Key Factors in the Destruction of Native Populations:
- Disease: Upon European arrival, pandemics like smallpox, influenza, and measles decimated indigenous populations who had no immunity, sometimes killing over 90% of certain tribes.
- Forced Removal and Relocation: The 1830 Indian Removal Act forced at least 60,000 Native Americans from their homes to distant territory, resulting in thousands of deaths on journeys known as the Trail of Tears.
- Violent Conflict and Massacres: The American Indian Wars and intentional killings by settlers and soldiers—often incentivized by government bounties—significantly reduced numbers.
- Destruction of Resources: The intentional slaughter of the buffalo population by white settlers directly crippled tribes that relied on them for food, shelter, and survival.
- Systemic Destruction of Culture: Policies of assimilation, including placing children in boarding schools and breaking up communal tribal lands through the Dawes Act of 1887, were designed to destroy indigenous communities
