Quote Originally Posted by Pannonian View Post
Was there a history of good relations before Andrew Jackson? I've read good things about the intentions of the British government before the revolution but we weren't put to the test, and I don't know how apt we were to keep agreements. I also don't know if there was any change in relations with the regime change in 1776, or whether the newly independent US kept good relations with the native Americans until later.
Most of the Great Lakes Tribes stayed loyal to the crown during the war. Some tribes did side with the Americans but after the war all were treated badly.
Jackson was a land speculator and sold a lot of lands belonging to the Chickasaw who had sided with the US. He was also helped in the Red Sticks War and the War of 1812 by the Choctaw, who had scouted for Washington and Green and even Wayne. Afterward he negotiated treaties with these tribes and swindled them out of a lot of land. Then as President he removed the 5 major southern tribes to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) starting in 1832. It is little wonder those tribes sided with the CSA during the War Between the States.

The British were not very likely to have abided by the treaties they made in the Old North West and don’t have the best record in treatment of native peoples in Canada but the US government was worse. The government always view the tribes more adversarial, regardless of what the agents intent was. Policies were to negotiate with the strong and wipe out the weak, for the most part.

Abe Lincoln managed to provoke almost every tribe west of the Mississippi into war during his war. Many lasted 20 year or so, with short peace settlements here or there. After the Army finished with the south they moved their total war policies to the tribes in the west. The last Indian War ended in 1929.