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United States History
Topic 2: Challenges in the Late 1800s (1865-1900)
2-1 – American Indians Under Pressure
Key Terms
Cultures Forced to Adapt
Cultural Differences and Similarities – geography influenced the
cultural diversity of Native Americans; one common thread was their view of
nature, they saw themselves as part of nature and respected the natural
world
reservations – public lands where Native Americans were required to
live by the federal government; forced migrations to reservations changed
the demographic patterns of Native Americans
buffalo hunters – in the 1870s, hunters would kill hundreds of
buffalo a day for their hides, they skinned the animals and left the meat to
rot; trainloads of tourists arrived to kill buffaloes purely for sport; as a
result, Native Americans had a hard time meeting their basic needs
Settlers and Native Americans Collide
Manifest Destiny - the idea that the United States was destined, by
God, to occupy territory spanning from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans; white
settler expansion caused Native Americans to lose more territory
Sand Creek Massacre – 1864 incident in which Colorado militia
attacked a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, some of who were under
U.S. Army protection
Fort Laramie Treaty – 1868 agreement between the US government
and several bands of the Sioux tribe; was an effort to pacify the Sioux
The Indian Wars Conclude
Sitting Bull – (c. 1831–1890) was a war chief and important spiritual
leader who became the first-ever chief of all the Lakota Sioux bands in the
1860s; after surrendering to the Army in 1881, he lived on a reservation
where he was killed by Indian police sent to arrest him.
Battle of the Little Big Horn – 1876 battle in which the Sioux
defeated U.S. Army troops; Custer and his force of about 250 men
unexpectedly came upon a group of at least 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne
Warriors; Crazy Horse led the charge, killing all of Custer’s men
Chief Joseph – (1840–1904) succeeded his father as chief of the Nez
Percé in 1871; in 1877, he led a group of refugees on an unsuccessful
attempt to avoid forced relocation; when he was stopped just short of the
border of Canada, he said “I will fight no more forever”
Wounded Knee – 1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and Sioux
that marked the end of major Indian resistance to white expansion and
resistance to the US government
The Government Encourages Assimilation
assimilation – absorbed into the main culture of a society; policy
makers hoped that as the buffalo became extinct, Indians would become
farmers and be assimilated into national life; Native Americans lost many of
their traditions
Dawes General Allotment Act – 1887 law that ended tribal
landholding and divided reservation land into private family plots;
encouraged Indians to own private property