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American Indians And Their Land

Up until the 17th century, American Indians, formerly known as the “red Indians,” inhabited the land we know as America today. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed to America. He thought he had reached the East Indies and named the people already living there as “red Indians.”

A shift in land ownership started to take place. American Indians were forced to give up their land. This is known as colonization. Colonization is the act of becoming the new ruler of a country by taking control of the natives. Here we explore how American Indians were removed from their own land by the colonizers.

Under Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act, the federal government, instead of being fair and just in their dealings with the American Indians, forced them to leave their land. Most of the native lands were taken over by the White farmers. They took this land to grow cotton and expand their colonies. The American Indians, on the other hand, were moved to the “Indian colonization zone.”

It made headlines in the Alabama newspaper as a “trail of tears and death.” The natives marched barefoot, without any food or water, towards the Indian Territory. Many died on their way. Hence, by the end of the 19th century, American Indian populations reduced to a large extent.

Read more:

  1. https://www.rit.edu/diversity/newsletter/october-2017/story/1492-columbus-sailed-ocean-blue-he-had-three-ships-and-left-spain#:~:text=Newsletter%20October%202017-,%E2%80%9CIn%201492%2C%20Columbus%20sailed%20the%20ocean%20blue.,ships%20and%20left%20from%20Spain.%E2%80%9D

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