Many refugees from defeated tribes went over the border to Canada ; those in the South went to Florida while it was under Spanish control . During the early 19th century , the federal government was under pressure by settlers in many regions to expel Indians from their areas . The Indian Removal Act of 1830 offered Indians the choices of assimilating and giving up tribal membership , relocation to an Indian reservation with an exchange or payment for lands , or moving west . Some resisted fiercely , most notably the Seminoles in a series of wars in Florida . They were never defeated , although some Seminoles did remove to Indian Territory . The United States gave up on the remainder , by then living defensively deep in the swamps and Everglades . Others were moved to reservations west of the Mississippi River , most famously the Cherokee whose relocation was called the " Trail of Tears . " The American Revolutionary War was essentially two parallel wars for the American Patriots . The war in the east was a struggle against British rule , while the war in the west was an " Indian War " . The newly proclaimed United States competed with the British for control of the territory east of the Mississippi River . Some Indians sided with the British , as they hoped to reduce American settlement and expansion . In one writer 's opinion , the Revolutionary War was " the most extensive and destructive " Indian war in United States history
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
American Indian Wars