Final answer:
White settlement on the frontier had devastating cultural, economic, and social effects on Native Americans, dispossessing them of land and disrupting their traditional ways of life. The philosophy of Manifest Destiny justified the American settlers' expansion.
Step-by-step explanation:
The cultural, economic, and social effects of white settlement on the frontier for Native Americans were profound and transformative. The expansionist philosophy known as Manifest Destiny played an influential role, as American settlers believed they were entitled to the lands and resources of the West. This led to the legal removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands and subsequent treaties that often led to long-term dispossession and poverty.
Culturally, Native American ways of life, religious practices, and customs underwent drastic changes. Government policies, including Americanization efforts, aimed to assimilate Native Americans and often resulted in trauma and loss of cultural identity. Economically, the loss of lands meant a loss of the resources necessary for traditional ways of life, leading to widespread impoverishment. Socially, the push to reservations disrupted existing social structures and often led to dependency on government assistance.
Hispanic and Chinese communities faced racism and entitlement attitudes from white settlers, but Native Americans experienced more severe and systematic efforts to eradicate their cultures. The establishment of boarding schools and allotment policy were some measures that dismantled Native American societies. Chinese immigrants were eventually prohibited from entering the US through laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act, highlighting the racial prejudices of the era.