Paper 2 - American West 1835-1895 Flashcards
What were chiefs?
Leaders of Native Americans.
Always male.
Chosen for specific qualities, war chiefs/spiritual chiefs valued for their wisdom, leadership, or spiritual powers.
Came and went as their skills emerged.
What were band chiefs?
Each band had a chief, chosen to guide the band.
Band chiefs and elders made up the tribe’s council and made key decisions for the tribe.
Everyone would give their opinion and be listened to.
Bands made their own decisions.
What were warrior brotherhoods?
Several different brotherhoods within a tribe and young men joined after proving their bravery and skill in fighting with other tribes.
Trained young men fighting skills, taught them about the tribe’s beliefs and values.
Warrior brotherhoods weren’t under the command of the tribal council, meaning they may not always respect peace treaties.
Leading men from the brotherhoods were also invited to join a guard unit for the tribe, which led the yearly buffalo hunt, chose where the tribe should gather and make camp.
What were famous chiefs?
Some chiefs became famous due to their leadership in wars against white Americans. However, not all people in their tribes agreed with them, or followed them.
Red Cloud - fought against white America.
Sitting Bull - rejected a peace treaty.
Crazy Horse - inspired many to fight.
What were women in Plains Indian society?
Women couldn’t be chiefs and a successful man could have more than one wife in Plains Indian society. Women were responsible for feeding and clothing their families and for their family’s possessions. They were also responsible for processing buffalo hides and meat, turning them into products that could be traded. Women’s roles are highly respected.
What was survival on the Plains like?
Hot summers and cold winters, plains were dry with little rain but thunder and lightning storms were common, making it difficult to grow anything.
What was the importance of the buffalo?
Buffalo were hunted and every bit of the buffalo was used for food, fuel, clothing, and shelter. Plains Indians had a great respect for the buffalo and believed strongly that nature and land should be respected.
What was the importance of horses?
Horses were essential to Plains Indians - they needed them to hunt buffalo and to travel across the plains in search for food. Horses were important for warfare and status within Plains Indian society. Men measured their wealth in horses.
What were some beliefs about nature?
Plains Indians believed that everything in nature had a spirit. These spirits would sometimes help humans. Plains Indians believed that humans were a part of nature and should work with the spirits of nature rather than trying to tame nature to obey them.
They believed they could contact the spirit world through ‘vision quests’, guided by spirit animals, like spirit hawks or spirit foxes. Plains Indians also danced special ritual dances to enter the spirit world. It was also possible to work with spirits to charge up magic items, which they would wear to bring them luck in hunting or protection from weapons, including bullets.
What were some beliefs about land?
Land was seen as sacred, especially the Black Hills. Some tribes farmed land, hunted, fished, gathered plants, and resources.
No one owned land as property and land weren’t things that could be bought or sold.
Hunting areas were agreed by tribes. Farming and mining was seen as disrespectful.
What were some attitudes towards war?
Survival on the plains was so difficult that some tribes raided each other for resources. However, young men were very valuable so conflict was a last resort - didn’t want to lose valuable warriors. The raid would only go ahead if it looked like it would be successful. Only selected brotherhoods went on raids. A special type of fighting was called counting coups.
What was Plains Indian society like?
Tribes lived on the Great Plains, made up of several bands.
Bands could be several hundred or just 20-30 people. Bands would meet at different times, which varied from tribe to tribe.
What was the government’s policy towards the Plains Indians around 1830?
As more people moved to the USA, the demand to find land for them increased. They planned to move westwards, but this brought them into conflict with Plains Indians who lived on the Plains.
At first, the Federal Government did believe that Plains Indians had some rights to land because they’d lived there so long.
However, they felt it was wrong to give them the good land as they weren’t doing anything to improve it. White settlers were ploughing, mining, farming, cutting down trees to make the area a civilised settlement.
They wanted to control the movement of Plains Indians so that they could allow white Americans to settle in the area.
What did the government decide to do in 1830 and what did this lead to?
- Keep white settlers and Plains Indians apart.
- Encourage Plains Indians to become more like white settlers.
This meant they created a permanent Indian frontier in 1834, and led to the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
What was the 1830 Indian Removal Act?
President Jackson signed it, which put pressure on 46,000 Plains Indians to move from the East of America to new lands west of the Mississippi River.
They were promised that they wouldn’t have to give up this land in the future.
The Act said that Plains Indians that did move would be guaranteed protection from any white settlers and from other tribes.
This became known as the Indian Territory, which kept white settlers and Plains Indians apart.
What were some problems with the creation of an Indian Territory?
Could disrupt the buffalo
Moved Plains Indians away from sacred lands
Native Americans didn’t believe in the ownership of land
May not have been able to maintain nomadic lifestyle
Disrupted hunting
Could have been seen as disrespectful and then led to conflict.
What happened to the 1830 Indian Removal Act in 1834 and how did the terms change?
It became a permanent Indian frontier, and the law was called the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act.
Whites weren’t allowed to cross or settle on Plains Indian land.
Guns and alcohol weren’t allowed to be sold to Plains Indians and the army were placed along the Frontier.
The agreement suited the government because whites didn’t want the land in the Indian Territory (it was too difficult to settle on) so not many whites wanted to cross the area.
Why did government policy towards Plains Indians change in the 1840s?
US gained territories in the west.
1845 - Texas became part of the USA.
1846 - Oregon became part of the USA.
1848 - California became part of the USA (gold was discovered there in 1849).
Indian territory was now in the middle of the USA, so if the government wants to encourage settlements in the new states, they need to change the terms of earlier agreements.
How did migrants travel across state?
The journey west by sea was too expensive so migrants started to use trails, which the government encouraged. The government also used the army to protect migrants from Plains Indians. Whites could cross the Indian Territory.
Why did the government pass the 1851 Indian Appropriations Act?
As whites could now cross the Indian Territory, it could increase tension between migrants and Plains Indians, be seen as disrespectful by the Plains Indians (particularly in areas of sacred importance), disrupt the buffalo further.
What was the 1851 Indian Appropriations Act?
It have Plains Indians money to move onto reservations, an area of land ‘reserved’ for Plains Indians and managed by the government.
Some reservations also had hunting rights, so they could continue to hunt the buffalo.
Reservations were a way of controlling Plains Indians even more.
They were moved away from land that the government wanted for white people.
They reduced the amount of land that Plains Indians had for hunting as they wanted them to become farmers and be more like white Americans.
Conditions on the reservations were poor and Plains Indians started to become dependent on the government, and conflict continued to occur.
What was manifest destiny?
The belief that white Americans had a God-given right to populate and civilise all areas of America from coast to coast.
What were some reasons why white Americans wanted to move west?
1837 financial crisis caused many Eastern banks to collapse and businesses to fail, up to 25% unemployment, those who had a job faced wage cuts of up to 40%.
Population grew due to high immigration from Europe, overcrowding in the east, people were poor.
Land in the east was expensive due to overcrowding.
Many moved west in the hope of escaping religious intolerance.
What were aspects of the west that attracted white Americans?
Gold was discovered in California in 1848, led to 100,000 leaving east in April 1849.
Gold prospectors needed equipment, food, drink and entertainment so people moved west to become shopkeepers, bartenders and traders.
Migrants were promised cheap or free farming land in Oregon and California, attracted people who were poor/jobless.
Successful crossings encouraged more people to migrate.
1841 US government provided $30,000 for an expedition to map the Oregon Trail and publish reports to help migrants get to Oregon.
Reports of how wonderful the west was reached the east.
John Fremont published influential reports about the Oregon Trail, convincing potential migrants that moving to Oregon was manageable.
Government set up boards of immigration, published maps and reports, provided protection for travellers by sending units of the US army to the west.
Even if men were unsuccessful in finding gold, many stayed and became farmers.
What was the 1843 ‘Great Emigration’ and why was it important?
900 people made the trip west using the Oregon Trail.
Proved that large numbers of people could make the journey.
This made more migrants make the journey west.
What were the main problems for early migrants?
Migrants were told not to start their journey until April to ensure that there was enough grass on the plains after winter to provide food for their animals.
Needed to make sure that they made their journey before winter otherwise they risked getting stuck in the mountains and freezing to death.
Needed to take enough food to live in for the entire journey and what they would need to set up home.
How did migrants protect themselves from Plains Indians?
Doubled their guard at night.
Made a wagon corral.
Why was water important and dangerous during the migration trails?
Migrants needed to stay near water at all times.
Cholera spread through the water.
What were some of the dangers of the first stage of migrants’ journey (prairie/grassland)?
Weather
Plains Indians
What were some of the dangers of the second stage of migrants’ journey (mountains)?
Terrain was difficult
Water and grass were scarce
Rocky terrain damaged wagons
How long did the journey take overall?
5 months (2,000 miles)
Why were oxen the best animals to pull wagons?
Were strong, obedient and able to live on the grass of the plains.
However, were slow and only travelled 3km per hour.
What were some features of wagon trains?
Ended up with 20 or more wagons.
Safest way to travel was to ensure that people within your ‘train’ had different skills: carpenter, hunter, fisherman, people who had medical skills.
How many people are believed to have died along the Oregon Trail?
20,000
Why did migrants demand greater protection from Native Americans when they were on the Oregon Trail?
There are few records of Native Americans attacking migrants, but the migrants were very fearful of this.
How many people were in the Donner Party?
300 migrants, 60 wagons
When did the Donner Party begin their crossing?
May 1846
Were well-equipped, but had more women, elderly people and children.
Led by Donner brothers.
Why did the Donner Party split up?
They reached Fort Bridger in July, and the group split. Around 80 migrants, including both Donner brothers, decided to try a new short-cut that left the Oregon Trail and cut about 550km off the established route. Lansford Hastings had written about it in a guidebook, but the migrants didn’t know that Hastings hadn’t used the short-cut himself - he simply thought it would work.
Why did the Donner Party’s short-cut not work?
It didn’t save time, and caused delay after delay. The terrain was rugged and rocky, had steep slopes and canyons, with stretches of desert with no water or grass. Arguments raged constantly within the group as to whether they should keep going or turn back. It was mid-October when the Donner Party reached the Sierra Nevada mountains.
What happened when the Donner Party reached the Sierra Nevada mountains?
At the start of November, the exhausted oxen dragged the wagons high into the mountains, but before they could make it over the pass, snow storms trapped the Donner Party. Their livestock died and skin their food ran out. The first migrant died of starvation on 15th December. When rescuers from California reached the party in February, only half of the original 80 were alive - most of them had only survived by eating those that had died.
Why did the Mormons want to migrate west?
The Mormons were a religious group that was shunned by other Christians due to some of their practices, such as polygamy. They were forced to move from one state to another, with opposition to them growing wherever they went. In 1845, they were ordered to leave Illinois after rioters murdered their leader, Joseph Smith.
Where did the Mormons head to and why did they choose this destination?
They were heading south of the Oregon Trail to Salt Lake Valley - it was outside of US territory so they could escape persecution.
What happened during the first stage of the Mormons’ journey?
They didn’t complete their first stage until June. They made the decision to stay in Omaha until next spring.
Why did leadership mean the Mormons’ migration was successful?
Brigham Young decided to wait in Omaha a year before migrating west.
Young successfully led the advance party and planned carefully for the second crossing.
He consulted trail guides and explorers to find out as much as he could about Salt Lake Valley.
Young taught migrants how to form their wagons into a circle at night to protect livestock.
Why did organisation mean the Mormons’ migration was successful?
April 1847 a small advance party set off for Salt Lake Valley, and cleared paths, located water sources, prepared river crossings and even planted crops, making later and larger migrations successful.
Young organised a count of all the Mormons and the wagons they had, used this to plan the logistics of the migration and what they would need to survive.
Regular resting places were planned to test people and livestock.
Mormons built irrigation systems so Salt Lake Valley had freshwater to grow crops. As new settlements developed, each one was designed to produce particular products (food/crops/timber) - Young made sure each settlement had the skills to flourish.
Why did religion mean the Mormons’ migration was successful?
Believed that Young was God’s prophet and therefore obeyed him completely.
Young decided that the Church owned all the land so that the community worked together for the good of everyone.
Each settlement that developed had a Church leader with authority over everything.
Why did discipline mean the Mormons’ migration was successful?
Migrants were given specific roles which they stayed completely committed to.
They were divided into manageable groups, each with a leader, meaning even if groups were separated on their journey, everyone would still know what to do.
Young insisted on street discipline, as a result, there weren’t any arguments and splits.
Each group had the right mix of skills to survive.
How did the government encourage migration further?
Mapped out safe routes for migrants.
Included places for water/rest.
Provisions/ferry crossings.
Invested $30,000 - expeditioners mapped out the first route.
Published reports/success stories, so encouraged more to migrate.
How many people had migrated across the Oregon Trail by 1869?
400,000
What were the main problems with farming that white settlers faced?
The plains had very low rainfall, and few rivers/streams.
The plains were too dry for crops, not enough water for livestock.
Crops shrivelled in the summer heat and were destroyed by storms and fires.
No timber for housing/fences, no wood to burn for cooking/heating.
No wood meant settlers had to burn buffalo chips as fuel, needed to burn lots and they burnt very quickly.
Plains had extreme climates.
Living conditions in extreme weather was very difficult as houses were made from sod.
Few trees on the plains, and any saplings were killed by fires.
Digging deep wells was expensive, and winching enough water up every day was hard work.
Swarms of grasshoppers could destroy crops/grass/wool on sheep’s backs.
Ploughing was difficult due to deep tangled grass roots, which broke normal ploughs.
What was a sod-buster?
A heavy plough pulled by oxen which made ploughing the dry soil easier.
Why did the government introduce the Fort Laramie Treaty 1851?
Tensions between white settlers and Plains Indians were high:
Many misunderstandings about Plains Indians culture.
Fear of being attacked/brutal punishments fuelled the idea that Plains Indians weren’t civilised.
White settlers demanded the government build forts to protect migrants.
White settlers travelling through sacred lands was seen as disrespectful.
Migration disturbed the buffalo, threatening Plains Indians’ way of life, white settlers didn’t hunt carefully, oxen used by settlers led to a shortage of grass, and buffalo herds decreased.
Scarce resources led to Native Americans raiding other tribes for food, horses, people, some stole cows/horses from migrants, fuelling mistrust, increasing demands for better protection. Also whites were angered by Plains Indians who begged for supplies.
Whites believed they were superior and should occupy all of America so it was civilised.
What were some problems with the Plains Indian council regarding the Fort Laramie Treaty 1851?
Choosing council representatives - government wanted each tribe to name a chief to represent the whole tribe, Plains Indians didn’t work that way (Sioux Tribe especially struggled).
Getting representatives from all the tribes - large numbers of tribes were represented, some didn’t attend. Most Plains Indians had no interest in the council, they went for government food and free gifts.
Agreeing boundaries - government wanted to pin precise boundaries to each tribe’s land so warring tribes would be apart, but Plains Indians didn’t use land this way, travelled far to find food and resources, some tribes were allies so travelled together. Idea of boundaries wouldn’t work and wasn’t accepted.
Translation difficulties - treaty was written in English, but weren’t enough translators for the representatives to understand it - didn’t know what they were signing.
What did the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty state Plains Indians would do?
End fighting between tribes.
Allow migrants to pass through lands safely.
Permit surveyors from railroad companies to enter the lands in safety.
Allow the government to build roads through their lands and construct army posts.
Pay compensation if any individuals from their tribe broke the Treaty terms.
Remain in designated areas.
What did the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty state the US government would do?
Protect Plains Indians from white Americans.
Pay the tribes an annuity of $50,000 as long as the terms of the Treaty were kept.
What were the problems and significance of the Treaty?
Forced Plains Indians into a particular area of territory.
Treaty went against previous laws which said that white settlers shouldn’t enter the Indian Frontier (government went back on their word).
As long as tribes agreed to terms, they’d be paid in food and products, however, this meant they would become dependent on the government.
Government were trying to get Plains Indians to become more like white settlers.
What were some consequences of Fort Laramie?
Plains Indians became more dependent on the government.
Increased tension, as Plains Indians’ beliefs/lifestyles were undermined.
Increased tension due to lack of resources (more fighting/raids).
Buffalo numbers decreased due to increased migration and railroads.
More migration as migrants were now guaranteed safe passage.
More Plains Indians went on reservations willingly.
What were some features of the Gold Rush 1849?
Gold was first found in California.
By 1855, 300,000 migrants had moved across.
In April 1849, 100,000 migrants alone moved.
Some migrants got rich, some stayed and became farmers, increased settlements (which became lawless places).
What was ‘staking a claim’?
The law set out what amount of land was fair for each prospector to claim and gave him the rights to any gold he found there.
What was ‘claim jumping’?
If a claim looked promising, other men tried to steal it.
What was ‘salting a claim’?
Scattering a few flakes of gold in a worthless claim, then conning an inexperienced migrant into buying it.
What were ‘road agents’?
People who waited outside camps to rob prospectors.
What were some consequences of the 1849 Gold Rush?
There were prostitutes and people selling alcohol in mining camps (led to drunken fights between men who formed attachments to the same woman) and many people had guns.
Prospectors came from all over the world so mining camps were mixed ethnicities and from different religions (led to tension/triggered violence).
By mid-1850, many prospectors hadn’t found anything/‘worked out’ their claims and moved in to mine underground funded by rich investors (ordinary people didn’t have skills/investment to mine this way so were employed by mining companies, moved to other territories to find gold, looked for jobs, mainly in San Francisco).
Thousands of disappointed prospectors who went to San Francisco couldn’t find work, causing a crime wave in 1851, rival gangs took control of city areas, law officers ineffective due to scale of problem and corruption, reach such a point that gang members would stroll into saloons/kill people/take money.
Racism against Chinese immigrants increased, they were prevented from working new claims, still made money by working hard leading to white Americans robbing them/destroying camps and even murdering them. 20,000 Chinese migrants arrived in California following a famine in China 1852.
Why was it difficult to manage law and order in the territories?
When a territory reached 60,000 people, it could apply to be a state and have its own state government and legal system.
Until then, it was under federal government’s control.
They appointed governors and marshals but it was difficult to enforce law and order.
Once a territory had 5,000 people, it could elect a sheriff, chosen for their ability to calm people down and break up fights.
Why did sheriffs mean it was difficult to enforce law and order in the west?
Sheriffs only had very little legal training, is they didn’t always act fairly, often favouring their friends over other people, which increased tension.
Why did geographical factors mean it was difficult to enforce law and order in the west?
Territories were huge areas with scattered settlements - even counties were often very large (a Kansas sheriff’s country typically covered 200,000km squared).
Before the late 1860s, horseback was the fastest way of travel, so news of trouble took a long time for officers to hear and then reach. Even with deputies, there weren’t enough law officers for effective law enforcement.
Why did lack of investment mean it was difficult to enforce law and order in the west?
Federal government didn’t spend much on the territories, so law enforcement was badly paid.
As a result, it was hard to recruit law officers and many were corrupt - accepting money from criminals to avoid arrest, or taking a cut from criminal activities.
State government was also racist.
