Indian Wars (1817 – 1898)
| American Combatants: 106,000 American Casualties: 1,000 Indian Wars is the name associated with a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government, and the native tribes of North America. Early English settlers enjoyed peaceful dealings with the local natives, but the colonists felt obligated to take sides in military conflicts between Indian nations to assure their security and open additional land for settlement. The wars, which ranged from the seventeenth century through 1890, opened Native American lands to further colonization, and assimilated the native tribes or forced their relocation to Indian reservations. This was a savage war from both perspectives. The Native Americans were brutal in their attacks, while the European Americans carried out destructive campaigns. American Indians were no more a cohesive group than the Europeans. The American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, but fought together when necessary. The resulting devastations of this war were great for both the natives and the Americans, and the actual figures on death and injury are in wide debate to this day, despite the frequent newspaper reports throughout the wars. Click here to return to Conflicts. |
