The Louisiana Purchase was quite possible the most ludicrous American deal in history. It was not only the cheapest land, but it also gave poor farmers a chance to move west and give land to their sons and daughters in dowries. It had an affect on the Native American population as well. Native Americans were forced onto reservations where the land was not good and where game was scarce.
Thomas Jefferson also took over Native American lands by cheating them out of it. He would underprice things and sell too much of that item to the Native American population and then, when the end of the year came, the US would demand that the Native Americans pay off their debt. Since the Native Americans had no currency, the only thing that they could give to pay off their debts was their land. Naturally, they lost everything-even more game for hunting, and the lands that they were using for farming. Some Native Americans were forced by the white settlers to convert to Christianity.
After reading this, could things have been done differently than they were? How would these changes have affected both the past and the present?
Friday, October 19, 2007
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