Native Americans

why was there conflict between native americans and settlers

most native groups not willing to assimilate and wanted their own land and independence but the american gov wanted them to, wanted their land and forced their way of life on the natives

limited native american resistance in the east in the early 19th century

only about 100,000 natives who weren’t particularly united

Who was Tecumseh

A shawnee warrior chief who organised a native american confederacy with the aim of creating an autonomous indian state and stopping white settlement in the north west

what did Tecumseh believe

all indian tribes must settle their differences and unite to keep their lands and culture

Tecumseh 1812

supported the british

Tecumseh died

1913 at the battle of Thames

what is Tecumseh’s confederacy a good example of

brief unity between native tribes and some level of success but ultimately even with unity they were unable to defeat the white americans

Tecumseh success

helped the capture of fort Detroit and rejected all land treaties signed by individual tribes demanding universal native consent for land secessions

Battle of Tippecanoe

US forces defeated him

original gov policy towards natives

relocate them from the east to west of the Mississippi river

Indian removal act terms

1830, gave federal gov funding to move tribes west, guaranteed western land to tribes forever, gave tribes some compensation and tribes would have to agree again so not to violate any previous treaties

Support for indian removal act

most Americans supported it and many even believed it would be in the natives interest as they would no longer be exploited by settlers

territory assigned to natives in indian removal act

Kansas and Indiana

removal treaties agreed under indian removal act

94, declared complete and a success by jackson in 1835

who did indian removal act mostly affect

5 civilised tribes

Choctaws indian removal act

lost a 10th of their population when they trekked west in the winter of 1831-2

who suffered worst under indian removal act

Cherokee even though they were best assimilated with a written constitution and a newspaper

Cherokee v Georgia

ruled Cherokee were a dependent nation not independent but still entitled to federal protection in georgia which jackson ignored and removed anyway

how did jackson force the cherokee to move

declared their land ownership invalid

barred them from testifying in court against white people

banned them from digging gold in their own land

Treaty of New Echota

1835, ceded 8 million acres to US gov for $5 million and a new western homeland

how many cherokee moved voluntarily

2000, 15,000 remained east

remaining cherokee forcibly removed by US troops

late 1838 in the trail of tears

trail of tears

4000 died in camps or on the journey

Bureau of Indian affairs established

1924 under the control of the department of war

responsibilities of the Bureau

settling disputes between natives and whites and appropriating funds from congress to fund assimilation policies

actions of BIA

encouraged natives to give up hunting, educate their children to american standards, become christian and take up european farming methods

fort laramie date

1851

what was fort laramie treaty of 1851

an attempt to ease tensions, recognised the territorial rights of tribes in return for them not attacking settlers by designating their lands reservations which later became an issue as gov kept making them smaller and smaller

failure of fort laramie

not all tribal members stuck to it, some tribes didn’t understand it and misinterpreted it and government misinterpreted it

gov misinterpreting fort laramie treaty

Sioux complained about size of their hunting grounds so gov said they could all hunt on each others land so didn’t take boundaries seriously

significance of fort laramie

first step towards reservations

insisted natives accepted gov and whites interference in their land

made the tribes dependent on the US gov as they had to stick to the terms to get their annuity of food and goods

limitations of fort laramie for natives

not allowed to travel outside their land so limited their ability to find food and resources

fort wise date

1861

fort wise

10 chiefs including 6 cheyenne signed away most of the land given to them in fort laramie and accepted a new reserve 1/13th of the size of their original one

Cheyenne don’t accept fort wise

said it had been signed without their consent or approval from rest of the tribe and they kept hunting in the bison rich lands outside of their reservation

Sand Creek massacre

governor of the area the Cheyenne were disputing lured them to Fort Lyon on Sand Creek promising them protection whilst they negotiated however US forces attacked the camp

date of sand creek

nov 1864 by Colnel John Chivington

who led sand creek massacre

Colnel Chivington a former christian minister who yelled ‘kill and scalp all, big and little’

how many killed at sand creek

450, children clubbed to death and pregnant women disembowelled

surrender of Cheyenne survivors

1865

treaty of medicine lodge

1867

What was treaty of medicine lodge

5000 tribal reps gathered at this traditional place of peace for natives and signed a series of treaties with the US gov

what was agreed in medicinde lodge 1867

several extra million acres offered to tribal reserves with resources given to farm and have schools and the land guaranteed

tribes given permission to carry on hunting buffalo populations for as long as they existed

3 ways medicine lodge 1867 failed

• gov failed to uphold promises like delivering supplies

• farming on reservations conflicted with their way of life

• continued violence as white settlers kept encroaching and natives expected by the gov to stay peaceful

Fort laramie second

1868

Red cloud

Lakota Sioux chief who had been leading resistance against army building a new trail through their hunting grounds, his men harassed soldiers and stopped the road being built by massacring 82 soldiers

Peace commission tours the plains

1867, produced a report on the conflicts which placed the blame largely on white settlers and called for more humane treatment of natives

fort laramie 1868 terms

Sioux tribes given large reservation in the black hills of Dakota, an area of cultural significance for them

failure of fort laramie 1868 3 reasons

• gov didn’t protect the land and didn’t stop settlers encroaching when gold was discovered in the 1870s

• failed to honour resource promises for the natives

• natives didn’t westernise and struggled with farming which made them rebel

Treaty of Bosque Redondo

1868, ended forced relocation of the Narajavo and allowed them to return back to their homeland in New mexico with resource promises from government and limited self governance

successes of Bosque Redondo

ended forced relocation and interment at camps

established them a reservation

ended hostilities between the tribe and gov which ended years of war

failures of Bosque redondo

gov failed to provide promised food and resources

land provided back to Navajo was smaller than their traditional lands so didn’t meet farming or grazing needs

limited self gov despite promising it

results of all of the treaties from 1860s and 70s

plains wars

president grant 1869-77

tried to end plains wars with a peace policy which aimed to get more natives on reservations and regulate the conditions on them to stop exploitation

why was grant’s peace policy a failure

corrupt us officials continued to run reservations and many natives didn’t receive the resources they were promised due to lack of federal finding and wars continued

Great Sioux war

1876

native side of Sioux war

some Sioux and Cheyenne continued to break the terms of the treaties led by a chief named sitting bull

who broke fort laramie treaty

Colonel Custer and white settlers who went looking for gold in 1874, provoked Sioux to go on the warpath

Battle of littlebighorn

1876, huge victory for the native Americans when Custer and his entire command was killed

reaction to little bighorn

president grant determined to avenge custer’s death so the army pursued the sioux and defeated them, fighting so relentlessly that native Americans would never again fight white settlers in battle

6 reasons why the US was so successful in the plains wars

• native loss of territory weakened their ability to resist

• natives often outgunned by US forces

• extinction of the buffalo

• division amongst tribes

• US total war strategies

• european disease and starvation affecting natives

• overwhelming US troop numbers and strength

by 1880 where were most natives

on reservations which were large on the face of it but poor land for agriculture

Rutherford hayes

began new policy of Americanisation in 1877 in an attempt to treat natives with more kindess

aim of Americanisation

completely eradicate traditional native culture and fully assimilate them, funds given for boarding schools so they could be isolated from parental influences and taught white american skils and attitudes

Dawes general allotment act

1887, broke up reservations into small units held by families or individuals

terms of the dawes general allotment act

family could recieve 160 of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land and a single male would get 80 acres, if they farmed it and were civilised they were granted citizenship in 25 years

what was dawes act

final nail in the coffin for the native population

What was the Native American population in the US in 1803 and 1890?

600,000 in 1803; fewer than 250,000 by 1890.

What was the buffalo population in the US in 1800 and 1890?

Around 30–60 million in 1800; fewer than 1,000 by 1890.