Impact of Westward Expansion on

American Indians

FCPS 2010 - Sources cited in notes section

New opportunities and technological advances led to westward migration

following the Civil War.

Describe or

explain this

cartoon

The lives of American Indians changed with Western Expansion.

HOW???

1. Opposition by American Indians to westward expansion

Battle of the Little Bighorn

Colonel George Custer

Lakota Chief Sitting Bull

In 1876, General Custer led a group of about 225 soldiers against

Sitting Bull and the Lakota tribe.

General Custer and all his men died.

This was the last major victory for Native Americans.

Geronimo

Tribe - Apache

He was the last Native American to surrender in

1886

2. Forced relocation from traditional lands to reservations

It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children

are freezing to death…Hear me, my chiefs! I am

tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

Tribe – Nez Perce

Chief Joseph

• Leader of the Nez Perce Tribe.

• In the 1870s, settlers and gold miners wanted his land.

• They persuaded the government to force the Nez Perce onto a reservation.

Chief Joseph did not want to go to a reservation…

…so he led a group of his followers on a 1,000-mile journey from Oregon

to Canada.

30 miles from Canada, the soldiers found them. For 5 days, the Nez

Perce fought for freedom.

Finally, Chief Joseph surrendered.

And so Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce tribe were taken to a reservation in Oklahoma.

3. Reduced population through warfare…

Example:Battle of Wounded

KneeSouth Dakota

It was the massacre of about 300 American Indians that ended armed conflict between American Indians

and the United States

…and disease

4. Assimilation attempts and

lifestyle changes

Example: Reduction of buffalo population

Europeans hunted for sport or to sell buffalo hides

5. Reduced their homelands through treaties that were broken and

relocated to Reservations

6. American Indians were

not considered

citizens until 1924

So what? What is important to

understand about this?

The lives of American Indians changed with Western Expansion.

Discussion Question

1.How did the lives of American Indians

change with western expansion?

How much do you

remember?

1. “I am tired of fighting…From where the sun now stands, I

will fight no more.” This statement was made by…

a. Chief Powhatan

b. Crazy Horse

c. Chief Joseph

d. Sitting Bull

2. The Native Americans were forced to move from their

homes to certain government owned lands.

What was the name given to these lands?

a. Preservation

b. Tribal nation

c. Conservation

d. Reservation

3. What was the name of the battle where Colonel Custer led his soldiers against the

Lakota tribe?

a. Big Littlehorn

b. Sioux Stance

c. Little Bighorn

d. Custer’s Crusade

Cross-Curriculum:Internet Resource

• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:C.C.A._Christensen and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:George_Catlin (wonderful public domain images)

• Harper’s Weekly: The American Westhttp://thewest.harpweek.com/

• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Edward_Sheriff_Curtis

Impact of Westward Expansion on American Indians

• Put together by Michelle Ratliff for Fairfax County Public Schools in 2010

• Sources are sited on each slide in the notes section

• This PowerPoint has been created for use by Fairfax County Public School Teachers