Native Americans: A Study of Their Civil War Experience

Native Americans played a vital role in the history of the United States of America. During the unrest and upheaval of the Civil War, many Native Americans pledged their allegiance to the Union or Confederacy. The Native Americans assembled armies and participated in the battles. Their loyalty was important, as the Union and Confederacy recognized that Native American involvement could influence the war’s outcome.The war also affected the Native Americans—during the war they faced division among their tribes while endeavoring to make ends meet; after the war, they struggled to exist without slavery while coping with broken promises and territorial growth.This research will focus on the Native Americans’ role during the Civil War and their condition after the war. This research will show tribes made their decisions during the Civil War based on survival, preserving their identity, and remaining independent from the United States government. This study will explain how slavery affected the Native Americans’ allegiance and how their decisions shaped the American experience in the Civil War. Finally, this research will examine the effect of the war on Native American women and how the Native Americans’ relationship with the United States was altered by territorial expansion and broken treaties