Disenfranchised

American Indian

Figure 1 Lakota Camp near Pine Ridge Reservation, southwestern South Dakota, 1891

Content Statement #11

Continued settlement by Americans in the West intensified conflict with American Indians and reinforced the policy of the reservation system.

Content Elaboration

Industrialization led to increased demand for natural resources and encouraged westward migration by Americans.

As Americans moved west, conflicts often occurred as Americans came into contact with American Indians. Consequences of these conflicts included:

ü the Plains Wars;

ü the Battle of Little Bighorn;

ü the Wounded Knee Massacre; and

ü resistance to assimilation (e.g., Ghost Dance).

The demand for resources and land in the West changed the life of the American Indians, who continued to be displaced from their ancestral lands through a series of treaties and government actions that included:

ü Homestead Acts;

ü Dawes Act;

ü reservation system;

ü Indian residential schools; and

ü Americanization and assimilation

Section A
Westward Migration Figure 2 Westward expansion of 1890
1)	The 1800s were a time of struggle for Native Americans.
2)	As the United States expanded westward, settlers and the U.S. government treated the Indians as an obstacle to be overcome.
3)	Native Americans resisted the invasion of their lands in the courts and in battle.
4)	Violent clashes over land erupted across the United States throughout the 1800s.
5)	Many confrontations between Indian tribes and government forces took place on the Great Plains.

Let’s Practice

Click below to watch a video and complete a quiz on Westward Expansion.

Section B
Conflicts Figure 3 Indian Wars on the Plains
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)	In the second half of the 1800s, as American settlers intruded on tribal lands, American Indians and United States forces fought a number of battles for control of the Great Plains.
7)	Some events of this period, however, are more accurately called massacres rather than battles.
8)	In the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, members of the Colorado militia attacked a Cheyenne village and killed between 150 and 500 people.
9)	In the Fetterman Massacre of 1866, Sioux warriors killed an entire unit of 80 U.S. soldiers.
10)	The conquest of the Indians was completed in 1890 at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, where U.S. troops massacred more than 200 Sioux men, women, and children.
11)	The United States government adopted a policy of assimilation in which was an attempt to destroy traditional Indian cultural identities.
12)	The term "reservation" comes from the belief that tribes were independent, sovereign nations at the time the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Figure 4 Indian reservation/ Montana/ photo 1906.
13)	Toward the end of the nineteenth century, reports about the poor quality of life on reservations led the federal government to change to a new  policy based on forced assimilation instead of concentration and isolation onto reservations.

Let’s Practice

Click below to watch a video and complete a quiz on the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Section C
Treaties and Government Actions Figure 5 General William T. Sherman negotiates the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the Sioux and Arapaho peoples
14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 14)	Homestead Act of 1862 Ø a significant U.S. law that promoted the settlement and development of the American West. Ø It was notable for the opportunity it gave African Americans to own land. Ø The U.S. government passed the Homestead Act to encourage western migration. Figure 6 African American families travel to Kansas as part of the exodus from the South to the West in the 1870s. The Homestead Act of 1862 made owning land in the West an option for everyone.
15)	Dawes Act Ø The law was meant to handle the issue of Native American tribes in the United States.  Ø Native Americans have lived as separate nations Ø Many conflicts between American Indians and settlers o “reservations” had not resolved the issue Ø The Dawes Act was designed to break up the long-established tribal organization of Native American society o The land was given to American to settle on American Indian land o The land was owned by the United States government for 25 years Ø Keys o Sought to protect American Indians given them land o Most land unsuitable for farming o Suitable land was given to white men o Forced “Americanization” on Indians o Dawes Act was a legislature failure

Let’s Practice

Click below to play a matching game on the American Indian.