When the whites first came to North America, the Indians were a formidable foe. For years they continued to be a menace to the lonely settler or the frontier village. But when the white settlers were once firmly established, the days of uncertainty were over, and the Indians were brushed aside as a man brushes aside a troublesome insect. Their "uprisings" and "wars" counted for little or nothing. They were inferior in numbers; they were poorly armed and equipped; they had no reserves upon which to draw; there was no organization among the tribes in distant portions of the country. The white millions swept onward. The Indian bands made a stand here and there but the tide of white civilization overwhelmed them, smothered them, destroying them and their civilization together. The Indians were the first obstacle to the building of the American Empire. Three hundred years ago the whole three million square miles that is now the United States was theirs. They were the American people. To-day they number 328,111 in a population of 105,118,467 and the total area of their reservations is 53,489 square miles. (Statistical Abstract of the U. S., 1918, pp. 8 and 776.) FOOTNOTES: [4] The total number of square miles in Indian Reservations in 1918 was 53,490 as against 241,800 square miles in 1880. (Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1918, p. 8.) [5] "The Indian of To-day," C. A. Eastman. New York, Doubleday, 1915, p. 4. [6] "The Indian and His Problem," F. E. Leupp. New York, Scribners, 1910, p. 23. [7] Ibid., p. 24. [8] Ibid., p. 10. [9] "Referring to your inquiry of November 20, 1919, concerning the Cherokee Indian Reservation, you are advised that the Cherokee Indian country in the northeastern part of Oklahoma aggregated 4,420,068 acres. "Of said area 4,346,223 acres have been allotted in severalty to the enrolled members of said Cherokee Indian Nation, Oklahoma. Twenty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty acres were disposed of as town lots, or reserved for railway rights of way, churches, schools, cemeteries, etc., and the remaining area has been sold, or otherwise disposed of as provided by law. "The Cherokee tribal land in Oklahoma with the exception of the possible title of said Nation to certain river beds has been disposed of. "In reference to the Eastern band of Cherokees, you are advised that said Indians who have been incorporated hold title in fee to certain land in North Carolina, known as the Qualla Reservation and certain other lands, aggregating 63,211 acres."--Letter from the Office of Indian Affairs. Dec. 9, 1919, "In re Cherokee land." [10] "The Indian and His Problem," F. E. Leupp. New York, Scribners, 1910, p. 24. [11] See Bulletin 184, New York State Museum, Albany, 1916, p. 61. IV. SLAVERY FOR A RACE 1. _The Labor Shortage_