Contrast the white perspective toward the Indians living on the Great Plains during the late nineteenth century with the Indians' view of white settlement in that area during the same period

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Whites, eager to exploit the economic opportunities of the Great Plains after the Civil War, expected the Indians to adopt the cultural values of the whites. The U.S. Army was assigned the duty of converting the Indians to white ways or of exterminating them. The Indians, on the other hand, believed that the land belonged to them. Wanting to maintain their traditional culture, they resisted white attempts to force them off their land and to convert them to white ways. Eventually, the Indians were forced onto reservations.