Anglo American views towards Native Americans have changed many times through history. When America was first discovered, Native Americans were viewed as savages that could be exploited for use in learning how to hunt and other tasks. As America began to grow, Native Americans were viewed as intruders that were trespassing on land that obviously belonged to the United States. In the late nineteenth century, views towards Native Americans began to change for the better. They were now being seen as people that, with a little work, could be made into model citizens. This is where the policies of assimilation and reservation were created. They were used to either relocate the Native Americans, which would eventually phase out their culture, or to make the Native Americans conform to Anglo American ideals, which would also cause their culture to disappear.
After the Louisiana Purchase, Anglo Americans began pushing farther and farther west.
This Census Bureau map depicts the locations of Na...
English: collage of public domain images
Early Indian Languages of the USAAny Native Americans that were in their way had to keep one step ahead, fight back, or be killed. The area between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains that was deemed unsuitable for farming or development was given to the Native Americans as a reservation on which they could live in an uneasy peace. Eventually, farmers developed a desire for this land, and forced the Native Americans off of it. The concept of Manifest Destiny was all that Anglo Americans needed to justify themselves. This is when the United States began developing a true reservation policy, which would set defined boundaries for Native American land.
The reservation policy first began development as a concentration policy. This policy was one which would separate Native Americans and Anglo American citizens to avoid war between them. This plan was first implemented in the early 1850s, and was not successful. This...