For hundreds of years, Native Americans inhabited what is now the United States of America as the only humans around. Their peaceful days ended during a time of European discovery. One day the Europeans met the Native Americans. From the beginning they subjected the natives to discrimination and unfair treatment. For example, Columbus considered them an inferior race. Soon, Native lands were conquered by force and some Natives were enslaved. Native Americans were pushed onto smaller reservations to let settlers take their land. The road to equality for Native Americans has been a long struggle, but with the help of others and taking action yourself, Native Americans can have the same rights that other Americans enjoy. Native Americans had been mistreated by the government for many years, but one of the greatest abuses of Native Americans occurred in the 1830s, when the government forced Native Americans to leave over a million acres of land they collectively owned and to travel in a small area. of Mississippi designated as “Indian Territory.” The incredibly long and dangerous journey to this area is known today as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was one of the first widespread acts against Native Americans, causing Native Americans to call for equal rights with the white man. Passed in 1887, the Dawes Multiplety Act separated reservation lands to be given to individual Native Americans. The creators of this act thought that if Native Americans got their own land, they would farm it and eventually adopt the behavior of whites since many whites farmed at that time. They also thought that the government would no longer have to provide for the Native Americans since the Natives would not be part of a tribe that they had to worry about. The remaining land would then be sold to whites. In fact, 62% of their land was