Politics and Law and Order; Indian wars. Flashcards
(141 cards)
1
Q
What type of government is the government of the US?
A
A federal government, with power split between the national and state government.
2
Q
How many states in the US to start with?
A
13
3
Q
How did the constitution change as more states were admitted?
A
It did not need to, the constitution allowed for the addition of more states.
4
Q
How is each state governed?
A
Each state has a governor and a legislature (law making body). It sends delegates to the House of Representatives and the Senate in Washington DC.
5
Q
What is the implication of having state legislatures?
A
Laws can vary in different states and even areas.
6
Q
As the west developed, it was carved roughly into?
A
territories.
7
Q
What could territories do?
A
Appoint some officials, but the federal government appointed many of the more important ones.
8
Q
When could a territory become a state?
A
When it reached a population of 60,000.
9
Q
Why would ambitious local politicians want people to move into their territory?
A
Because they wanted the territory to become a state, as that meant the local politicians would be more important.
10
Q
Who divided the states?
A
Their own legislature.
11
Q
What was each state divided into?
A
Counties.
12
Q
What did each county have?
A
Administrative seat, courthouse and jail.
13
Q
How did towns start?
A
Some grew naturally, others were “boosted” in to being by business promoters, and towns formed their own municipal governments.
14
Q
The west had developed quite a lot by 1890, what did the US Bureau of the Census do?
A
It declared the frontier closed, there were no large areas of unclaimed land awaiting settlers, and what there was was not good quality land.
15
Q
What did town marshals control?
A
Law enforcement in a small area around their town.
16
Q
What could federal marshals do?
A
Enforce law throughout the US, but the crime had to be one dealt with by the federal courts.
17
Q
What is the distinction between state courts and federal courts?
A
They try different crimes.
18
Q
What is the final point of appeal for the states?
A
The state governor.
19
Q
How many of the people who struggled into the west for the gold rush and beef bonanza made a huge fortune?
A
Very few.
20
Q
How were the transcontinental railway, and cities such as San Francisco, funded?
A
By the gold revenues.
21
Q
What helped make the US a major world trading nation?
A
Trading in gold.
22
Q
What natural resource became important in the last quarter of the 19th century?
A
Oil
23
Q
Where are many of the best oil fields in the US?
A
In the West.
24
Q
What was law like in the old West?
A
It was very violent, lawless.
25
Why was the West in the late 1800s so violent?
There were changes in society, cattle barons, railroads and other corporations (who were large) were taking over from the small homesteaders, small ranchers and prospectors.
26
What do some historians call the violence of the late 1800s in the American West?
Western Civil War of Incorporation.
27
What were some outlaws treated as, and why?
They were treated as heroes as they were seen as standing up for ordinary people against the corporations.
28
Who was Jesse James?
The leader of the outlaw James Younger gang.
29
Why was Jesse James so popular?
The gang's targets were the hated banks and railway companies.
30
What were the range wars?
Small scale conflicts between groups of ranchers with competing interests.
31
Who was famous in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico?
Billy the Kid. The "war" was fought between two competing cattle kings.
32
Who was Wyatt Earp?
An outlaw who later became a lawman.
33
What was Wyatt Earp's crime?
He was arrested in 1871 for cattle rustling (stealing); he was involved in the killing of 3 men at the OK Corral in 1881. He also took part in the "Dodge City War" in 1883, when Dodge City was the "wickedest city" in the West. 3 years later, cattle trails gone, it was just a sleepy little town.
34
What was Wyatt Earp's career after his stealing and murdering?
He became a lawman. He also got to write the history of the OK Corral, and even got to advise on the film made about the event in Hollywood!
35
Why did people take the law into their own hands in the West?
The place was often lawless, laws were not enforced so people had to defend their own property or even lives.
36
What did the lack of formal law enforcement lead to?
Vigilante groups (people who decided to enforce law in their own way, often with violence)
37
Who joined the early vigilante groups?
Ordinary citizens, often ordinary citizens who had a grudge as they had suffered because of actions of others.
38
What happened to vigilante groups later on?
They were used as tools by the big businesses, usually against "outlaw" groups opposing their expansion.
39
Who was on the side of law, and who was outlaw, in the West?
It was hard to tell, it was often a matter for debate, and the whole truth was almost impossible to find out.
40
When was the Johnson County War?
1892
41
What was the Johnson County War?
One of the Range Wars
42
What started the Johnson County War?
Small landowners in Johnson County felt that the cattle barons were stealing their land. The Ranchers thought that the homesteaders were stealing their cattle.
43
In 1889 Watson and Averill were murdered by a lynch mob. Why?
A rancher, AJ Bothwell wanted land claimed by Averill. Averill lived with a prostitute called Watson who had some rebranded cows. Bothwell accused them both of rustling and the lynch mob killed them.
44
What did the Wyoming Stock Growers Association do in 1892?
They drew up a hit list of 70 suspected rustlers, and mounted a huge vigilante raid into Johnson county - on a special train laid on by Union Pacific Railroad! They called themselves "the Regulators"
45
What happened when the Regulators got into Johnson County?
They killed two alleged rustlers, but a group of locals came and laid siege on the Regulators at a ranch called the TA. Eventually there were 250 locals,including the Sheriff of Buffalo, ready to kill the Regulators.
46
How was the siege at the TA ranch resolved?
The Stock Growers Association had influence with the government, and they used this to influence the government who called the army to rescue the Regulators, which was done by a bloodless truce.
47
Who was taken to court after the Regulators had murdered two men?
No one!
48
How did the settlers believe the Native Americans were?
Lazy, savage.
49
What did the settlers believe about land?
They believed in land ownership, so their exclusive use of the land had priority over the tribal rights. They would also have felt that they only had a "little bit", and why should the Native Americans have all that land when they don't even use it.
50
Who were the exceptions to the general settler view of the Native Americans?
They tended to be the people who knew them best, eg Jim Bridger, the mountain man.
51
What were the Native Americans given as their land in 1830?
The whole of the Great Plains.
52
What was the eastern edge of the Great Plain known as?
The Permanent Indian Frontier.
53
How were the plains viewed at the time that they were given to the Native Americans in 1830?
The Great American Desert - wild, inhospitable.
54
Why did the great migration start in 1843?
The population of the US was rising rapidly.
55
Where did the great migration go?
It moved west across the plains to Oregon and California to find land.
56
What did the great migration mean for the Plains Indians?
There was some disruption to the buffalo herds, but mainly it was just a trading opportunity for the Plains Indians.
57
When did problems start for the Plains Indians?
With the gold rush of 1849.
58
Why was the gold rush a problem for the Native Americans?
Hunting and gathering were disrupted by the mines, to the extent that many Plains Indians were left near starvation. The miners also brought diseases.
59
How did the numbers of Native Americans change in California from 1846 to 1870?
They dropped from 100,000 to 30,000
60
How did the Native Americans react to the changes brought by the gold rush?
The tribes fought the settlers, and the army.
61
What did the US government attempt to do with the tribes?
They reserved lands where the tribes could be confined by treaty.
62
What was the problem with the lands reserved for the tribes by treaty?
If the land was poor it was often not enough for the Native Americans to live off, and if the land was better, the settlers would take it in defiance of the treaty,
63
What happened to the Navajos in 1868?
The treaty with the US allowed them enough land, and they achieved peace and prosperity.
64
What happened to the Apaches until their surrender in 1886?
Their reservation land was hot and malarial, so they fought against confinement (under Conchise and Geronimo), they had to surrender in 1886.
65
What had the Cherokees in Georgia done by 1830?
They lived in European-style houses, farmed, and even published a newspaper in their own alphabet.
66
What happened to the Cherokees under the "Indian Removal Act" of 1830?
They were expelled from Georgia to Oklahoma, and had to leave in 1838. 4000 Cherokees died on the way, remembered as the "Trail of Tears".
67
Why could the Native Americans and the settlers no co-exist?
There were too many settlers, and they wanted land, so the tribes were being squeezed out.
68
What brought a few years peace in the West in 1951?
The Fort Laramie Treaty.
69
What was the purpose of the Fort Laramie Treaty?
To protect the Oregon Trail.
70
Why was it called the Fort Laramie Treaty?
Fort Laramie, Wyoming is where 10,000 Sioux, Shoshonis, Cheyennes, Crows, and Arapahos collected in council.
71
What did the Fort Laramie Treaty agree?
Transit rights across the land; forts could be built along the trail; and each tribe would stay in their own area so that each tribe could be held responsible for attacks in their own area.
72
What was the first attempt at a reservation system on the Great Plains?
The Fort Laramie Treaty.
73
What did the signatories to the Fort Laramie Treaty get?
Annuities (annual payments). These were later reduced by Congress.
74
How was the Santa Fe Trail protected?
By a treaty in 1853, signed with the Comanches and Kiowas
75
How long did the treaties last?
From 1855 wars between the US and northern plains tribes resumed.
76
When was the American Civil War?
1861-65
77
What was the cause of the Civil War?
The Confederates (11 southern states) wanted to break away from the union and continue with slavery.
78
What did the Civil War do to westward migration?
It continued.
79
Where was the Civil War fought (mainly)?
East of the Mississippi, but attempts were made by both sides to involve the Native Americans.
80
What was the effect of the ranchers leaving their ranches to fight in the Civil War?
The cattle bred, and many came back to vast herds.
81
Where did many of the soldiers of the Civil War carry on fighting after the Civil War was over?
Against the Plains Indians - eg Custer, Sherman and Sheridan all fought in the Civil War.
82
When did Little Crow's War happen?
In 1862.
83
Who were the Dakota?
Also known as the Santee Sioux, they were peaceful, accepted reservation life. Little Crow, their chief, wore a jacket and trousers, went to church and took up farming.
84
What effect did the Civil War have on the Dakota?
The combination of civil War shortages, a bad harvest, late annuity and cheating by traders left the people near starvation
85
What happened with the Dakota in August 1862?
Four Dakota returning from an unsuccessful hunt murdered five settlers for a dare.
86
What did Little Crow do after the murder of five settlers by his people?
He feared retribution against his whole tribe, so he led an uprising. Many troops were away fighting the Civil War, so the uprising killed hundreds of settlers and 100 soldiers. The town of Little Ulm was burned.
87
Where were the Dakota defeated in Little Crow's War?
At Wood Lake, in September.
88
What happened to the Dakota after Little Crow's War?
38 Dakota prisoners were hanged. Most of the Dakota were expelled from their land, and forced into a mobile existence.
89
When did the Cheyenne uprising start?
April 1864 - so during the Civil War.
90
What made the Cheyenne uprising start?
In April 1864, after a dispute over cattle, the Cheyenne began raids on ranches and stagecoaches,committing atrocities which outraged public opinion.
91
What was the response to Cheyenne atrocities committed in 1864?
In August 1864 the Governor of Colorado Territory issued a proclamation urging the hunting down of "hostile Indians".
92
What was the reaction to the August 1864 proclamation by the Governor of Colorado Territory?
Volunteers started shooting at every Cheyenne they could find.
93
What did the Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle want after the August 1864 proclamation by the Governor of Colorado Territory?
Peace, and a safe winter camp.
94
What did army officers promise Chief Black Kettle after the August 1864 proclamation by the Governor of Colorado Territory?
They promised him protection if he would move to Sand Creek.
95
What happened at the Cheyenne Camp at Sand Creek?
Colonel John Chivington attacked the camp with a force of 700 volunteers. Of the 500 in camp, 163 were killed, 110 of these were women and children. The rest escaped.
96
What happened to the volunteers who had attacked Sand Creek?
When they went back to Denver, displaying scalps as trophies, many people were sickened. The massacre was investigated by Congress, Chivington was condemned, but not punished.
97
How did the Native Americans respond to the events of Sand Creek?
The Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux retaliated by burning ranches and killing women and children too. The central plains erupted into war.
98
What happened to Chief Black Kettle?
He was killed in 1868 by Custer's soldiers, during another massacre, this one at the Washita River.
99
What was the Bozeman Trail?
It connected the Platte River with the mines in Montana.
100
Whose land did the Bozeman Trail pass through?
The Sioux owned these hunting grounds, under the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty.
101
Why did the army want to build forts along the Bozeman trail?
To protect the travellers from Indians.
102
What did the army do to try and get permission to build forts along the Bozeman trail?
They held talks with Red Cloud in 1866. Talks broke down when the Sioux saw soldiers marching out to begin building before any deal had been struck.
103
Who started building forts along the Bozeman trail before the Sioux had agreed?
Col Carrington.
104
What happened while Col Carrington was building the forts along the Bozeman trail?
He was harassed by groups of Plains Indians, including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
105
What was Red Cloud's War?
The fight against the forts on the Bozeman trail.
106
What happened during Red Cloud's War?
Some battles outside the forts. In December 1866 Capt Fetterman's force was ambushed and destroyed, about 100 soldiers died.
107
What happened after Capt Fetterman's force was wiped out?
Carrington's force was only saved by bad weather, but they had to negotiate a surrender.
108
What happened to the Bozeman trail forts?
They were abandoned, and burned by the Native Americans.
109
What did the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1968 agree?
(Notice - it is the second one, different date!). The US gave the Sioux Western Dakota as a reservation, they agreed not to refortify the Bozeman Trail, and Red Bull promised not to make war on the settlers - a promise he kept.
110
What happened to the size of the reservations as time passed?
They became smaller and smaller.
111
How did the railroad companies get around the treaties that gave the land that they passed through to the Native Americans?
They violated the treaties.
112
What was the big problem with building a railroad across the land?
The railroad was funded by grants of land, 10 square miles for every mile of track, and the land was sold to settlers. It was therefore not just a narrow traintrack, it was a strip of land many miles wide.
113
How was the railroad protected?
General Sherman built forts to stop the Native Americans from derailing trains, and ambushing workmen.
114
What was the impact of the railroad on the buffalo?
Vast numbers were slaughtered to feed the construction gangs.
115
When was gold confirmed in the Black Hills of Dakota?
1874, by General Custer's troops.
116
Who owned the Black Hills of Dakota when gold was discovered?
The Sioux,under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1968. The Black Hills were sacred to them.
117
What happened as soon as gold was confirmed, despite government opposition?
A gold rush.
118
How did the Native Americans react to the invasion of the Black Hills by all these people seeking gold?
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse raised the largest force of Native Americans ever seen, about 4000 people.
119
How did the US government react to the Sioux uprising?
They sent the army, under General Crook. Crook hoped to split the Indian force, but managed to split his own force. Custer was very ambitious and deliberately sought the chance to attack on his own, which made Crook's error even worse.
120
What did Custer do that made him very famous?
He was aiming to beat the Sioux uprising when he entered the valley of Little Bighorn, outnumbered 5 to 1. He did not have the advantage of technology either, the Native Americans had repeating Winchester rifles (you only need to load after multiple shots) and the army had single shot Springfields (so had to reload after every shot).
121
What happened that made Custer famous in the phrase "Custer's last stand"?
The Sioux killed Custer and all 225 of his men, the greatest American Indian victory of all time.
122
What difference did the victory at Little Bighorn make to the Native Americans?
None, it was too late, they could not bring back the buffalo, or stop the tide of settlers or the Black Hills gold rush.
123
How did the army respond to Little Bighorn?
They launched a winter campaign in 1876, the Sioux were beaten by hunger and the loss of their horses. Sitting Bull went to Canada.
124
What happened to Crazy Horse?
In May 1877 he surrendered to the agency (reservation) of Red Cloud. Later he was killed by some of his own people while resisting arrest.
125
After the Sioux uprising, the Native Americans were left without any illusions about the chances of fighting the white man. What happened?
A string of Native American prophets arose, telling of a future that totally turned the balance of power in favour of the Native Americans.
126
Chato and Geronimo are very famous members of the Apache tribe. Why?
They were the leaders in an uprising that could only be defeated by the combined might of the US and the Mexican governments, in 1883 and 1884..
127
What started the Apache uprising, in 1881?
A medicine man said he could raise dead warriors and clear the settlers from Arizona.
128
When did Geronimo finally surrender for the final time?
1886. (Song about Geronimo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPpWcFjV0bQ)
129
What did Wovoka say?
He taught a special ghost dance could raise the dead and bring a new world, free from the settlers. He was opposed to violence, but his followers took his teachings as a call for war.
130
What were the ghost-dance shirts?
Some Sioux followers of Wokova believed the special shirts would protect them from bullets.
131
What did Sitting Bull do after going to Canada in 1876?
He joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885, but then returned to the reservation. He was killed in a bungled attempt to arrest him in 1890, as the government (wrongly) believed that he was part of the Ghost Dance movement.
132
What happened at Wounded Knee?
Big Foot of the Sioux was camped there as he wanted to avoid the trouble that was brewing. The troops cought up with him and tried to disarm the Sioux. One warrior fired a shot, the troops replied with many shots, killing 52. More warriors from a nearby agency shot at the soldiers and then vanished into the prairie.
133
How many deaths at Wounded Knee?
In total, there were 150 Sioux, 60 of the women and children, and 25 soldiers.
134
What did Wounded Knee signify?
The final suppression of the Native Americans by armed force. They all had to accept the reservations as home.
135
When did the belief in the ghost shirts fade?
When the ghost shirts were shown to be riddled with bullet holes, and it also marked the end in belief of a magical restoration of the old way of life.
136
How did the Native American culture get destroyed?
No buffalo meant that many tribes could only survive with government aid (still true today); living on hand-outs causes high rates of alcoholism (still true today); dependency gave the government a way of controlling the tribes.
137
What, specifically, was done that destroyed the Native American culture?
Sun Dance was banned; children were taken away; plural marriages were banned; rations were withheld if the tribes did not cooperate.
138
What did the Dawes Act (1887) aim to do?
It wanted to convert tribesmen into farmers, by breaking up reservations into allotments that were granted to each head of family. US citizenship was part of the deal
139
What happened to any "surplus land" after all heads of families had been allocated their allotment?
It was thrown open to white settlement.
140
When was the Dawes Act repealed?
1934, but the native Americans had lost 60% of their lands by then.
141
What was the Oklahoma land rush?
Land belonging to five tribes was exempt from the Dawes act, but forces sales saw 15,000 settlers race across the starting line to seize land on what had been the Cherokee strip.
