Essay On Native Americans After The 19th Century

When the US began to expand West from the original colonies, Americans and Native Americans saw the West very distinctively. The US believed in the “divine right” to expand and the Native Americans saw the West as their home and part of their culture. The 19th century time period helps us understand that there is more to the story of Native Americans than how we our taught about them. In order to understand why the destiny of both Americans and Native Americans turned out the way it did, we need to explore all the ideas of how both parties approached the Indian American conflict.
The following questions helps us examine how Native Americans proceeded their lives after the 19th century: How have Native Americans used tools of assimilation to
Not only that, but we must understand that the idea of Manifest Destiny wasn’t only a slogan or a reason to expand west, it was a life many Americans wished to accomplish. Manifest Destiny was engrained in a generation who believed that God has given them all right over land and that “all means necessary” was an accurate statement in the approach against Native Americans. Senator Thomas Hart Benton was a key role in how Americans saw Manifest Destiny and what it meant for them, “The White race alone received the divine command to replenish the earth for it is the only race that has obeyed it- the only race that hunts out new and distant lands.” (Benton, Manifest Destiny article) He continues saying, “the red race has disappeared from the Atlantic coast, the tribes that resisted civilization met extinction” he believes that it is inevitable to move west and that if the Native Americans decide to resist “civilization” they would meet their destinies. (Benton, Manifest Destiny article) As Tim Lehman says in Bloodshed at Little Bighorn, [Jefferson] assumed that a society of farmers… was a higher form of civilization than one based on the inefficient system of hunting animals.” (Tim Lehman, 9) It was ideas like these that people believed and accepted which in return would fuel their support against the Indians. Apart from Senators fueling ideas into the American public, there were many generals who contributed to how the US viewed the Indians. Important figures like Sherman and Custer discussed how the Indians were and what the proper solution was for getting rid of the Indians. Their ideas and perception of the Indians can be traced back to their previous military