Introduction
Americans have faced oppression and denial of Native American rights throughout its long history. Unfortunately, this is a fact that must be accepted and should in no way be denied. It is a part of history that needs to be considered and addressed to ensure that this does not happen again. However, for a more in-depth study, it is necessary to dive back into the era when this oppression started. This paper will study how although the Native Americans fought to the end against an enemy that outnumbered them in strength, they showed their resilient spirit and unimaginable strength of resistance. It is essential to do since it will help people obtain more information about Native Americans. Oppression of Native Americans had many causes and consequences.
Main body
From the outset, it must be understood that America was a new country, newly created and its borders were blurred. The western lands had to be colonised for the future prosperity of the great nation. To the dismay of the inhabitants of America at the time, they were already settled by Native Americans and there was no opportunity for expansion. On the other hand, expansion was desperately needed, as the new state-required large areas to be developed and cultivated. These events went down in history as Manifest Destiny. It stipulated the right of the Americans to expand their lands by exterminating the people who lived there and to develop new territories under the leadership of the American government. This idea was far from humanistic and killing other people could not be justified. When viewed as units of warfare, the indigenous peoples excelled the invaders in their knowledge of the terrain, their mobility, their battle strategies and their ability to survive the horrors of war despite their enemies’ advanced military technology. These arguments need to be examined in more detail to see the period as a whole and understand precisely how the inhabitants of the western lands fought for their survival and what it led to.
Moreover, it is clear that the westerners did not like the attitude of their new neighbours. There were many ways to resist in this, though not proclaimed, war. The first option was the use of guerrilla units, which were relatively effective in handling the influx of the American army. The Indians used their knowledge of the territory and often caused significant problems to their opponents. The cartography of the time was far from perfect and therefore knowledge of the terrain played a vital role in this war of annihilation. In addition, Native Americans often sabotaged supply lines, which was equally important as it cut the army off from food supplies and provided a comfortable advantage not only in combat but also in morale. Although this offered a massive advantage over the enemy, it was not enough to stop the advance of the Americans deep into the settlements.
In addition, the Westerners could not even theoretically claim victory in that war despite all their efforts, as the invaders had an enormous advantage in armaments and army numbers. After the War of Independence, which took place shortly before Manifest Destiny, the American military was prepared and trained in how to fight. It is arguable that the two wars can be compared, since in the war with the British Empire, the American people had the advantage of knowing the territories in which they were fighting. However, even with the lack of knowledge of the terrain, the numbers of soldiers and better equipment helped achieve a significant advance into the West. These factors may have played a key role in defeating the Native Americans in this war.
As a result of the war effort, America’s territory expanded exponentially from one ocean to another. Many historians still debate whether these were necessary measures to increase their land holdings. Of course, on the part of the advocates of humanism, this approach was a measure of last resort and it was inhuman to kill other people for living there. It is difficult to disagree with this idea, as killing cannot be justified. Apart from the deaths, the Americans also brought the idea of reservations, where the captive natives of the western lands were held. Their living conditions were far from even normal. The next stage in these people’s lives was to be sent into slavery and sold between slave traders. Furthermore, after completing their expansion mission, the Americans continued their expansion into Mexico, leading to the American-Mexican War, which took many innocent lives. The next stage in history was the Civil War, which was also born out of a controversial campaign to expand the land and turn its inhabitants into slaves. This period marked the war’s end and determined the winning and losing sides in the conflict.
Summary
Summarising all that has been said above, there are simple conclusions. This is one of many cases that the modern descendants of ancient colonisers do not wish to mention, as there is far less information about these events than about the wars fought with other countries. Although successful, this expansion has cost the lives of many indigenous people, created a host of problems and serve as a stumbling block to the outbreak of a new war. Even though the courage of the Indians and their willingness to defend what was rightfully theirs, they could not withstand the military machine of the time, which was already experienced and well trained in military operations. Despite that one cannot say for sure what would have happened had the events of that time been different, one can state with certainty that this method is an example of how not to deal with other people and how to act on the political field rather than the military.
Bibliography
Fowles, Daryl. Manifest Destiny. Auckland New Zealand: Daryl Fowles, 2019.
Fresonke, Kris. West of Emerson: The Design of Manifest Destiny. Berkeley: University Of California Press, 2019.
Humphreys, Sara. Manifest Destiny 2.0: Genre Trouble in Game Worlds. United States: U of Nebraska Press, 2021.
Independence Hall Association. “Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West.” UHistory, 2019.