Native American Experience in U.S. History

These flashcards cover the vocabulary and key concepts related to the Native American experience and the factors leading to their decline in U.S. history.

Reservation

Public lands where Native Americans were forced to live by the federal government.

Assimilate

To be absorbed into the main culture of a society.

Dawes General Allotment Act

1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots.

Battle of Little Big Horn

1876 battle in which the Sioux massacred US Army troops.

Ghost Dance

An Indian dance that foretold the end of white settlement and the return of the buffalo and way of life for the Native Americans.

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 incident in which Colorado militia killed a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians.

Wounded Knee

1890 confrontation between US cavalry and Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance.

Homestead Act

A law passed by the Federal Government to encourage white settlers to move west onto the Great Plains.

Pacific Railway Act

A law to provide funding for a transcontinental railroad linking the East Coast with California.

Dawes Act

The act that pushed for the assimilation and agricultural lifestyle of Native Americans, leading to the loss of reservation land.

Americanization

The process of assimilating Native Americans into white society.

Bimetallism

The economic policy of supporting the use of both gold and silver as currency, proposed to help farmers.

Populist Party

A political party that emerged in the late 1800s, representing the interests of farmers and pushing for reforms.

Grange

An organization that aimed to address the economic issues of farmers and pushed for regulation of railroad shipping.