Paper Example. Effects of Westward Expansion on Native Americans

The loss of the great plains that were the hunting grounds for the native Americans was referred to as the westward expansion (Vandenbroucke). Settlers were quickly taking over the great plains, and the government benefited from this expansion. The Western expansion had a huge impact on native Americans. This essay discusses some of those effects.

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First, the Native Americans lost their land and were moved to reserves as the settlers took over their land. Reserves were small land pieces that were set aside by the government for Native Americans (Collins). The settlers took the land with the claim that they would make it more productive. They believed that the Native Americans had no use for land since they were nomads. The government gave native Americans a small amount of money after moving into the reserves. Secondly, the government and the settlers continued taking more land from the Native Americans by breaking the treaties they had made. Also, the Native Americans were pushed away from their hunting grounds by the killing of buffalos (Collins). Buffalos were their main source of food, and they never wasted any part. Reduction of the herds resulted in the natives moving into reserves hence giving the settler an advantage to take over the land.

Native Americans also faced high levels of poverty within the reserves (Roza). This is because they had been deprived of their way of life, which was hunting and gathering. Moreover, the little annuity they received from the government was used to buy food from the American traders. Assimilation was another effect of the westward expansion. Assimilation is the act of making a person with a different culture adapt to your culture (Roza). The settlers wanted the Native Americans to assimilate their culture and behavior of settler farming. Also, the missionaries strived to change the Native Americans into Christians. Also, the Native American children were sent to boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate them. Another effect was that the Native Americans' way of life was destroyed. They participated in hunting and gathering and were nomadic pastoralists. Only a few Native Americans had permanent houses. However, this lifestyle changed when they were pushed into reserves and also when buffalo herds were destroyed almost to extinction.

Another effect of the westward expansion was the killing of Native Americans and the whites during the Dakota Sioux uprising (Collins). This uprising started as a result of the government not paying annuity to the Native Americans in the reserves. Without annuity, the natives Americans could not get food on credit from the white traders, and this resulted in starvation and anger. Consequently, they took revenge on the traders hence resulting in the death of hundreds of Native Americans and whites. Later, a number of the Dakota Sioux were sentenced to death.

In conclusion, the native Americans did not benefit from the westward expansion. On the contrary, they were deprived of their lifestyle and the land that they had lived on over centuries.

Works Cited

Collins, Terry. “Into the West: Causes and Effects of U.S. Westward Expansion.” Amazon, Capstone Press, 2014, www.amazon.com/Into-West-Effects-Westward-Expansion/dp/1476534039.

Roza, Greg. “Westward Expansion.” AbeBooks, Stevens Publishing LLLP, Gareth, 1 Jan. 1970, www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/westward-expansion/author/roza-greg/.

Vandenbroucke, Guillaume. “THE U.S. WESTWARD EXPANSION*.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 12 Feb. 2008, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00474.x.