Native American Wars

Native American wars refers to the collective conflicts between White settlers and Native Americans that stretched from 1492 until 1930. Although conflict was a common occurrence since the first arrival of Europeans on the American continent, the Native American wars often ended in bloody defeats of the Native Americans, who suffered from newly introduced European diseases and could not defeat the better-armed Europeans. The conflict between Europeans and Native Americans completely upset the social structures of Native American society and uprooted Native societies.

Because Native American wars is a broadly defined topic area, this entry limits its geographical scope to North America, comprising modern-day Canada, the United States, and Mexico. In addition, because the U.S. government alone fought more than 40 wars with Native Americans, it ...