Assimilation Of Native American Settlers In The 19th Century

The four regions that constituted the U.S. at this time are the nation's major cities, the South, the North, and Trans-Appalachia.
-The nation's cities were centers of commerce, trade and manufacturing. The artisans and apprentices of the 18th century gave way to factories and wage-based pay in the 19th century which caused urban life to radically shift toward a labor-focused rather than agrarian-focused lifestyle. In New York shoes and iron were top commodities while Philadelphia was a center for textiles. With agriculture becoming less of a focus, the gap between the lower and upper classes was widened between laborers and factory owners.
-The South was the agricultural hub of the United States, producing cotton, sugar and tobacco. At this
time, the economy of the South was destabilized. Slaves that had been lost to the Revolutionary War resulted in a labor shortage, which caused another wave of slaves to be transplanted in the South in order to revive the agricultural industry through increased production of cotton and tobacco.
-The North outside of cities did not have the manufacturing might of cities nor the agricultural might of the South. Instead, subsistence farming was still practiced by families on a wide scale. Trade through agricultural products was as significant as the use of money for trade, as each family traded their agricultural surplus for the goods they lacked. This allows an agrarian lifestyle to continue in the North on a more stable but much smaller scale than in the South.
-Trans-Appalachia became the area that many European immigrants to the United States settled in to take advantage of the lack of agricultural regulations in this newly settled and unpopulated territory. Known for being covered in forest, the area needed to be cleared of trees before these immigrants could take advantage of the untapped agricultural riches in this area. As newly minted land, this area was in direct competition with the South for production of agricultural goods.

To knit these distinct regions together, the U.S. had to use a combination of ideology and technology. Nationalism in the form of patriotism intended to give everyone the belief that the United States was a nation "under god," in other words, chosen by God and fulfilling God's will through expansion and prosperity. Independence Day (July 4th) was established to give Americans at this time a common celebratory ritual based in nationalism. Legislation in Congress established patriotic rituals such as July 4th and contributed to a national feeling. The distance between these regions was such that technology was needed in order to interact and communicate as "one nation under god." The postal system was probably the first significant connector between these regions, and was added to with the establishment of roads for stage coaches, turnpikes, newspapers, and steamboat travel along river routes all contributing to lessening this distance between regions and lending the feeling of a singular nation.
On a legislative level, one distinct specific actions that the U.S.
government took which both hastened assimilation of Native Americans into white society and the transfer of Native Land to whites was the Indian Intercourse Act (1790). This action stated that Indians who owned land could not have it taken away unless it was given to white settlers or taken by the "right of conquest." In other words, this act ensured that white settlers would harass and attack Indians in order to compel them to cede their land to whites, and if they did not then white settlers had the right to exercise their "right of conquest" over Indian land to take it by force. On a religious level, the other distinct action the U.S. government took in this regard was a campaign of religious assimilation by Christian missionaries with the support of the government. Indian culture was seen as savage and un-Christian to these missionaries, and the constant presence and influence of missionaries among Indians took the form of schooling Indians into white culture and white ways of life to assimilate them. With this influence of missionaries, it became much easier for other whites and the government to further take advantage of half-assimilated Indians and take their land in the guise of helping them to fully assimilate into white
culture.

One approach where Native Americans accommodated U.S.
interests was the attempt by the Cherokee tribe to rewrite their laws according to U.S. laws. Where before the Cherokee were fragmented, the Cherokee National Council declared that the Cherokee people were an independent nation and could rule over their own territories. To resist white claims over Cherokee land, the council passed an 1829 law that required the consent of tribal leaders for land to be transferred to a white settler. This helped to ensure that individual Indian land owners were not unduly taken advantage of without the rest of the tribe's knowledge, and the chance to stop the land from being ceded. Native Americans consistently resisted the expansion of settlers West once it was clear that their territory was being encroached on by the U.S. They resisted by attacking and raiding white settlers who traveled through Indian land, and the practice of war by Indians helped to preserve their pride in their culture while attempting to slow down the encroachment into their lands. The lack of military might and organization between different tribes allowed the United States to attack them enough to gradually defeat them. The Battle of Fallen Timbers marked the end of this resistance as Indian chiefs gave a vast swath of Ohio to the United States which allowed white settlers a point in the Midwest from which to further expand into Indian land. The only advantage to this was an end to U.S. military retaliatory attacks
against Native Americans.
Four major reforms movements from this period are the abolitionist movement, the reform of black communities, the life of women and fighting poverty. Human dignity according to the Bill of Rights in the Declaration of Independence and equality in the eyes of the law as well as an improved quality of life are important ideals of all four of these movements. Slavery was still rampant in the South during this time, and the abolitionist movement had its center in the more liberal North. Abolitionists believed that slavery was unconstitutional and ungodly because it negated the equality of all men stated in the Declaration of Independence. Not only that but it was violent against slaves. The abolitionist movement differs in that it was largely centered in the North where slavery was less rampant. The reform of black communities was intended to make up for the lack of property and other rights granted to blacks once they became free. By creating black communities of freed slaves, they could gain legitimate work outside of agriculture with wages that would allow for more social mobility. This movement was centered on creating prosperity and balance for blacks, while the abolitionist movement was concerned with freeing them from slave owners. For women, property stayed in the hands of men, which meant that even if a woman's property transferred to her husband upon marriage, she could then lose that property when marriage dissolved or her husband died. This movement was centered around giving property rights and educational rights to white women. Property rights and education rights were not granted to freed slaves in black reform communities even though white women were seeking them out in their own political movement. Finally, alleviating poverty was of prime concern at this time as the manufacturing industry of the northern cities widened the gap between the classes and caused disruption in cities, while in the South, poor whites in rural areas were seen to be in need of assistance. Alleviating poverty was centered around the white poor in cities and remote rural areas.
Neo-colonialism was reduced as a result of war with Britain coupled with an alliance with Latin America. The instability of these powers resulted in their colonies to become weakened as well. Latin American style colonies were seen as a threat by the U.S., including President Monroe, who believed it was important to recognize Latin American republics that had declared independence from Spain so as not to create an enemy in this way. The racial mixing of Latin America and effective governance afterward was the antithesis of how the U.S. divided its people and government by demographics. Still, in order to ensure no territory would be lost to Spain, the U.S. attempted to gain influence in Mexico and Latin America even assisting Britain in this regard. The Monroe Doctrine did not give the U.S. the ability to control colonies, but did allow the U.S. to spread its influence in Latin America by helping to maintain Latin colonies. The political culture of the 1820-30's was dynamic in that it resulted in the two party system of government with voters "picking a side" whose policies they agreed with, which resulted in a richer culture of political discourse. The participation in the election process was widened by the two party system, and being a part of the voting process helped ensure that ideals of the patriotic republic were being upheld and expressed by the nation's citizens. The focus was less on external values of colonialism and shifted toward internal values of effective governance and a strong nation without a focus on expanding its dominion.
One aspect of U.S. society that reflected economic growth was the shift from an agrarian system to one that was more focused on manufacturing. Industry in Northern cities gave way to new technologies such as the cotton gin which helped the United States to competitively process the agricultural goods it produced into finished goods such as textiles. Industrialization gave way to these technologies. Transportation was also a major contributor to economic progress as technologies of railroads and steamboats allowed people to move themselves and their goods across great distances, finding new markets for their goods or new areas to earn a living in. This increased trade across distances which helped the economy to grow. Legislation on the part of the government also contributed to economic growth as the development of a national railroad, first from Maryland to Illinois, helped the transport of people and goods. Government tax breaks for industry and investors also helped to stabilize finances on a large scale. One distinct national/international development that helped to further grow the economy are the influx of skilled European immigrants contributing to technologies such as the textile mill and yarn-spinning machine which were not as yet present in the U.S. The power loom which was invented by Francis Lowell and Paul Moody is an example of British immigrants contributing toward American industrial technology and competitiveness. Now the U.S. was able to produce textiles on a scale to compete with Britain, that had been processing U.S. cotton into their own textiles. The results of these advances are more prosperity overall in the nation, coupled with a culture of technological invention and competition. The downside to this is the use of national resources such as lumber form forests to run the factories as well as the pollution created as a byproduct of the smoke and other industrial byproducts.
The relationships between slaves, slave owners and southern whites were distinct. Slaves were allowed no freedoms, could not educate themselves or move freely under threat of punishment. Slaves were seen as property, and if they did manage to escape bounties were levied in order to return them. Slavery was justified in numerous ways by white slave owners, biblical justifications such as the story of Noah telling his son Ham that "the servant must always obey the master" were common, as were simple historical explanations such as "civilization was built by slaves," the country needs slaves to produce cotton and tobacco, so the show must go on. The legal justification was the 3/5 compromise and the continuation of the slave trade across the Atlantic which legalized the practice of slavery at federal legislative level. Whites who did not own slaves held the same views as slave owners, but were economically disadvantaged. The economy of the south was such that slave owners were plantation owners who produced agriculture on a large scale, while whites who did not own slaves either acted as taskmasters for the plantation owners or engaged in agriculture themselves for wages. Slavery was a capitalist enterprise, and any justification that was deemed appropriate was used to continue the practice. Slaves resisted slavery through religious congregation. Singing and dancing while studying the Old Testament served to help preserve African culture of song and dance and give slaves their own sect of Christianity with a focus on the Old Testament story of Exodus to instill the idea of slaves being delivered to freedom by God. This dream of northern freedom was parallel to the story of Exodus, and led to further thoughts of escape even under threat of punishment. Assembly was not allowed except for prayer, so this was an opportunity to propagate these ideas of fleeing if not ideas of resistance. Invisible churches were the concept developed by slaves to worship god and remind each other of the future promise of freedom.