Why were the Native Americans and white settlers unable to live peacefully on the great plains?

Answer 1

Most conflict between Europe and those decedents stemmed from a series of events, in no particular order.

1. Broken treaties, promises (dishonorable conduct, one of the highest Indian laws common to all tribes, punishable by death)
2. Constant aggression by European settlers
3. Invasions upon native lands (people breaking Indian law on Indian lands)
4. constant encroachment and pushing back the native populations
5. unfair treatment and trade negotiations
6. Failure of the natives to recognize the Catholic Church, or Rulers in Europe as divine, or supreme rulers (from De Indius De Jure Bella (of Indians and Lawful war) F. Victoria, 1532)

This list is not exhaustive, but gives some of the main points of conflict.

But here are some more reasons that caused this conflict:

1. The measles outbreak was blamed on Marcus Whitman.
2. Walla Walla Chief's son died.
3. Protestant and Presbytarian was being forced upon the Cayuse.

Answer 2

The primary cause of conflict between the Native Americans and the settlers on the Great Plains was that the settlers wanted to claim the land from the Native Americans. The settlers did not understand the Native Americans way of life, therefore, distrusting and fearing them. With that said, the prime reasons for conflict amounted to the fact that white settlers continued to move to the plains. Peace and land treaties made between the Natives and the Federal government were ignored and violated.

Native resistance frequently caused armed conflict.

Answer 3

The main problem regarding white settlers and Native Americans was that the settlers want more and more land each year. Treaties to protect Native lands were ignored by whites. The US made the frontiers all part of the American experiment. Native Americans did not fit the white agenda and they were marginalized by forcing them onto reservations.

Whites and Natives weren't always at one another's throats, but there was a fundamental problem with the concept of land use.

Natives believed that the land was everybody's (or nobody's) although a people could claim a portion of it for their immediate use, as a winter camp, or a hunting grounds. Whites, coming from an area with much greater population density, reckoned that people owned land in a way that meant they could keep other people off.

At first, when White settlers were few, Natives found it easy enough to use other land, but as towns and cities and vast ranches consumed more and more of the land, the Natives felt squeezed.

The Native Americans faced almost extinction.

Answer 4

Native Americans and white settlers did clash. The white settlers took their land by force. It also took years for the two races to live together. The different cultures did not help either.