Tensions Between Native Americans And The British Colonists

We have all heard the story of Thanksgiving in elementary school. The Native Americans and the British colonists came together to share a meal and celebrate their new friendship. The Native Americans shared their farming techniques and in return the settlers shared their new technology. After that they all lived together in peace. While it would be lovely it all worked out this way, unfortunately their relationship was much more complicated and bloody. Since the time the British settlers landed, tensions between the two groups rose. The First reason for the tension was due to conflict over who owned the land. The view of land ownership differed between the two groups. For example, the colonists believed that once the land was bought with money, …show more content…
The frustration against Berkeley would explode into Bacon’s Rebellion. A small group run by Nathaniel Bacon decided to take matters into their own hands and keep back the Native Americans themselves. Bacon and his group destroyed nearby Native American villages before returning to Berkeley. While the main goal of Bacon’s Rebellion was to get Berkeley out of office, the fight with the Native Americans could have been avoided if Berkeley gave the poor farmers land to work …show more content…
White Americans desperately wanted Native American land. George Washington called this an “Indian Problem” and tried to “civilize” the Native Americans by forcing them to convert to Christianity and follow European practices. This did not deter White Americans from forcing the Native Americans out of the land they thought was rightfully theirs. In order to get them to leave, the abuse of Native Americans increased drastically. From stealing livestock and burning houses to the government passing laws that made them leave, White Americans were doing everything they could to steal their land (History.com “Trail of Tears”). In 1823 the court case Johnson v. M’Intosh declared that Native Americans did not really own their land as so the land could legally be taken from them (Foner 302). Even when the court changed its mind in 1832 during the Worcester v. Georgia case, President Andrew Jackson refused to accept it (Foner 303). President Jackson continued to kick out Native Americans by signing the Indian Removal Act. The Act would allow the government to take Native American land east of the Mississippi River in exchange for land in the west (History.com “Trail of Tears”). With the Indian Removal Act, 18,000 Native Americans were forced to move west. One-quarter of the group died during the walk