Since the beginning of the 18th century, White Americans have tried to strip the Native Americans of their culture and forced numerous the Natives into assimilating into their Caucasian culture, they lost their rights and their land due to unfair policies and laws that affected the lifestyle of the Natives. There used to be an abundance of Native American tribes spread throughout North America and due to laws such as the Indian Removal Act of 1830, these tribes are scattered worldwide and are camouflaged along with other cultures. The lives of Native Americans were heavily affected due to the inception of relocation programs, boarding schools, and social class structures which were ways to identify which tribe an individual is from. Indian removal in the 19th century, was a strategic plan devised by the United States government--primarily President Andrew Jackson, to force Natives Americans to migrate from their homelands in the eastern United States to west of the Mississippi River. Most Natives were moved to modern-day Oklahoma. In 1838, President Martin Van Buren ordered General Winfield Scott and his soldiers to move the Cherokees out of their homeland. Scott and his army forced the Cherokees to move while their homes were raided for their personal belongings. The Indians then had to march more than one thousand miles to a newly-christened Indian Territory across the Mississippi. Native Americans have endured tons of hardship throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and they have normally have had all of these issues happen to them as a result of their ethnicity. Whites during this time did not consider the Native American ways of life as ethical. Natives were given barren land which couldn't help them survive with the way they lived their lifestyle. They lived on reservations where most Natives struggled below poverty levels. The urban relocation programs were created to move Natives to the cities for possible job opportunities.
Image information: Picture called “Trail of Tears,' by Max D. Standley.” Source:
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/trail-of-tears-from-a-middle-school-student-s-perspective-ZP5k4MZvvEel4ld-j1QQFA
“History & Culture.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2019,
www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/index.htm.
Even before the beginning of the 18th centuries the whites have tried and basically successfully taken everything away from the Natives. Their land, their culture, their education, and most importantly they were killing them if they didn't comply. This was completely and utterly a disgrace on the human race. I like how you talked about all the injustices that the whites were doing, but they were acting as if it were normal.
ReplyDeleteGreat sources for this era. The Native Americans have been through it all when it comes down to their land and how they were treated. It really is not fair. They had find a way to live and it was very hard because there tribe was messed up.
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