Native American Indian - Essay Example

The American policy towards the Native American Indians were continually evolving and changing. After the United States-British war, the United States treated the Native American Indians who allied with the British as a conquered people who had lost their land. However, the Americans find the policy very difficult to impose. In a short period, the United States abandoned the policy (Native Americans). In the decades following the American Revolution, the desire for more land by the rapidly increasing population of the United States resulted in numerous treaties in which lands were purchased from Native Americans (Indian Removal).

Eventually, the U.S. government began encouraging Indian tribes to sell their land by offering them land in the West, outside the boundaries of the then-existing U.S. states, where the tribes could resettle (Indian Removal). This new policy was commonly known as the Indian Removal policy. The main goal of the Indian Removal policy was to relocate Native American Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river (Indian Removal). This process involve in the Indian Removal policy was accelerated with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (The U.S. .

Consequently, conflicts generally known as "Indian Wars" broke out between U.S. forces and many different Native American Indian tribes (Native Americans). The United States and the Native American Indians made plenty of treaties during this period, but later abandoned them for several reasons. Well-known military engagements include the typical Native American Indian victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, and the massacre of Native American Indians at Wounded Knee in 1890 (Native Americans).

Contrary to some modern misconceptions, the Removal Act did not order the forced removal of any Native Americans, nor did President Jackson ever publicly advocate forced removal. The Indian Removal policy was supposed to be voluntary, and many Native American Indians did indeed remain in the East. In practice, however, the Jackson administration put great pressure on tribal leaders to sign removal treaties (Indian Removal). This pressure created bitter divisions within the Native American Indian nations, as different tribal leaders advocated different responses to the question of removal.

Sometimes, U.S. government officials ignored tribal leaders who resisted signing removal treaties and dealt with those who favored removal (Indian Removal). However, the American policy toward Native American Indians has been an evolving process. In the late nineteenth century, reformers in efforts to "civilize" Indians adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools run by Christians (qtd. from Native Americans). However, most Native American Indian children were traumatized by the methods of teaching.

Children were forbidden from