Western Expansion In The Late 19th Century

During the 19th century, the United States had began to expand it’s territory towards the western frontier. This era of U.S. history was dominated by the belief in manifest destiny – the idea that the United States was destined to expand to the west coast, and was justified in doing so (History.com Staff, 2010). However, settlers heading west faced many hindrances to their grand plans along their way, including the Native Americans, who had been living on the land for centuries before western expansion began. Thus began the long balancing act between manifest destiny and the rights of Native Americans. This attempt at balance lead to many unavoidable interactions between the white settlers and the natives, including trade and the attempted relocation and assimilation of the natives. Trade between the Native Americans and the white settlers was a common occurrence, and in the early days of the United States, was encouraged by the government in order to foster peaceful relations between the two. Trading proved to be mutually beneficial to both groups, introducing them both to new technologies and forming new words in their languages taken from each other’s. Through these trades, the settlers gained and learned of snowshoes, canoes, tobacco, and corn, while the natives
government forcibly relocating thousands of Native Americans. Enforced by the Indian Removal Act, the last of the eastern tribes were placed in concentration camps, and then forced west in a march that is today known as the Trail of Tears. This interaction proved to be negative and detrimental to the natives, with many tribes having lost as much land as 8 million acres to the U.S. government (Hamilton, 2000). Thus, while the United States gained much more territory than it previously had, it had robbed the natives of territory they had owned and lived on for