Why did the US wage war with the Indians throughout the 19th century?

Answer 1

The Native Americans went to war against the United States in the late 1800's because the United States kept making them move place to place and then the US tried to take their land completely. The US started off trying to negotiate a price for the land and the Indian Chief refused. So the United States attacked the Native Americans.

The Native Americans won. And the United States lost every soldier that fought in that battle.

Answer 2

The Lakota, Dakota, Nakota people (commonly called Sioux) moved onto the great plains in the late 1600s because their Great Lakes homeland experienced intense pressures from the Iroquois (see Beaver Wars). As the Dutch (and later French & English) armed Six Nations extended their territorial base they sent Algonkian peoples fleeing in every direction. Some, such as the Kickapoos, pushed west and created grater competition for the Sioux peoples. Meanwhile, Spanish colonies in New Mexico lost control of horses as Comanches and others raided and sold the beasts in all directions. To the north of the Comanches, the Wichita and other tribes passed horses north until they reached the Sioux by the late 1600s. Just as the Sioux faced new pressures in the east the arrival of horses from the west enabled them to move farther out into the plains and continue to subsist with less competition. The horse made it far easier to catch bison with reliability and dramatically transformed Sioux culture. One branch, the Lakota, moved onto the Missouri River where they became middle men who blocked and controlled trade. Lewis and Clark met them in 1804 and identified the Lakota as "river pirates" because the tribe so fiercely blocked the river in order to protect their role as middle men of the Missouri.

Answer 3

Not just in the 1840s, but throughout their existence. The Lakotas, like all Plains tribes, were essentially a warrior society, where every aspect of life was centred on men becoming warriors and hunters.

A Lakota girl would not even consider marrying a man who had not proven himself to be a successful hunter and a brave warrior; before the arrival of white explorers, this meant inter-tribal warfare which became a long-term and traditional way of life for all the tribes. Yes, there were temporary periods of peace between, for example, the Cheyenne and the Lakota but eventually they would get back to raiding each other's camps, stealing horses or fighting large-scale battles.

Only through war and horse-stealing could a Lakota gain wealth (horses) and respect by performing spectacular acts of courage in battle. Without these opportunities (which disappeared under the Reservation system) men had no purpose, no respect, no honour and no dignity.

Answer 4

American settlers moving west needed land.

Answer 5

• American settlers moving west needed land

Answer 6

the fight to prove that they are strong

Answer 7

for control of vast american territory