Final answer:
After the Homestead Act of 1862, Native American tribes who were previously moved west of the Mississippi River, were displaced again to reservations due to an influx of settlers. These reservations were often on poor quality land leading to reliance on government support.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Homestead Act of 1862 was a significant piece of legislation that encouraged Westward expansion by offering settlers 160 acres of federal land, provided they improved it by building and cultivating. The Act aimed to populate the Western territories with free-labor farmers, enhancing agricultural production for the war effort. Additionally, it supported the development of the Transcontinental Railroad for better connectivity across the country.
As a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the subsequent migrations following the Civil War, most Native American tribes had already been relocated to areas west of the Mississippi River. However, the influx of settlers to the West during and after the Civil War forced Native Americans to be displaced once again and confined to reservations. Reservation lands were typically of poor quality, often leading to failures in attempts at traditional Western agriculture and making tribes reliant on the Bureau of Indian Affairs for support.
Even before the Homestead Act, Westward migration was stimulated by events like the California Gold Rush of 1849, and later, the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 facilitated this expansion further. The settlement efforts resulted in areas such as Oklahoma undergoing land rushes, with settlers eager to claim lands formerly held by Native Americans, reinforcing the displacement and fragmentation of these indigenous communities.