indian, white settlement Flashcards
overall what happend
When the white settlers arrived, the Indian tribes of the Great Plains and prairies suffered greatly. The buffalo, their main source of sustenance, migrated away due to the settlers’ disruption of their habitat. Despite complaints to Congress, the indigenous people were ignored and labeled as savages. Tensions escalated with the gold rush, leading to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, where the federal government promised compensation for damages caused by white settlers in exchange for various concessions, including restricting Indian movement and allowing federal/military presence on their land. However, as more settlers moved westward, conflicts intensified, culminating in violent clashes such as the Sand Creek massacre and the Battle of Little Bighorn. The Indians fought desperately to survive, but faced massacres, forced relocation to reservations, and loss of their way of life. The decimation of buffalo herds, loss of land, and lack of proper resources on reservations led to the decline of the Indian population, with only a fraction surviving by the turn of the century. Despite contributing to the nation, American citizenship was not granted to Native Americans until 1924.
