What was the main source of conflict between Native Americans and the US government?

Answer 1

By the 1850s nearly all Native Americans, roughly 360,000 in number, lived to the west of the Mississippi River . These American Indians, some from the Northwestern and Southeastern territories, were confined to Indian Territory located in present day Oklahoma, while the Kiowas and Comanches shared the land of the Southern Plains; and the Sioux, Crows and Blackfeet dominated the Northern Plains. These Native American groups encountered adversity as the steady flow of European immigrants into northeastern American cities pushed a stream of migrants into the western lands already occupied by these diverse groups of Indians. The early nineteenth century in the United States was marked by its steady expansion to the Mississippi River . However, due to the Gadsden purchase, that lead to U.S. control of the borderlands of southern New Mexico and Arizona in addition to the authority over Oregon country, Texas and California ; America's expansion did not end there. Between 1830 and 1860 the United States nearly doubled the amount of territory under its control. These territorial gains coincided with the arrival of troves of European and Asian immigrants who wished to join the surge of American settlers heading west. This, partnered with the discovery of gold in 1849, presented attractive opportunities for those willing to make the long journey westward. Consequently, with the military's protection and the U.S. government's assistance, many settlers began building their homesteads in the Great Plains and other parts of the Native American inhabited West. Native American Policy can be defined as the laws and operations developed and adapted in the United States to outline the relationship between Native Americans and the federal government. When the United States first became an independent nation, it adopted the European policies towards these native peoples, but over the course of two centuries the U.S. adapted its own widely varying policies regarding the changing perspectives and necessities of Native American supervision. In 1824, in order to administer the U.S. government's Native American policies, Congress made a new agency within the War Department called the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which worked closely with the U.S. Army to enforce their policies. At times the federal government recognized the Indians as self-governing, independent political communities with varying cultural identities; however, at other times the government attempted to force the Native Americans to abandon their cultural identity, give up their land and assimilate into the American culture. The U.S. government's policies towards Native Americans in the second half of the nineteenth century were influenced by the desire to expand westward into territories occupied by these Indian tribes.

Answer 2

The United States government (and its people, representatives) made international contracts known as Treaties (Promises) and then promptly broke them. This is a cultural taboo and the only "unforgivable sin" in most Indian Cultures. For Example:

The United States of American signed a treaty with the Lenape (Deleware) in 1778 (The Treaty of Fort Pitt). The United States then promptly shot the treaty party within 2 weeks, and the treaty signers within a year.

Answer 3

Why was there a conflict between Americans and Native Americans, you ask. Well, the conflict began when the "Americans" were Europeans who were resettling in America. In many instances, there were no problems initially.

Like the Europeans, the Native Americans were a diverse lot, some of them were warrior tribes/nations and some very peaceful. As in many circumstances, when peaceful people of different cultures meet, there is little conflict; when warrior-like

or hostile people of different cultures meet, there is usually conflict; and when hostile people from one culture encounter peaceful people from another culture, there is often conflict.

Even when there were few initial problems, over time problems developed-- in some cases because the new Americans took land the Native Americans had been using (maybe even for countless generations). Many Native American tribal nations considered land to be something one could not own. These people thought of land as something they were using while they were alive but also protecting for the benefit of those who would be born later and still need to use it. This was a major philosophical difference since the European settlers came from a part of the world that had long considered land as personal property and ownership was by decree of monarchs.

There are many other explanations, as yours is a complex question, but this gives you some idea why there were conflicts.

Answer 4

Because the settlers were intruding on to their land and forcing them off.

Answer 5

The main source of conflict between Native Americans and the US government was the breaking of treaties/promises.