How did westward expansion affect Native American tribes?

Answer 1

Native tribes were heavily affected by Westward expansion as the colonists invaded their territories, and eventually the government also swindled the Native tribes of their land (see Andrew Jackson's policy on Natives). The gov't began to put native on reservations, roughly a quarter of the land they had dominion over prior to the forceful removal of the tribes. The Trail of Tears also killed thousands of Natives as the gov't forced them westward, but it wasn't the only example. Additionally, many "businessmen" would take jobs to eliminate native tribes who would not willingly give up their land and ways of life, and the buffalo, the main source of food, clothing, shelter, and religious reverence for Midwest area tribes were hunted to extinction. Native children were put into English boarding schools, where they lost their language, their connection to their culture, and their identity in order to assimilate into American society.