Closing the West and the End of Native American Power EQ: What effect does population growth have on a region?

Railroads & Steel Railroads were the biggest customers of steel Railroads expanded rapidly after 1870, which created a huge increase in demand for steel Steel companies began to create cheap, efficient methods to mass produce steel rails for railroad tracks, making it more affordable

Railroads & Immigrants Irish laborers constructed rail routes from the East Chinese laborers constructed rail routes from the West On May 10, 1869 in Promontory, Utah, the East & West were connected by the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad

Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah 1869

Comparing Immigrant Workers Irish Railroad Workers Chinese Railroad Workers Paid $50 a month Midwestern Plains Attacks from Native Americans Paid $30 a month Sierra Mountains Dangerous conditions Landslides TNT blasts Heavy snowfalls

The Homestead Act of 1862 Granted 160 acres of land to heads of households for a $10 filing fee Encouraged white settlers to move west

Expansion Brings Conflict Competition between white settlers and Native Americans for land increased Led to a series of brutal wars between the Plains Native Americans and the U.S. government

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) The U.S. government said that the Plains Native Americans would get land in the Black Hills of the Dakotas if they stopped attacking Americans 7 years later, in 1875, Gold was discovered in the Black Hills American miners and the U.S. gov’t broke the treaty and tried to force Native Americans to move once again. Warfare was renewed

Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 Fighting between Native Americans and U.S. Army Natives fighting to protect their promised land U.S. fighting to protect their economic interests

The Great Sioux War ended with the Battle of Little Big Horn Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 The Great Sioux War ended with the Battle of Little Big Horn The Natives were led by Sitting Bull, the great leader of the Lakota Plains Native Americans Many of the soldiers in the U.S. 7th cavalry were killed

US responded by killing millions of buffalo Native Americans’ main source of food, clothing, and shelter Eventually, the Plains Native Americans were forced to live on reservations

Attempt to “Americanize” the Native Americans Dawe’s Act 1887 Attempt to “Americanize” the Native Americans This law broke up Native American reservations. It gave land to individuals and sold some to settlers. Whites took 2/3 of the land set aside for Native Americans Natives suffered poverty and disease

Ghost Dance

Wounded Knee U.S. troops were sent to relocate and disarm a large group of Sioux Native Americans 300 Native Americans were killed Ended the wars between Native Americans and the U.S. gov’t Native American power in the U.S. was officially destroyed

Native American Reservations Today 5.2 million Native Americans Living conditions on the reservations have been cited as "comparable to Third World“ conditions Households are overcrowded and earn only social security, disability or veteran's income 4 to 8 out of 10 adults on reservations are unemployed 38% to 63% of Native Americans live below the poverty line (compared to 28% of Americans) 90,000 homeless or underhoused Native American families

30% of Native housing is overcrowded Less than 50% of housing is connected to a public sewer About 40% of on-reservation housing is considered inadequate and the wait list for tribal housing is usually three years or more

Native American Health 36% of Natives with heart disease will die before age 65 compared to 15% of Caucasians 177% more likely to die from diabetes 500% are more likely to die from tuberculosis Infant death rates are 60% higher than for Caucasians 82% are more likely to die from suicide Life expectancy ~50 years compared to ~80 years in U.S.