native americans, the u.s. government, and the indian wars
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
1. What does this map reveal about America in the late 19th century?
2. What story is this map telling?3. What untold story is not being conveyed via this map?
Th
e U
nit
ed
Sta
tes,
1860-1
869
Essential Questions:
1. What was the Homestead Act?2. What was the Dawes Act and what was its
impact?3. How did the U.S. government treat Native
Americans?4. What was the Battle of Little Bighorn?
Federal law that gave settlers 160 acres of undeveloped land outside of the original 13 colonies
The new law required three steps:
• File an application• Improve the land• File for deed of title
Eventually 1.6 million homesteads were granted
270,000,000 acres were privatized
But whose land was being given away?
Enacted in February 1887
Named after its sponsor, U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes
Authorized the President to have Native American lands surveyed and divided into plots for Native American families
What did it say?• A Native American family may
receive 160 acres if they farm• 80 acres if they are to raise
cattle• 40 acres for “living purposes”
Remained in effect until 1934
Land granted to most Native Americans was not viable to sustain a living
Eventually the land was sold to non-Native buyers at bargain prices
Native Americans lost about 90 million acres of land
• 90,000 Indians were made landless
Goal of the Dawes Act: • Complete Native American
assimilation• Force the deterioration of the
communal life-style of native societies
• Impose Western-oriented values of strengthening the nuclear family
Under President Jackson, the Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Authorized the President to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for western lands
• About100,000 Native Americans relocated to the West as a result of the policy
Tribes in the West were continually moved to smaller and smaller reservations
• Government and settlers continued to take their land
• Caused tension and hostility to rise
The Indian Wars• Conflicts known as the "Indian Wars"
broke out between U.S. forces and tribes
• The Battle of Little Bighorn
George Armstrong Custer of the 7th U.S. Cavalry discovered gold in the Black Hills in 1874
A ‘gold rush’ followed and thousands of miners went to the Black Hills…territory controlled by the Lakota
Treaty of Fort Laramie• Guaranteed Lakota ownership of
the Black Hills, as well as land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana
In 1876, the United States took control of the region from the Lakota in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie
Occurred between June 25-26, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in the Montana Territory
An armed engagement between the Lakota and the 7th Cavalry of the Army
The Lakota were led by Sitting Bull• Sitting Bull was inspired by a
vision to fight Custer• He saw U.S. soldiers being killed
as they entered the tribe’s camp
In the end the U.S. 7th Cavalry, including 700 men led by Custer, were defeated
• Custer was killed in the battle
Custer did not realize that more than 3,000 Native Americans had left their reservations to follow Sitting Bull
Outrage at Custer's death and defeat brought thousands more soldiers to the area
Over the next year, the new military forces pursued the Lakota, forcing many to surrender
Sitting Bull refused to surrender• In May 1877 he led his
followers across the border into Canada where he remained in exile