The impact of Native Americans in 1865-1877 Flashcards
Describe the lifestyle of Native Americans during the 1860s
• Buffalos
Buffalos provided Native Americans with everything they needed to survive.
The importance of buffalos to Native Americans
The buffalo determined their lifestyle, living conditions, laws, government and religious beliefs.
The impact of Westward expansion on Native Americans
• Government policy
From the 1860s, it became government policy to attract settlers to populate vast open spaces in the West.
The result of Westward expansion on Native Americans in 1860s
As white settlers pushed westwards beyond the natural frontier, the Native Americans were gradually removed from their traditional lands.
The Great Sioux War in 1876
• What happened?
The discover of gold in the Black Hills of Dakota meant gold prospectors and settlers poured into Native American territory.
The Great Sioux War in 1876?
• Conflict between the government and the Native Americans
The government believed that the Native Americans were being unreasonable, as they failed to compromise a $6 million deal.
The Great Sioux War in 1876
• What did the government ask the Native Americans to do?
The government demanded that all Native Americans should go to their reservations.
The Great Sioux War in 1876
• Result
A large and well-equipped US army wiped out the Native Americans.
What was the reason behind the US government felt threatened by Native Americans?
The US government felt that their Native Americans’ independent existence gave them a degree of self-determination, which was deemed unacceptable.
What was the common perception of Native Americans?
Native Americans were considered to be savages.
What did the reservation policy include?
A process of education, conversion to Christianity, training Native Americans to become farmers and separate them from their dependence on hunting the buffalo.
The failures of the reservation policy.
The ideal to transform Native Americans into farmers was not realised as much of the land allocated to reservations proved impossible to cultivate.
What did the Native Americans think about the reservation policy?
The total dependence on white Americans for food, clothing and shelter proved very humiliating.
What did historians think of westward expansion?
Material interest and naked expansion
