mentioning the prophets that appeared among the natives and tried to persuade them to fight the whites’ domination and to return to their old ways. Unfortunately, such way did not bring the locals freedom but worsened their situation with the newcomers.

The foundation of the New World bought many troubles to Native Americans. Europeans posed a threat to many of the Indians. A significant amount of conflict was brought upon the early World as the Europeans invaded the territory the Native Americans had already claimed. The goal of “settling” was far from easy.

The land was seen as a way to a greater nation because people believed God gave them the right. However, while they believed this and tried to make it happened, they had a conflict. Native American stood in their way and the only way to get what the people wanted the Natives needed to leave. This brings on the Indian Removal Act that occurred in 1830 leaded by Andrew Jackson. This can be seen in the article written by Jackson on the Removal Act on the lines, “It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of occupied by a few savage hunters.”

They chased the cattle off the ranges. The buffalo loved their people as much as the Kiowas loved them.” (Marriott and Rachlin 1968) In conclusion, the Indian Story in the conquest of the American West was not simple.

White settlers became to take Indian land for themselves. Many tribes resisted and fought back for what they had while others tempted to corporate. Over the next century native

The Cherokee Removal The Americans of European ancestry often have described Native Americans as primitive, savage, and even and uncivilized. In this this paper I will provide primary evidence that supports what the Americans believed about the Natives, along with their few false accusations. I will also discuss how the Cherokee removal affected the natives during their journey along with afterwards. Before the removal was enforced, an upper class Cherokee, son of a warrior, John Ridge gave details on the Cherokee nation and how they are changing their lifestyles because of Americans.

For the Sioux tribe, American expansion caused many problems and hardships, primarily derived from Americans’ dislike for Natives. This is evident in an excerpt from the book Sioux by D. L. Birchfield. One can see from this excerpt that when streams of American expansion moved west because of the California Gold Rush, they brought various illnesses and sickness to the Sioux. The spread of smallpox, measles, and other contagious diseases killed off an estimated ½ of their population (Birchfield). Settlers were not sad because of this news, and a lot were actually glad that so many Native Americans had died.

Many explorers were sent to and from the Americas in hopes of bringing back resources to further improve life and economy in their countries. The Native Americans were stripped of their own culture

Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.

Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or

As the Shawnees were attempting to reunite in the Ohio Valley, they found themselves displaced and had to defend their territory from western expansion. The Shawnees placed all their trust in the British, which didn’t turn out positive for them, for when the British ceded all lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, which endangered the lives of the Natives. “For the