Moore Liberation Theology

The “Indian Problem”

The "Indian Problem"

12 thoughts on “The “Indian Problem””

  1. Sovereignty or land? which would you choose if you were being uprooted from your homeland? Either way, safety was compromised, and many chose to take the treaty and move away, leaving their precious land and arguably what little sovereignty they had left.

  2. There were many unethical means by which the US officials would coerce Native Americans into signing treaties with them. Native Americans were often tricked, forced, and coerced into signing them. Even after treaties were signed, the people of the US were never happy and continued to try and remove to natives to the point that Native Americans were forced to choose between their land or their sovereignty.

  3. Native Americans have suffered dearly at the hands of the American government especially with the treaties or “Bad Paper.” Native Americans were routinely taken advantage of or simply steam-rolled when it came to getting their land. The saddest part of it all is that these people didn’t have a choice. I always think about the Trail or Tears and how harrowing that must of been the Native Americans that suffered at the hands of colonizers.

  4. The suffrage of the Native American people by the hands of the United States is undeniable. They wanted the land so badly that they would do practically anything for it, including using “any means available” and “tactics so corrupt”. I think that this video demonstrates this shameful part of America’s history and how it damaged the culture of these people out of greed.

  5. I really enjoyed watching this video, because I think oftentimes people forget how poorly the Native American people were treated on behalf of the United States government. The U.S. wanted to take over and control all the land they could, and they would take any measure possible to ensure that they could do this. The Trail of Tears is typically what is thought of when thinking about the treatment of these people, and just as it is discussed in the video, it is a perfect example of the corrupt policies of the Americans that were placed on these innocent people.

  6. This video serves as a powerful reminder of the suffering that Native Americas endured at the hands of the U.S. gov’t. The forced choices between land and sovereignty show the painful means used to strip the Native Americans of their home. It is sad to see how treaties were used as a means of taking away the freedom that they had. The Trail of Tears, as mentioned in the video, shows the human costs of these decisions.

  7. The Americans persecuted Native Americans and forced them into a treaty to take their land. Not only were their actions horrible, but they believed God wanted them to do it. I think those who believe God wants them to commit violent actions are using Him as an excuse for their immoral souls.

  8. This video has made me realize how hypocritical Americans were during the idea of Manifest Destiny. Those who were firm believers in this notion claimed that it was God’s will for them to expand the nation from the east coast to the west. For them to use God as justification for that is one thing, but the fact that they inhumanely treated the Indians speaks completely against the Christian belief. For a country that was founded on the beliefs of Christianity to then disregard one of the most important verses in the Bible, Matthew 22:39, is a hypocritical picture that Americans painted themselves in. The Indians were quite literally their physical neighbors, and Americans treated them with anything but love, which is so heartbreaking to read and hear about.

  9. I think it is often overlooked how wrong and violent the colonization of America was. Bribery, coercion, and unethical methods were used to manipulate people, and while it did better the lives of some people, it was devastating to the Native Americans. It is hard to know what a corrupt and horrible history the foundations of our country has, but it’s important to be aware of this so as not to repeat the past. People claimed that it was God’s will for them to colonize America, however, I think that anyone who is religious and understands God and his will would not validate this claim. God wanted people to treat each other with kindness and be good to one another, and there is nothing biblical or godly about the colonizer’s treatment of the Native Americans.

  10. Native Americans were treated extremely poorly in the United States and this video highlights that reality. Americans would treat them unethically in order to get them to leave. They would coerce them into signing treaties to move them off of their land. Americans would do anything to take control of the land and they even went as far to believe they were following God by doing so. They used that as justification to treat Native Americans harshly which is extremely hypocritcal to their faith in God.

  11. This video highlights how cruelly Americans treated the Indians. The Americans at the time would treat them so badly to get them to leave and move off their land. At a point, Americans believed that they were fulfilling their duty to God by doing these horrific things to the Indians. They used this to justify their actions which is very hypocritical to what the faith states. The Indians were their neighbors and instead of loving and caring for them, they treated them with the utmost disrespect and not how any humans should be treated.

  12. It is such a tragedy what the U.S. did to the Native American tribes. The tactics used to get the tribes to “agree” to the treaties were incredibly unethical and unjust. Using these treaties, the U.S. could make it seem like they came to a fair and just agreement, but that was far from the case. What is heartbreaking to me is that these treaties were never enough and eventually, all tribes had to move. The U.S. committed terrible acts during these moves. I have never thought of the removal process as a genocide, but I can see how it was one.

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