Final answer:
Western settlers generally favored government policies that enabled expansion into Native American territories, including negotiated treaties and the reservation system, although these agreements were often violated. Over time, aggressive measures and policies promoting assimilation also emerged, underpinning the American strategy to control and settle western lands.
Step-by-step explanation:
A majority of western settlers wanted the government to manage relations with Native Americans through methods that would primarily benefit the expansion and security of white settlement. Policies varied over time and included efforts to negotiate treaties for land cessions, the establishment of reservations as part of the reservation system, and, in some cases, more aggressive approaches such as military action. One of the earliest strategies was to negotiate treaties to move tribes out of the path of settlement, exemplified by the First Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851, which established distinct tribal borders and promised annual payments and noninterference to the tribes. Despite this, corruption and settler encroachment often led to many treaties being broken. The passage of the Indian Intercourse Acts from 1790 to 1834 by Congress aimed to control trade and interactions between Native Americans and settlers, ensuring that only the federal government could negotiate land purchases and regulate trade at designated trading posts. However, as settlement progressed, treaties were frequently violated, and territories guaranteed to Native Americans were encroached upon, leading to conflicts such as the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the eventual Treaty of Greenville, which resulted in the surrender of Native American lands in Ohio.
The different approaches to Native American policy reflected the tension between the desire for peaceful expansion and the realities of frontier violence, land hunger, and differing visions of coexistence. Presidents like Thomas Jefferson sought treaties that would enable expansion while promoting American alliances and trade with Native American tribes. Yet, many Native Americans fell into debt and were forced to cede lands. In contrast, other voices called for an Americanization policy, aimed at assimilating Native Americans into American society, which arose during the Indian Wars of the 1870s and early 1880s. This policy eventually formed the basis for the more paternalistic and assimilationist policies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ultimately, the consistent underlying goal was the assertion of American claims to land at the expense of Native American sovereignty.