"After the Civil War the eyes of the victors turned west. As often happens in wartime, the thousands of deaths on the battlefield were more than offset by an extremely high birth rate. America now felt that it was time to enforce the theory of Manifest Destiny and move the growing population into Indian country.

A powerful contingency known as the "Indian Reformists" began to set down the guidelines for the federal policy toward American Indians. The American policy of gaining Indian lands through whatever means available was well known to the Reformists and they, in collusion with the federal government, set about introducing their methods for solving the "Indian problem."

Their methods did not include input from the Indian nations they were about to evaluate. Instead, their powerful Christian ideologies would lead the way and the very fervor they brought to Manifest Destiny would become the law of the land."

Get the Story:
Tim Giago: Manifest Destiny and the "Indian Reformists" (The Native American Times 11/1)

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