Westward Expansion

Westward Expansion

Although the United States had good reasons for kicking the Indians off their land like mining and housing for the extreme population growth, the United States wasn't justified in its treatment of the Native Americans during the period of Western Expansion.

The United States forced the Indians to move from their land and go more west every time they kept finding gold. The Indians had been there for years before the Americans even started their colonies so they had ancestral burial grounds all over the middle and western United States. They didn't want to leave their land so they tried to fight but most of the time the ended up losing. At the battle of Custer's Last Stand their losing streak ended with what some say the Indians greatest victory against the United States. The United States had also made treaties with the Indians that said that they could have the junky land they lived on. But as usual the Americans would break their treaty because they would find gold on the Indians land. They never had Political Freedom so they couldn't do anything about the government breaking their treaties. Another thing that the Indians did not get was the promise of Justice. They had no power in the government and they had no say regarding if it is ok for the U.S. to break treaties. They just got pushed around and never received justice for any of it.

Even though the United States was not justified in the forcing the Indians to move, there were some reasons that they thought it was okay. They thought it was okay because they didn't want to get hurt by the "savage" Indians. They didn't do this to be mean, they did it to protect themselves. The Americans also thought it was a good idea to Americanize the Indians. As much as it was a good idea, they should not have rushed it like they did.

Even though the United States