Westward Expansion: Impact of Natives Thesis Statement: Due to the taking of land and resources, Americans treated the Natives negatively during the Westward Expansion When watching the recent movie ‘The Revenant’, audiences wonder what the message of the story or the theme. Setting up in the 18th century it follows a man (Hugh Glass) that was helping the Americans collect game in exchange for money. He was taken in because he knows the language and land of the Native Americans, due to his wife and child being part of the culture of Indians. Natives were killed for defending their land and keeping the White men from claiming it. The movie also shows the violence directed toward the Native Americans such as the rape of the women. Since this …show more content…
These soldiers cut down my timber; they kill my buffalo; and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting; I feel sorry.” (Santana, Chief of the Kiowas 1). This quote strikes strongly; he states his feelings of the Whites destroying the land, his land. The men start to spread into Indian territory and taking the sources of the land such as buffalo. Due to the Slaughter of buffalo this impacted the Natives spiritually, mentally and emotionally. They used the bison as lifeline, they used the animal fully. Every piece of the body was used to help the Natives live. Why were the men killing the buffalo? Most of the meat was supplied to the soldiers of the Civil War. Fur was used as coats and lap robes for riding houses and carriages. Leavenworth, Kansas became a trading center for buffalo materials where they also sold the bones grinded up for fertilizer. In some restaurants buffalo tongues became a delicacy, this sent the demand of buffalos at the highest demand. Buffalo hunting became a year-round job paying $3.00 per hide and 25 cents per tongue. This high demand was one just one of the reasons the Indian-American war began in
During the period 1860-1890, western expansion negatively impacted the lives of Native Americans, by turning their lives upside-down under the order of the orders of the federal government. I say this because The Americans massacred the friendly Indians, Disrespected the culture and beliefs by slaughtering the buffalo, and Forcing Indians to assimilate to American culture. Native Americans were negatively impacted by Americans because of the western expansion and in doing so it lead to the incorrect assumption which in fact lead to the massacre of friendly Indians. In the morning of November 29th Colonel Chivington allowed a surprise attack on the friendly native americans which lead to the death of mostly women and children. The Native
The Kiowa tribe traded buffalo meat for crops from the eastern
Your men then attacked our villages; we retorted as well as we could.” (Stanley 1895) This just goes to show the Indians did not want any harm, they didn’t want conflict. Buffalo With the Kiowas
In 1885, millions of buffalo called the Great Plains their home, but in 1886 only a few hundred have lived since buffalo hunting
In the years following the Revolutionary War the United States would begin to expand, although not popular among all citizens, it helped shape the country into what we know today. The first acquisition of territory would be as a result of the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain ending the Revolutionary War. This treaty marked the boundaries between the British colonies still located in North America and ceded the thirteen American colonies to a newly recognized country known as the United States of America. This would not be the only acquisition of territory that the United States would complete between the years of 1789 and 1815 but it would be the initial acquisition of territory that would develop this newly formed nation.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the United States federal government was trying promote westward expansion in the United States of America. They tried to do this in many ways and the methods that they used drastically changed and shaped the country. The United States federal government was trying very hard in the late 1800s and early 1900s to expand the country westward and their actions had many major impacts on the United States of America. Some of their actions include: relocating the indigenous Native Americans, passing the Homestead Act, and greatly promoting the construction of railroads. All of these efforts greatly altered the country and the lives of the Native Americans and the United States citizens.
“The doom of the Cherokee was sealed. Washington, D.C., had decreed that they must be driven West and their lands given to the white man, and in May 1838, an army of 4000 regulars, and 3000 volunteer soldiers under command of General Winfield Scott, marched into the Indian country and wrote the blackest chapter on the pages of American history.” Said Private John G. Burnett, of Captain Abraham McClellan’s Company, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Mounted Infantry. This primary source is to give perspective on the soldiers behalf, not to defend the contrary, but to look from a more broad perspective. Being able to use the time period as a reason for justification that it was the most humane way to deal with the Indians for that time.
They fished for mostly salmon, and collected native plants and roots like the camas bulb. “Buffalo served as the most significant source of food and raw material for the tribe 's” (History of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes). They would go around collecting foods to eat during the winter months. The Bannocks may have had to work for quite a bit of they year but they still found time to play games and have very amusing traditions.
The Cherokee Removal The Americans of European ancestry often have described Native Americans as primitive, savage, and even and uncivilized. In this this paper I will provide primary evidence that supports what the Americans believed about the Natives, along with their few false accusations. I will also discuss how the Cherokee removal affected the natives during their journey along with afterwards. Before the removal was enforced, an upper class Cherokee, son of a warrior, John Ridge gave details on the Cherokee nation and how they are changing their lifestyles because of Americans.
During the pre-civil war time period— also known as the antebellum years— America experienced a widespread transformation for the sake of its economy. With the booming belief of the Manifest Destiny, America’s constant desire for westward expansion caused disputes between the North and the South regarding the establishment of free states and slave states, which led to certain compromises such as the Missouri Compromise. After the Market Revolution, the North and South used its new gained land to create different means of economic gains; the North became industrialized through manufacturing, while the South became an agricultural industry dependent on cotton. However, as America’s boundaries expanded, tensions between the North and South grew, often leading to compromises in bloodshed. The drastic differences between the two groups eventually transformed America into a divided nation of sectionalism economically, politically, and socially.
The Westward Expansion all started when America made the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. There were many benefits from the purchase for the US that the French didn’t realize before they sold it. The purchase gave the US access to the Mississippi river which allowed for expansion of river trade to the North and South from the center of the US. The port city of New Orleans was bought by the US and its prosperity benefited the US greatly. The US sent Lewis and Clark west to investigate the land they purchased.
The establishment and growth of the railroad had many influences on the Westward Expansion of America in the later half of the 1800’s. The railroad fueled the conflict with the Native Americans of the Plains, induced growth in population and economy in previously established urban areas, and lastly expanded the lands that were used for agriculture. The railroad affected various aspects of America’s West and the Great Plains. The advancement of the railroad West added to the already tense relationship with the Native Americans of the Plains.
Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.
For some, it was destiny to move west. Although there were many conflicts and disagreements between ourselves and others, it was destiny to move west because of overpopulation, new inventions of transportation methods, and new opportunities. In the 19th Century, overpopulation was one of the major reasons for Westward Expansion. Immigrants were flooding into America for new opportunities and new ways of life and there was just not enough land to suffice the needs for all of the people. These immigrants were arriving in America in the port cities on the East Coast.
Mountain Men went into the Louisiana Territory during the early 1800s and they trapped beavers for the hides and fur. They traded the hides and furs for goods that they needed to live in the mountains like: salt, tobacco, lead, powder, knives, whiskey, traps and sugar. Some Mountain Men took Indian brides and lived part of the year with the tribe. Their life was often lonely and it could be dangerous.