During the 1760's and 1770's, the British undermined the success of American colonists with high taxation and a strong military presence. Economic growth was deterred and the majority of profits were used to fund Britain's wars with feuding European nations. The years following 1783, welcomed an America free of British rule and taxation - an isolated America with few enemies and vast natural resources. The Treaty of Paris entitled America to large new land masses as well as rivers and fresh water lakes. These resources provided the gateway for financial success of the new country. Exploration, fisheries, mining and plantations quickly fueled the success of white entrepreneurial colonists formerly held back by British law.
Unfortunately, the Treaty of Paris, the Articles of Confederation nor the Declaration of Independence offered the same opportunities to the nation's other residents. Native Americans, many of whom sided with the British in hopes of stopping colonial expansion onto native land, had large tribal territories relinquished to the newly formed United States after the war. The next 50 years following the end of the war saw a myriad of American sentiment towards Native Indians. U.S. policies of the 1880's and 1890's attempted to force American culture and education on Native Indians in an effort to form a docile relationship. .
As American expansion continued West following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Native Indians were seen as a nuisance impeding the progress the country. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced large numbers of native Indians to abandon their homelands of the South and Southwest and relocate to federal camps. The outcome was future generations of broken homes, lost heritage and tradition as well as large numbers of unemployed and poor resulting in mass depression, drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide. While current laws and statues have attempted to correct past injustices of native Indians by returning lost homeland and supplying government funding, there is still a large divide between Native Americans and U.
