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Chapter 1

Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover America. He named these people Indians because of their country, India. When he arrived in America, Native Americans greeted him with gifts and friendly gestures. However, Columbus sent a letter to his sponsors explaining that they were savage and weak people. Later on, he captured some natives and took them back to Europe where he baptized them into Christianity. Eventually the native Americans fought against the Spanish settlers after they saw how much damage they were doing by looting villages and burning down houses. In 1607 English settlers arrived in what would later become Virginia but did not use violence like the Spanish had done; instead they formed an alliance with a Powhatan chief who cooperated with them so that he could enslave his own people for profit.

At the same time in Massachusetts, English settlers and Native Americans were allies. The settlers would have starved without their help. However, the two groups had different notions of property. The chief was willing to humor them by giving land for farming purposes but later realized that they wanted more than just that. He tried persuading them against taking over his tribe’s land, but it didn’t work out so well since there was a war between the two groups which resulted in English dominance in Massachusetts.

In the 17th century, Dutch settlers came to Manhattan and bought it for beads and fishhooks. They later sent troops to punish Native Americans because of offenses committed by white settlers. The Native American tribes fought back but were unsuccessful in their efforts.

In the early 1800s, President Andrew Jackson recommended to Congress that Native Americans be forced to move west of the Mississippi. In 1834, Congress passed an act that required all Native Americans to move westward. The law forbade white settlers from trading with or communicating with these American Indians. However, before this policy could be enforced, more and more white settlers migrated westward. This led Congress to alter its own policy and push American Indians farther away from the east coast.

The United States was originally inhabited by Native Americans. Since Columbus arrived, many of those tribes have disappeared from disease and war. Many places where they lived are now known by the names of their tribes, but that doesn’t mean their bones were forgotten in a thousand burned villages.

In the decade following Andrew Jackson’s policy to relocate Native Americans, many tribes suffered. In 1838, the U.S. army raided Cherokee settlements in Appalachia and marched them out west on what was called the “trail of tears.” One quarter of those who went died during that march.

In the 1840s, a war took place between Mexico and the United States. The U.S., after winning that war, gained land in California and other areas west of what was known as “the permanent Indian frontier” at that time. In 1848, gold was discovered in California by miners. This meant that there was an increase of white Americans moving into those areas where Native Americans lived because they wanted to claim all of America for themselves. To justify this breach of contract with Native Americans, the government came up with a myth called “Manifest Destiny” which stated that white people were entitled to take over all land in America for themselves because it belonged to them from birthright.

During the Civil War, there were major changes in the Sioux tribe. Sitting Bull, a chief of the Teton Sioux, joined forces with Crazy Horse and strengthened his ties with other tribes. In 1876, they would make history by defeating General Custer at Little Big Horn.