How Did Manifest Destiny Affected Native Americans

Native American’s greeted the new colonists in a friendly, welcoming manner from the start. The new colonists considered this a sign of weakness, stating how easy it would be to dominate the native people. When Columbus arrived, there were 12-15 million Native Americans in the Americas, in 1890 there was under 250,000, with 98% of the population gone. With the belief in Manifest Destiny, the colonists forced the Native American’s off their own land, farther and farther from where they originated from, and eventually onto reservations, removing them from their way of life and their culture. During the transition from their homeland to reservations, many of the Native American’s died due to disease, cold, hunger, and the hardships of travel. Along with the annexation, the colonists demanded assimilation.

The bad side of the coin was that manifest destiny ran the Native Americans out

A positive humanitarian effect of westward expansion is that it increased a sense of patriotism. Although the treatment of the Native Americans was indeed in humane but during the times, the thought process was different. Many people agreed that Manifest destiny was justified because of the growing population and also it was a god given right. In addition, the white settler believed that it was their duty to help the Native Americans. This brought people together to set out on missions to do what they believe what they think is right. On the contrary, seeing the inhumane treatment of the Native Americans allowed more people to speak up and take a stand.The wars between the Native Americans and settlers could have potentially showed the any side the repercussions of violence bringing people together to find more convenient solutions. The idea of Manifest Destiny and movement of Westward expansion hit the Native American hard. As the movement westward increased, the discovery of gold on native American lands resulted in the

In addition to the social and political changes that impacted the Indians, there were changes aimed at the economy which also negatively affected the Indians. One act that negatively affected the Indians was the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. This act was created to help the construction of a railroad and telegraph lines from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Permission was given to the company creating the railroad that they can take away any land touching that of which the railroad is to be built on within 200 feet in width. Although the railroad was a great impact of Manifest Destiny because it allowed for quicker transportation of goods and people to and from the west, it legally allowed for Indian land titles to be extinguished [Doc 7].

The possibility of westbound extension and Manifest Destiny had positive and negative impacts on the governmental issues, society and the financial aspects of the United States and the Native Americans living there at the time. Strategies that were made and Presidents that were chosen supported the general population of the United States and the Native Americans had no real option except to experience the ill effects of the changing and the extending development. There were numerous political impacts of Manifest Destiny that molded the entire development westbound.

The Native Americans suffered during the Louisiana purchase by having more of their land taken away. There were some tribes that the colonists did not interact with, thus with the expansion of territory, they began to find them as a problem. The government on a national level was trying to acquire even more land, they did so by

In the eyes of the government, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was 2,000 miles of opportunity ready to be seized. Westward expansion started with the idea of Manifest Destiny coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845. This was the encouragement of citizens to start a new life in the west, with the hope of acquiring land. Despite this encouragement by the government, the land was occupied by Native Americans who were not willing to give up their land without a fight. The government knew of their existence from the previous expedition of Lewis and Clark, but still encouraged western expansion. This decision resulted in conflicts between the United States and Indians which lasted decades. The difficulties included the environment, developing industries, and conflicts with Native Americans.The environment and the Native Americans had minimal effects on the west, but the industries such as mining and cattle had significant impacts on the settlement west of the Mississippi.

In the mid-1800s, the popular idea of Manifest Destiny took on great speed as Americans continued to move West. This belief that America should expand westward across North America was seen by many American citizens

Conquering this new foreign land was the plan for English settlers that sailed here and landed on to the eastern coast of America. After many years had passed, John O 'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named this progressive movement Manifest destiny in 1845. The term Manifest Destiny originated in the 1840s. It expressed the belief that it was US Americans mission to expand their civilization and institutions across the breadth of North America. Manifest Destiny wasn’t just an idea to have all the land from one ocean to another. It was a cause every man, woman, and child believed in, if you were from the America. Most Americans truly believed that Manifest Destiny was god’s plan that we as Americans will conquer this land and make it our home. It was one of Americas great causes that everyone could support and help achieve. This movement inspired thousands of the U.S. eastern settlers to travel westward. While the idea of moving to western America was in everyone’s mind, there were many events that occurred such as: The Mexican-American war, the gold rush, and how the civil war. These events helped morph and shape our country into what it is today.

Manifest Destiny, caused the tribes to wipe out causing a cultural divide in the Native American

Finally, concerning economic changes, the Natives eventually lost their jobs because of their continuous west-ward migration. Also, as they moved west to colder climates, they would not have enough arable land, and given that most of them were farmers, this strongly affected them. They did not have a stable income to support their families, neither did they have a proper home since they were always moving around. Therefore, the Manifest Destiny may have been thought of as a benefit to the United States, but it majorly affected the Native Americans socially, politically, and

Manifest Destiny is a term that was first coined in 1845 by a journalist named John L. O’Sullivan, and was described as America’s destiny to expand, and that it was God’s will that America was to expand. According to Genovese, “The notion of westward expansion and domination of the white races struck a responsive chord in many Americans” (Genovese, 2017). The idea of expanding America’s territory was so popular that is was even later used in Congress to justify the claiming of Oregon’s territory. While the idea of expanding America seemed great to the Americans, it was not so great for those who were living on the land that the Americans would later claim. According to Hastedt, “The failure to assimilate and prosper was the fault of those receiving America’s goodness” (Hastedt, 2016). The Americans felt that they were superior to those whose lands they were trying to take, such as the Native Americans and Mexicans, and that they should be the ones to adopt American culture, even if they were there before the Americans claimed the land. The Americans even thought that those whose lands they were taking would be happy to convert to their way of living, as is stated by Hastedt, “The inherent superiority of American Values was sure to be recognized by those with whom they came in contact and would gladly be adopted” (Hastedt, 2016). This mindset would ultimately lead to the expansion of America, turning it into what we know today, but it would also ultimately result in conflict with those that the American’s were attempting to take the land from for the sake of expansion.

In a short history, American manifest destiny was a big mistake for Indian people in the past. The Indian people lived on the land before the Americans came. However, manifest destiny is the affliction Americans have that makes them believe God and took control all their land. For example, American settlers took their land and forced them into another uncomfortable place, less nature resource, and difficult to survive. Moreover, America settlers brought diseases into Indian tribes that made a lot of Indian people sick and dead. In addition, American settlers had a negative impact to the environment and natures resource such as more hunting and fishing that cost extinction, more cutting trees to build houses due to deforestation. In conclusion,

There were a lot of divisions that was emerging in the United States in the 1830s and 1840s. Manifest destiny at the time provided a pleasant response to, or a nice covering over of what was actually happening. First of all, during the 1830 and 1840 there was increasing class division in the United States. Similarly, increasing numbers of poor people that migrated from Europe to the United States in hope of a better future, not to mention in the north there seem to be an “end of slavery". Due to the north “ending slavery” white American were now competing not only with African Americans but as well the massive immigrants that were coming to America. Manifest destiny could have not occurred in the best time were average Americans wanted

Manifest Destiny was “the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.” It was common belief, however, that Native Americans “stood in the way of progress,” so the United States Government pushed natives out of their land in order to expand. In the Johnny Cash song “As Long As Grass Shall Grow,” Cash sings, “he told the tribe these men they could trust... treaty signed... promised peace with USA and peace...forever,” this means that the United States started their relationship with this tribe as a beneficial and peaceful one, but eventually went on to betray this trust by building a dam, “this dam...flood Indian country...treaty broken,” the Native American land was destroyed by a dam that in some way benefited the US. In this song, Johnny Cash is explaining how the U.S. exploited the Natives by gaining their trust only to break it and destroy their land. While the United States gained something from this event, they lost their peace with the Native American tribe they exploited and misled. Similarly, The Cherokee Removal Through the Eyes of a Private Soldier by John G. Burnette is a firsthand account of the events and tragedies that happened during the Cherokee Removal Act, or Trail of Tears. Thousands of Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their homes to a reservation west of the Mississippi River in Oklahoma. This process killed many natives.