1. TOPIC 3: Challenges in the Late 1800s (1865-1914)
Lesson 1 American Indians Under Pressure

2. Learning Objectives
Compare the ways Native Americans and white settlers viewed and used the land.
Describe the conflicts between white settlers and Indians.
Analyze the impact of the Indian Wars.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the government’s Americanization and reservation policies towards American Indians.

3. Background
Following Revolution decades of disagreement, battles, forced migrations of Native Americans from their ancestral homes in the east
1830s: most Native American tribes forced to settle west of the Mississippi River in Indian territory (Oklahoma) or North/South Dakota (Great Sioux Reservation)
Land was supposed to be “forever free” from white encroachment

4. Background 1840s/1850s: beginning of Manifest Destiny
Early 1850s: series of treaties signed to create the beginning of the reservation system
Specific areas set aside for Native American use
Often resulted in forced migration of the tribes onto the reservation by the army
1863: creation of the transcontinental railroad= massive white expansion westward

5. Indian Wars
Nomadic hunters on the Great Plains: Sioux, Blackfeet, Crow, Cheyenne, Comanche
Relied on the buffalo to sustain their civilization
Railroad brought white buffalo hunters west
How did reservation life impact these tribes?
Indian wars following Civil War= aggressive and brutal on both sides
Sand Creek Massacre 1864: Arapaho/Cheyenne killed by US army
Sioux warriors massacred Captain William Fetterman’s soldiers and civilians in Montana goldfields

6. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians gathered at Sand Creek on November 29, Many women and children died in the massacre.

7. Indian Wars
Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868: guaranteed the Black Hills to the Sioux tribe
Corruption prevalent in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Gold discovered in the Black Hills 1875
The Battle of Little Bighorn: Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to drive them out vs. Colonel George Custer
250 US army vs. 2,000 Native Americans
Ghost Dance: religious revival (stop white expansion, return of the buffalo)= fear by white Americans
Increased troops, disarming Sioux and chasing some in hiding
Massacre at Wounded Knee 1890: estimated 150 men, women and children killed

9. The U.S. government relocated many Native American groups following the Civil War. Analyze Maps Describe the process of how Native Americans lost their land.

11. These Navajo Indians were forced to relocate from the lands they knew and relegated to the Bosque Redondo reservation in present-day Arizona and eastern New Mexico.

12. Assimilation
Buffalo hunted to near extinction= Native Americans forced to live off of the government
A Century of Dishonor, by Helen Hunt Jackson (reformer perspective)- assimilation
Dawes Allotment Act (Severalty Act) 1887: tribes gave up tribal land in exchange for 160 acre plot of land for family
Farming; private property= Americanization
Missionary boarding schools- Carlisle Indian School
“kill the Indian, save the man”

14. Quiz: Cultures Forced to Adapt
Why was the popularity of buffalo hunting among white tourists so threatening to Native American civilizations in the West?
A. The sport brought great numbers of white settlers to the area for the first time.
B. Arriving white tourists damaged lands on which Native Americans mined gold and silver.
C. Native Americans experienced challenges finding enough resources to meet their basic needs.
D. Native Americans were forced to abandon their traditional western lands and move to reservations in the east.

15. Quiz: Settlers and Native Americans Collide
How did white settlers’ belief in manifest destiny affect Native Americans?
A. Native Americans engaged in multiple battles with white settlers.
B. Native Americans settled and adapted to the ways of white settlers.
C. Native Americans were given tools and resources to farm new land.
D. Native Americans lost more territory due to white settler expansion.

16. Quiz: The Indian Wars Conclude
What is the most likely reason Chief Joseph said, “I will fight no more forever”?
A. Fighting went against his religious beliefs.
B. He wanted to prevent further death and destruction.
C. His will and means to fight had diminished.
D. He had permission to return to his homeland.

17. Quiz: The Government Encourages Assimilation
The Dawes General Allotment Act is an example of the Americanization movement because it
A. encouraged Indians to own private property.
B. required the payment of property taxes for schools.
C. asked Indians to form representative governments.
D. required farmers to meet production quotas.