Question

Write a short essay describing two events or policies that increased settlement in the West after the Civil War. Describe how the settlers who responded to each of these events or policies changed the West. Also explain how each event or policy affected American Indians.

Answer 1

Explanation:

When the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown in 1607, the Algonquin tribes controlled most of Virginia east of the continental fall line. Almost all were united in what the Powhatan Confederation has historically called. Researcher Rountree has pointed out that the empire more accurately describes its political structure. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a chief named Wahunsunacock created this powerful empire by triumphing or allying with approximately 30 tribes whose territories covered most of Eastern Virginia. Wahunsunacock called this area "Tenakomakah" ("Densely Inhabited Land"). This indigenous leader was known as Chief Powhatan. The empire was advantageous to some tribes, who were periodically threatened by other American Indians, such as the Monacans.

American Indians had a very different culture from that of the English. Despite some successful interaction, issues of land ownership and control, and trust between peoples, led to conflicts. Virginia experiences dry spells an average of every three years. The settlers did not understand that the natives were poorly prepared to feed them during hard times. In the years after 1612, settlers cleared the land to prepare it for farms dedicated to the export of tobacco, its crucial cultivation for economic purposes. When tobacco depleted farmland, villagers continually had to clear more areas to replace it. It is reduced wooded land that the Indians could use to hunt and thus complement their food crops. The more settlers arrived, the more land they demanded.