Archduke Maximilian

• 1863 - After being sent to Mexico, he antagonized Mexicans

• Violated the Monroe Doctrine

Treaty of Washington

• 1871

• Britain was granted $15.5 mil for Civil War damages

• During international arbitration, non-biased nations judged conflicts

• The last dispute between the US + UK

Alaska

• Russia forming colonies in Alaska violated the Monroe Doctrine

• 1867 - US bought Alaska for $7.2 mil (Seward’s Folly)

• Provided the US with vast mineral wealth

Indian Bureau

• Used to manage the Native Americans

• Christianized + assimilated Native Americans into US society

• Corrupt agents benefitted from supplies

Reservation System

• Federal gov’t set aside land for Native Americans

  • The crumbs of infertile land that weren’t settled by Americans

• Native Americans forced to stay on allotted lands

Sioux Rebellion

• 1862

• Dakota Sioux uprising against unfair Indian Bureau agents

• Wide resistance + sporadic fighting

• Hanged + separated to new reservations

Sand Creek Massacre

• 1864

• John Chivington killed 200 Cheyenne Native Americans

• Destroyed the Cheyenne power structure

Crazy Horse

• Lakota Sioux chief

• Tried to maintain long-standing Sioux traditions

• Alliance between the Sioux + Cheyenne

• Helped Sitting Bull defeat Custer

Geronimo

• Apache chief

• Resisted the Mexican + US gov’t

• Led raids + escaped capture

Sitting Bull

• Dakota Sioux medicine man + chief

• Huge role at the Battle of Little Big Horn

• Famous on Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show

• Led the famous Native American ghost dances

George Armstrong Custer

• Served on the Seventh Cavalry

• Fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn

  • Miscalculated the Sioux + Cheyenne populations

  • Resulted in him being isolated + killed by Native Americans Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

Battle of Little Big Horn

• 1876

• Custer divided forces + didn’t properly scout the area

• Resulted in a Native American victory

• Proved Native Americans are savages + refuse to cooperate

Battle of Wounded Knee

• The Dakota Sioux fought against the US Army

• The Sioux were opposed to the Dawes Act

Buffalo/Bison

• Provided sustenance for the Native Americans

• White hunters killed them for hides

• After almost hunting the buffalo to extinction, Native Americans were no longer able to rely on them

A Century of Dishonor

• 1881 - Written by Helen Hunt Jackson

• Protested against the unfair treatment of Native Americans

Nez Perce War

• Chief Joseph led 700 Native Americans to Canada

• Lobbied Congress to have Native Americans removed from reservations and back on their own land

Dawes Severalty Act

• 1887

• Assimilated Native Americans

• Grant 160 acres to Native American families if they agreed to assimilate into the US population

• Increased Native American resistance

Homestead Act

• Passed by Congress in 1862

• Encouraged settlement

• White families were given 160 acres to work and settle

• Land eventually sold to companies + land speculators

Frontier Thesis

• 1893 - Written by Frederick Jackson Turner

• Believed that western settlement strengthened citizens + democracy

• Spreading citizens around the US eased societal tension

Telegraph

• 1844 - Invented by Samuel F.B. Morse

• 1861 - Telegraph line reached San Francisco

• Resulted in the communication revolution

• Western Union Telegraph Company monopoly

• Morse code

• 1866 - Transatlantic cable built between the US + UK

Telephone

• 1876 - Invented by Alexander Graham Bell

• Contributed to the communication revolution

• American Telephone and Telegraph Company monopoly

• Boosted American economy

Transcontinental Railroad

• 1862-1869 - Completed at Promontory Point, Utah

• Built by immigrants

• Reduced travel time + able ship goods & people, helping the US economy

• Decimated buffalo herds while building

Texas Longhorns

• Free-ranging

• Fed on Western Mississippi grasses

• Shipped by cowboys to meat-packing plants in Chicago

Chicago

• Home to many meat-packing plants

  • Provided meat to all citizens

  • The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair revealed the corruption and unsafe conditions inside these plants

• Transportation hub

• Rapid population growth

BIG PICTURE

• 1862-1890 - Settled vast lands

• White encroachment on Native American land → Violent conflict

• Free Western land → Human migration

• Communication + transportation revolution

• Untapped resources + railroad construction → Economic boom