Causes of the wars in the colonial period My edit reverted by of what would later become United States territory was accompanied by armed conflicts that periodically erupted between the natives and the settlers in the areas that were being colonized I think that this is a completely indisputable uncontentious statement without any POV claims about what the causes were The previous formulation While some historians suggest that settlers were engaged in warfare to open further land for settlement other historians suggest that settlers needed to defend themselves from attacks by the Indians claimed the existence of two mutually irreconcilable camps of historians with opposing theories about the causes of the wars which I don t think is true Obviously both factors existed yet I doubt that there are any serious historians would claim that Indian aggression and banditry and hence the need for defence from these were the true and primary cause of the wars If people want to keep this formulation they should source it I m glad that