Our nation’s history is very much entwined with the American Indian. When Europeans first came to the Americas, the Indian population was quite large. For a time, Americans and Indians coexisted but as more and more white people came, the Indians were pushed farther westward. The early Americans wanted more land and the Indians were to them, simply in the way. Relations between the Americans and Indians at the time of the Revolutionary war are indecisive. Many of the tribes tried to stay neutral during the quarrels of the white people, since either way the war ended, the same result would ensue: they would lose more of their land to the white people. “Eventually, most of Indian tribes sided with the British.” The Indians were not unlike the American patriots; they were fighting for their own freedom as well. Indians saw the Americans as a worse threat to their way of life than a king across a great ocean. (Calloway) At the same time, some other tribes did not want to fight; these tribes migrated away from the American civilizations; some went further west and others fled north to Canada. Many of the early Americans could not accept this neutral position of nearby tribes and chose to attack simply for …show more content…
The founders knew something had to be done about the Indians and make more room for the nation to grow, but were unsure how to go about it. Having won its independence from the British Empire, the United States turned to build what Jefferson called “an empire of liberty.” In this empire, all citizens shared the benefits. But—and this was a question that plagued the nation and the national conscience for generations—who qualified as citizens? Did African Americans? Did women? Did Native Americans? And how could Americans claim to deal honorably with Indian peoples at the same time as they built their nation on Indian lands?