The Tragic History of Native Americans in the Great West
The Native Americans' forced westward migration led to conflict and broken promises by the U.S. government, culminating in brutal wars like the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Battle of Wounded Knee. Despite resistance, Native American lands were taken, leading to tragedies and massacres.
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Ch. 26 Notes The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution
The Native Americans 1. The pushing of Native Americans westward began during Andrew Jackson s presidency with the Indian Removal Act they were pushed out to the Great Plains because most people believed no American settler would ever want to live there because of the lack of resources, especially trees and water. During this time, the Native Americans only agreed to surrender their land on the promise that they would be left along in their new lands and that they would be provided with supplies in their new lands. However, as the U.S. continued to move further westward (especially after the Civil War), these promises were broken again and again. Eventually, warfare broke out as the Native Americans tried to protect their lands from the encroachment of U.S settlers with much cruelty and atrocities committed by both sides. The federal government responded with more troops (including the buffalo soldiers) and will eventually defeat the Native Americans. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The Indian Wars 1. The Native Americans battled U.S. settlers and the U.S. army to: 1. defend their lands from white invaders and preserve their nomadic way of life. 2. to punish the U.S. for breaking treaties. 3. to avenge the savage massacres of Indians by whites.
1. The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) created a large Sioux reservation. In 1874 George Custer led a scientific expedition into the Black Hills of S.D. and claimed he discovered gold. As gold miners rushed into the area, the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho went on the warpath the mining industry caused just as much conflict as settlers did. Custer s 7th Cavalry went in to subdue them but he foolishly attacked a force of 2500 with only 250 in Montana and was wiped out. The Native American victory was short lived though as more soldiers were sent into the area. The Battle of Little Bighorn 2. 3. 4. 5.
1. In 1877 Chief Joseph tried to lead a group of Nez Perce off the reservation in Oregon an into Canada. 2. The U.S. army pursued them over a 1700 miles before they finally caught them and forced them onto a reservation in Kansas. 3. Chief Joseph later became the leading spokesman for the Native Americans as they tried to defend their way of life. Chief Joseph
The Battle of Wounded Knee 1. The last major conflict between the army and the Native Americans was the Battle of Wounded Knee. 2. The Ghost Dance was a religious ceremony performed by the Sioux to try to reconnect them to their past. 3. U.S. settlers feared it was a war dance and those fears led to the U.S. army becoming more severe in forcing the Sioux to remain on their reservation. 4. In 1890 (at Wounded Knee, South Dakota), U.S. troops will try to disarm a group of Sioux shots were fired and the troops ended up massacring around 200 men, women and children.
The Effects of the Railroad on the Native Americans 1. The main reason the Native Americans were defeat was the loss of the buffalo. 2. As the trains spread westward across the nation, buffalo hunters like Buffalo Bill Cody killed buffalo by the thousands. 3. The buffalo were used not only to feed the people moving west their hides were used to make leather belts to be used in the machinery back east. 4. With the loss of the buffalo, the Plains tribes lost their way of life they had to remain on the reservations where the U.S. government would provide for them.
The Dawes Severalty Act 1. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Severalty Act to break up the reservations and provide more land to U.S. settlers. 2. Under the Dawes Act, Native Americans were given 160 acres of land to farm (380 to ranch) and if they worked it for twenty-five years, they were given their citizenship. 3. The rest of the land was sold off to U.S. settlers, miners and railroad companies. 4. The goal of the Dawes Act was to assimilate the Native Americans.
Assimilation 1. The Native Americans had different views on property than the U.S. did they didn t believe a man could own the land. 2. By trying to assimilate the Native Americans, the U.S. government was trying to completely change their way of life (Social Darwinism). 3. Activists like Helen Hunt Jackson, who wrote the book A Century of Dishonor to protest the U.S. s treatment of the Native Americans, were firm believers in assimilation even though the Native Americans opposed it.
The Homestead Act 1. In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act for a filing fee, settlers were given free land on the frontier. 2. This was different from the past when the government used the sell of federal land to raise revenue thousands of farmers came westward to participate in the land rush. 3. Those that jumped the gun were known as sooners . 4. Many moved into the more arid areas of the Great Plains and had a very difficult time many didn t make it and returned home to the east. 5. Eventually, dams were built to create reservoirs to use for irrigation purposes.
Frederick Jackson Turner 1. In 1890, the U.S. census declares that the U.S. frontier is closed. 2. Frederick Jackson Turner will write a thesis (The Significance of the Frontier in American History) discussing the importance of the frontier on the American way of life and the significance of its closing.
Farmers on the Plains 1. As farming improved on the Great Plains, it became a type of agribusiness. 2. As it did so, it began to be influenced by the world market - much like cotton growers in the southeast. 3. Over time it became more and more difficult for farmers to compete yet farmers were slow to organize because of their independent, individualistic nature 4. Instead, they wanted the government to step in and help them by getting rid of the protective tariffs and using silver to back paper currency.
The Grange 1. The first major farmers organization was the Grange (1867). 2. Their original purpose was to stimulate self- improvement through educational and social activities. 3. Over time though, began to push for state laws that would regulate railroad rates and storage fees (the states that passed these laws usually was them declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court).
The Farmers Alliance 1. In the late 1870 s the Farmers Alliance was formed. 2. Their goal was to break the grip of railroads and manufacturers through cooperative buying and selling. 3. The Alliance weakened itself though by not reaching out to tenant farmers, sharecroppers and farmworkers with no land. 4. To make matters worse, the South tried to exclude African American farmers, which made up a large percentage of southern farmers.
The Peoples Party (the Populist) 1. In the 1890 s the Populist Party grew out of the Farmers Alliance movement. 2. The Populists pushed for things like government control of railroads, telegraphs and telephones, income taxes, direct election of senators and more individual participation in government through the use of the initiative, referendum, recall and Australian (secret) ballot. 3. Their main goal was the free coinage of silver cheaper money meant more in circulation it also meant inflation though and few other people supported this idea. 4. The Populists were also hurt by the racial attitudes of the south.
Coxeys Army 1. When the Panic of 1893 hit, the Populists blamed the Democrats because Grover Cleveland was president. 2. A group of populists led by Jacob Coxey marched on Washington D.C., asking the government to use the money in the treasury to create jobs Cleveland refused, he even had the leaders of the movement arrested for trespassing on the Capital grounds.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 1. As the panic worsened, Eugene V. Debs will organize the American Railway Union and go on strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company. 2. The Pullman company operated a company town and cut wages but not rents. 3. The strike paralyzed the nations railroads and Cleveland eventually stepped in and broke the strike (and arrested Debs) in an effort to get the mail delivered. 4. This seemed to be proof to the Populists (and labor unions) that the government favored big business.
William Jennings Bryan 1. One of the Populist leaders was William Jennings Bryan. 2. In 1896 the Democrats will use him as their presidential candidate to try to defeat the Republicans (the party of big business). 3. They fail three times.
