6.3 westward expansion: social & cultural development Flashcards
(22 cards)
frederick jackson turner wrote
significance of the frontier in [american] history/frontier thesis - conveyed frontier as an evolutionary aid and the lack of one troubled him because it used to be an escape to civic discontent.
relationship between cities and towns
interdependent on each other - agri material and market for it
what was the largest movement of americans in the 1890s?
rural -> urban as they saw more opportunity in cities than in towns w agriculture.
native americans in the west
part of many tribes because they were pushed west by earlier acts + movements (ex. indian removal act and trail of tears) - many tribes (ex. crow, cheyenne, sioux) relied on buffalo after the introduction of horses by spanish
what did jackson think when he issued the indian removal act?
that west of the mississippi would permanently be “indian country” - however the oregon trail and plains for transcontinental railroad proved this wrong
indian wars - what happened in the 1866 sioux wars?
the Sioux wiped out a column under capt. william fetterman. resulted in treaties to isolate plains tribes on smaller reservations. however gold miners didn’t agree to stay off of res if gold found there - ex. dakotas’ Black Hills
what did the indian appropriation act of 1871 do?
- ended recognition of tribes as independent nations
- ended negotiation of treaties to be approved by congress
2nd conflict with the Sioux summary
second war led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in N. Plains. before they were defeated, ambushed + destroyed Colonel George Custer’s command @ Little Big Horn in 1876
notable passive resistance effort by Plains’ Tribes
Paiute leader Wovka inspired Ghost Dance in Plains. believed that the dance would return Native Prosperity and return the greatness of their ancestors. Spread across Plains. US government didn’t understand it and thought it was a precursor to rebellion - in an effort to supress it Sioux Sitting Bull was killed.
US gov response to Ghost Dance Movement
Wounded Knee Massacre - December 1890, 200+ Native women, children, and elderly men. Final tragedy marked formal end of Indian Wars in GP.
what book was written about Native Americans at this time? Effect?
“A Century of Dishonor” by Helen Hunt Jackson (1881)
Effect of “A Century of Dishonor”?
sympathy for Indigenous in E. US but also created assimilation attempts (boarding schools, ex. Carlisle, job training, formal education, conversion to Christianity)
Dawes Severalty Act 1887
designed to break up tribal organization which they thought caused them to be uncivilized
gave up to 160 acres to heads of families, required 25 years on land and leading a “civilized life” - homestead style
ploy in background of Dawes Severalty Act
Native reservation land (often most fertile, best) given to whites instead - reducing land of Natives
result of Dawes Severalty Act
proved a failure - disease and poverty reduced population to 200k, most as wards of US
20th & 21st century changes
1924 - partial recognition that assimilation attempts had failed, gave citizenship to all Natives regardless of if they complied w/ Dawes Act
1934 - as part of FDR’s New Deal, gov reestablished tribal organization and culture
citizenship status of Mexicans in the SW
guaranteed property rights + citizenship after MX-Amer. war.
movement of Mexicans
border w/ MX not regulated at this time, many Mexicans moved west to find work in sugar beet fields, mines of Colorado, and building railroads. better job opportunities and better life.
environmental concerns of closing frontier
loss of public lands and natural resrouce, deforestation
steps for conservation
- forest reserve act of 1891
- forest management act of 1897
withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulated their use - arbor day in 1872: planting trees
- audobon society + sierra club
conservations
believed in management and regulated use of natural resources
preservationists
ex. john muir, founder of sierra club
1892, aimed to protect natural areas from human interference
