Final answer:
After confining American Indians to reservations and encouraging assimilation, the U.S. government divided their land via the allotment process, leading to significant loss of land and sovereignty for Native tribes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Throughout the 19th century, the U.S. governments approach to dealing with American Indians involved a series of policies that led to their displacement and attempts to assimilate them into American society. Initially, American Indians were removed from their lands and confined to reservations, areas where they had limited autonomy and were often dependent on the federal government. Efforts to "civilize" American Indians included encouraging them to adopt American customs, language, and religions. Despite treaties indicating that reserved lands would be protected, the government eventually divided up American Indian land through the process of allotment, under which these lands were parceled out to individuals. This led to a profound loss of tribal land and sovereignty. In the final stages of this process, remaining lands were sold off to White settlers, further eroding Native American control over their ancestral territories.