When the Europeans arrived on the continent, they significantly impacted the Midwest before becoming permanent settlers. The French and English colonies displaced eastern American tribes and forced them to the west to compete with the tribes in the region.
Later, the pioneers of the European settlement began moving to the west to trade and raise families. Since the American Indians already occupied these lands, resulting in a conflict.
The threat of Indian tribes’ attack and the numerous U.S. Army actions directed toward Indians fueled fear in them. Additionally, the settlers caused brutal clashes in the west to subdue the Indians. They said they were increasing the land’s productivity; therefore, they felt justified in taking lands from Native Americans.
As the settlers sought more land for farming and mining, they forced thousands of Native Americans onto reservations with the government’s help. The Europeans and the U.S. government frequently broke the tribes’ treaties to relocate them to reservations and grabbed more land from them.
The displacements quickly led to the end of the Indian culture and norms in the region. The settlers killed buffalos to force Indians out of their hunting grounds, and missionaries attempted to convert Indians to Christianity.
The Native Americans could not stop the westward expansion because they were an inferior tribe, and they lacked support. On the contrary, the settlers had the federal government and the local militias’ support, which helped chase the tribes from their lands. The local militia was well-armed, unlike the Indian tribes, which lacked powerful weapons and group cohesion to fight against the forces.