How has the US government historically treated Native Americans?
Historically, Native Americans have been treated unfairly by the United States government. The U.S. government has targeted Native Americans for removal from their homelands, broken treaties, and forced them onto reservations. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the federal government began forcibly displacing Native Americans from their ancestral lands and forcing them onto reservations. This relocation process had devastating effects on Native American culture, forcing them to abandon their traditional ways of life and subsist on government-provided rations. In the late 1800s, the U.S. government sought to "assimilate" Native Americans into mainstream American culture by attempting to erase their traditional cultures and languages. The government also sought to limit the amount of land that was under Native American control, even when treaties guaranteed them certain rights to the land. Many of the treaties that the U.S. government made with tribes were broken, and Native Americans were not given access to the resources that they were promised. By the late 20th century, some progress had been made in terms of improving U.S. government treatment of Native Americans. Native Americans were finally given full legal rights as citizens, although many felt that those rights were long overdue. In addition, the U.S. government has granted certain tribal nations the power to exercise self-governance and manage their own affairs. However, Native Americans still face economic and social inequalities today, and much work remains to be done to ensure their rights are fully respected.
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