American West Flashcards
what was tribal warfare
- common
- aims not necessarily to kill or seize land but perform acts of bravery such as stealing horses and counting coup (getting close enough to an enemy to touch him)
what are the some features of the structure of the Native American tribes
- tribes were split into bands and each band had a chief and a council of elders
- the chief didn’t have complete control but would have earned loyalty and influence over the years by demonstrating courage and generosity
what are the Indians beliefs about land and nature
- not as something to be bought or sold
- as land belonged to everyone
- humans were part of nature not masters over it
- most tribes believed that a Great Spirit had created the world and everything in nature contained spirits which they needed to keep on their side
- ceremonies and sun dance rituals were performed to contact the spirits
what were tribes in relation to settlement
they were nomadic meaning they moved with the buffalo they were hunting
but some tribes did settle and farm the land
what were medicine men and women
spiritual leaders of tribes
what was the role of women
- did most of the work in camp
- most women practised polygamy because the dangers of hunting and warfare meant there were often more women than men in tribes
- most women owned the family tipi and its contents which gave them status
what was the role of men
hunting and fighting
why were buffalo so vital for the plains Indians
because the Plains were sparse of resources like wood and livestock for food so the Indians use every part of the buffalo
- meat for food
- skin for clothes and tents
- bones for weapons and tools
why was the did the Indians lifestyle cause conflict with white settlers
Because it was so different from their own culture so settlers failed to understand it leading to tension and conflict
when did hunting become easier
in the 16th century when the Indians began to use horses which were brought over by the Europeans
why was the permanent Indian Frontier created
- The US government wanted to settle the North American continent meaning the Indians living there had to be moved
- By the 1830’s the settlers had just moved beyond the Mississippi river attracted by the fertile land there
- population growth meant land demand increased
- Manifest Destiny
- Thomas Jefferson believed land ownership and farming would create a healthy, moral population
- Expansion promised freedom, independence and opportunity
how did the US citizens view that Native American way of life
as inferior and uncivilised
before 1830 government pursued policy of assimilating the Natives in east into white society
Tribes such as Cherokee had taken on aspects of white culture but people still didn’t see them as equal
Indian Removal Act
1830
passed under President Andrew Jackson and authorised him to grant tribes land on the Great Plains in exchange for their land in the East
Discuss two examples of tribes resisting the Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Cherokees tried to resist through legal means but they were eventually forcefully marched by US soldiers to the Plains in 1838
estimated that around 4000 out of 15000 died on the journey
The Seminoles of Florida fought US soldiers from 1835-1842 but eventually surrendered and moved West
By 1840 how many Indians had been moved onto the Plains
most of the Eastern tribes
around 70,000 to 100,000 people
what was the permanent Indian frontier
The intention was that the Native Americans would live on the Great Plains while white settlers farmed the land in the East
- the boundary between these two regions was the permanent Indian Frontier
- The plains was like one large Indian reservation
In the 1830’s to 1840 why did the white Americans call the Plains ‘The Great American Desert’
because they believed that it’s harsh climate and lack of wood made it unsuitable for settling
what began to happen in 1840
- gradually settlers moved across the Plains to the west coast
- some began to settle on the Eastern edges of the plains
- this created conflict between the settlers and Plains Indians because the Indians didn’t like the settlers moving across their land and the two groups couldn’t live together because the nomadic Indians culture clashed with the desire of the settlers to fence off and settle the land
discuss the first groups of people to travel westward
1820’s and 1830’s
- mountain men who hunted animals to sell their skins
- didn’t settle in the West but established Westward trails that settlers would later use
1830’s
- missionaries aim was to convert the Native Americans there to Christianity
1839
- larger parties like the Peoria Party
Others followed in the 1840’s - their routes became known as the Oregon and California trails
when was the great migration
1843
It saw a sudden increase in settlers
life in the east was hard and the west promised better things
what were some problems in the east that made people want to migrate west
- (economic problems) Recession in 1837 caused banks to collapse and businesses to fail. Wages and profits fell and unemployment rose
- (overpopulation) high levels of European immigration, particularly from Ireland and Germany between 1846-1854 led to overcrowded cities, fewer jobs and a lack of land for people to farm
- (disease) overcrowding and poor sanitary systems led to epidemics of yellow fever and cholera
what was the attraction of the West
- A new start with fertile and cheap land
- (government encouragement) the government passed acts which allowed settler to claim land in Oregon - they wanted people to settle in the West to strengthen the USA’s claim to land there
- (gold) gold was found at John Sutter’s sawmill in California in January 1848 and in December president Pol confirmed there was gold in that area. In 1849 there was a gold rush as tens of thousands of people ,made the journey to California hoping to make their fortune.
- manifest destiny
- superiority to the natives