Pros And Cons Of The American Indians

Prior to 1850 American Indian land stretched from the Mississippi River to California. As American expansionism crept further west Indian land became smaller and smaller. The discovery of gold in 1849 in California, as well as the transcontinental railroad, only made this problem worse for the American Indian tribes. American Indian tribes on the east coast were possibly treated poorly due to certain tribes siding with the French in the French and Indian War and tribes siding with the English during the American Revolutionary War. However, there were certain people, most notably William Penn, that always tried to deal with the Indians fairly and respectably. Unfortunately for American Indian tribes, once they were conquered, survivors were forced to live on poor lands that nobody else wanted. The land was so infertile that it was unsuitable for growing crops. Also, since Indians were unable to leave their reservations to hunt, they became unable to provide for themselves. Therefore, the American Indian had now become dependent on subsidies from the federal government.

While, the europeans traders only used the hinds of the buffalo, the American Indians used every single part of the buffalo from the brains to the bones. They used the bones for hoes, knives, dice, brushes, and much more. American Indians also used the hinds for tipi coverings, leggings, shirts, dresses, winter robes, shoes, shields, knife sheaths, and quivers for arrows. In 89 years 30 million buffaloes were killed for just hinds and left the rest of the body just to rot, leaving the buffalo numbers in the low thousands. The thinning of the buffalo hurt the American Indians because they had lost an essential resource to their