Ethnic cleansing is as American as apple pie and justified through the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which emerged in the 19th century and promoted the belief that Americans were divinely ordained to expand westward. This expansion led to the forced displacement, extermination, and cultural erasure of countless Native American tribes. An estimated 2 to 18 million Native Americans lived in North America before European contact. By 1890, the U.S. Census officially recorded 248,253 Native Americans.
The displacement of the Native Americans was systematic and brutal. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, enforced by President Andrew Jackson, led to the Trail of Tears, the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States to Oklahoma. This uprooted the Indigenous peoples, leading to the deaths of thousands due to harsh conditions, starvation, disease, and exposure to make for American settlers. The government facilitated this through policies that legitimized land seizures, forced relocations, and even massacres, all in the name of progress and Manifest Destiny. …..more
