by Graydyl

Created on: May 30, 2008

Westward expansion was on the minds of many in the 1800's as America grew into a mature and populous country. The desire to acquire new markets and resources for the burgeoning economy prompted Americans to expand and explore the West. However, in order to conquer and explore these native-occupied lands, the removal of the natives was necessary. The removal plus broken promises and harsh treatment of the natives caused bad relations between the natives and the Americans, resulting in conflicts and war.

In 1828, the Georgia legislature declared the Cherokee tribal council illegal and declared its own jurisdiction over Indian affairs and land. The Cherokees appealed the move to the Supreme Court, but President Jackson wanted to open the Indian lands to white settlement and refused to recognize the court's decision. Furthermore, he enacted the Removal Act of 1830 to relocate the American Indians east of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma. American Indians were forced from their homes to undertake the westward trek, a six-month journey that came to be known as the "Trail of Tears." On the Trail of Tears, thousands of natives died from the cold, hunger, and disease. Despite the Act, a number of natives still refused to move because the land they were being moved to was unknown and infertile as well as occupied by other tribes. These natives were met with forceful and harsh treatment, which worsened the sentiment between natives and Americans.

In 1836, a Bureau of Indian Affairs was established to administer relations with the natives, but the government's guarantees disappeared as more whites wanted to go west. The Bureau had promised to supply the natives with material for clothing, food, stock, agriculture implements, and secure to them a means of survival and education. They also promised that the move/transportation would be in comfort, but promises to provide for the natives were broken, and the move was anything but in comfort. Cherokees were helplessly dragged from their homes and loaded onto wagons like cattle.

In 1832, native Black Hawk, angry about the broken promises and brutal treatment, led Sauk and Fox braves to resist eviction and to fight the American troops. This came to be known as the Black Hawk War, which was joined by many other natives including the Seminole Indians in Florida and runaway slaves, who undertook guerrilla warfare that lasted seven years. Most of the war took place in the Illinois and Michigan territories, with battles along the route that Black Hawk took. Other natives who were fleeing by river were run down by U.S. Army troops and gunboats, which inflicted heavy casualties on the open water, turning a military rout into mass carnage. Ultimately, the war ended around 1840, with the Americans as the obvious winner.

In conclusion, when the American government broke their promises to the natives and treated them with brutal force, conflict and war erupted from indignant natives refusing to be removed from their rightful land. The natives were doomed from the start, but they still fought for their land and identity rights when the Americans started to disregard those rights. It was ultimately the Americans and their selfish actions that caused the conflict.

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