The US government saw the land out West as unused, and therefore allowed people to take the land they wanted out there. However, they ignored the fact that people were already living out West. Native Americans had made the West their home, long before any homesteader moved there.
In 1851, the Indian Appropriations Act pushed Indians to reservations in the West. According the Indians, the land they were given to life on was too restraining. There was not enough room for them to hunt on or grow crops on. The US government insisted, however, that they had given the Indians the best land possible. In 1871, the government passed the Dawes Act, stating "hereafter no Indian nation within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty."
This forced Indians to integrate with American society. Congressman Henry Dawes stated that the act had a "civilizing effect on Indians because it forced them to cultivate and, live in European-inspired houses, ride in Studebaker wagons...and own property."
In 1851, the Indian Appropriations Act pushed Indians to reservations in the West. According the Indians, the land they were given to life on was too restraining. There was not enough room for them to hunt on or grow crops on. The US government insisted, however, that they had given the Indians the best land possible. In 1871, the government passed the Dawes Act, stating "hereafter no Indian nation within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty."
This forced Indians to integrate with American society. Congressman Henry Dawes stated that the act had a "civilizing effect on Indians because it forced them to cultivate and, live in European-inspired houses, ride in Studebaker wagons...and own property."