What happened when Native Americans did not want to move?

The answer to this depends on the situation. Sometimes Native peoples were powerful enough that they could dictate whether whites were allowed to move into their territory. This was true, for example, of the Creeks in the late eighteenth century. But even they were eventually forced off of their lands by a combination of war, diplomacy and coercion. Usually, the federal government would conclude treaties with representatives of Native peoples, and these treaties would be...

The answer to this depends on the situation. Sometimes Native peoples were powerful enough that they could dictate whether whites were allowed to move into their territory. This was true, for example, of the Creeks in the late eighteenth century. But even they were eventually forced off of their lands by a combination of war, diplomacy and coercion. Usually, the federal government would conclude treaties with representatives of Native peoples, and these treaties would be binding on even those people who had not agreed. In this way, the federal government arranged for the removal of Indians. Federal troops were often used to remove those people who refused to leave their lands, and they were sent to reservations, lands set aside by the government. One example of this process was the ordeal of the Cherokee people in the 1830s. After most refused to leave in accordance with the Treaty of New Echota, they were rounded up and forced to go to Indian Territory in modern-day Oklahoma in what has become known as the "Trail of Tears."