Before the westward movement, the concept of race was essentially black and white. Literally. No one thought of what was in between, what was gray. It wasn’t til people began moving towards the west when other races started to add to the equation more adequately. As the packet says, “The diversity of the West put a strain on the simpler varieties of racism.” no one knew where the other races would go, and who was better than who. It was always the “superior white and the inferior black” but the west changed that. “ Were Indians better than blacks? Were Mexicans essentially Indians? Did their European heritage count for anything? Were the Japanese different from the Chinese? ”, each and every question went through the minds of the west. Indians,
There was a fear that the mixing of white tenants and Mexicans would produce genetically inferior "seed stocks." The discussion of immigration raises questions of who is American. Immigration sustained whiteness, because it allowed farmers and businessmen to import cheap labor, thereby keeping existing laborers and tenants in poverty. Poor whites were unable to see their
In the late 1600’s, many European settlers arrived in North America in hopes of escaping the hardships they faced back home. America initially promised colonists the wealth, religious freedom, and escape from oppression they desired. New England was home to dense forests, and hills which was not optimal for crop growth. Therefore, the colonists directed their attention towards trade and commerce. The people in this region were devoutly religious and believed in the education of children.
The Pioneers were immigrants who wanted to move westward for a better lifestyle,new opportunities, and cheaper land. The men hunted for the family, grew field crops, and chopped wood for the family and to make shelter. The women would cook for the family, sew and knit clothes, and make medicine, soap, and candles. The children would bring water, keep the fire going, and milk the cows. The pioneers were the first to move into North America in the 1800’s
There are many archeological sites and legends that lead historians to believe that before 1492 there were millions of Native Americans living in the Americas. Some theories explain us that the cause of the native population’s reduction was the European contact and the diseases they brought over. Others theories explain there were no so many millions of Native Americans and that the European contact didn’t have any impact in the reduction of this populations. Historians cannot agree about this topic because of the many theories that have been developed.
After the Civil War, some dramatic changes were taking place as the aftermath. The Reconstruction treaties of 1866 required the five Southeastern tribes give up almost half of their lands for the resettlement of other Indian tribes. The federal government began almost immediately to remove tribal peoples from the Southern Plains to the ceded areas because they were pressured by white leaders in Kansas, who did not want Indians living in their state. Within twenty years, twelve to fifteen thousand exiles established homes in Indian Territory (pg. 131). Some of the impacts of exiling Indians into Indian Territory included the Wyandots, the Peorias, the Ottowas, and the Miamis were all exiles from Kansas and settled on a small reservation that
From colonial times until the end of the Indian Wars in 1890, the people in America went through a series of unfair and unfortunate events. Mainly for the Indians which are also called the first peoples. These events could have been handled with much more consideration for the Indians. There are many times when the Americans went too far including the Removal Act of 1830, the Reservation System, and the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians.
In the late 1500s the Native Americans of the Great Plains got an amazing new tool that would change their place in the world for 200 years. That tool would bring them great wealth and many luxuries, but at the cost of great pain and suffering. That tool they called it the great mysterious dog, we call it the horse . The Native Americans would use this tool to explore ways to transport goods and people. As well as create an opportunity to encounter and exchange with the Spanish and French through trade.
Life for the Native Americans was much harder during and after the western expansion. For example, the US took land from the Indians leading the formation of reservations, White men almost hunted the Buffalo , an important food source for the Indians, to extinction, and forced the Indians to get rid of their culture. Because of the western expansion, the area of land the Indians could occupy decreased significantly. The government would make treaties with the Indians allowing them to keep a certain area of land, but this would soon be broken ; When the Pacific Railroad Act was passed it stated that wherever a track was laid the company would own any land 200 ft surrounding the track including Indian land ; the Government would make sure that
The American Revolution lasted six years and the impacts of it were everlasting(Schultz, 2010). The effects were felt by every group of people in North America and many worldwide. Even though George Washington had all of his troops vaccinated against smallpox, the colonists were not so fortunate and as a results some estimates are that as many as one hundred and thirty thousand people died from this dreaded disease. This loss of life combined with the divisions among the colonies into those loyal to Britain and those who wanted freedom would forever change the way of life for the colonists.
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.
The first Europeans took on one of the largest journeys by crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their way to find what they first thought was India. Christopher Columbus and his crew experienced the dangerous journey to the new world with their three ships. This is one of the most important themes that the new settlers could document. A second part the journey was finally arriving on land an making contact with the Native American tribes that lived there. Native Americans were a topic that was arguably more important than say the new goods and diseases they took back with them to Europe.
Between 1870 and 1900, an estimated 25 million immigrants had made their way to the United States. This era, titled the Gilded Age, played an extremely important role in the shaping of American society. The United States saw great economic growth and social changes; however, as the name suggested, the Gilded Ages hid a profound number of problems. During this period of urbanization, the publicizing of wealth and prosperity hid the high rates of poverty, crime, and corruption. European immigrants who had come to the United States in search of jobs and new opportunities had fallen into poverty as well as poor working and living conditions.
As a young country, the United States was a land of prejudice and discrimination. Wanting to grow their country, white Americans did what they had to in order to make sure that they were always on top, and that they were always the superior race. It did not matter who got hurt along the way because everything that they did was eventually justified by their thinking that all other races were inferior to them. A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki describes the prejudice and discrimination against African Americans and Native Americans in the early history of the United States.
Before the Spanish ship that changed it all, which arrived in the “New World” in 1492, thriving organized communities of native people had centuries of history on the land. That ship, skippered by Christopher Columbus, altered the course of both Native American and European history. 1492 sparked the fire of cultural diffusion in the New World which profoundly impacted the Native American peoples and the European settlers. Prior to European contact, Native Americans lived as hunter-gatherers, living and traveling in groups of typically less than 300 people. These Native Americans spoke over 400 languages and practiced a myriad of different religions (The American Pageant).
Throughout the 19th century Native Americans were treated far less than respectful by the United States’ government. This was the time when the United States wanted to expand and grow rapidly as a land, and to achieve this goal, the Native Americans were “pushed” westward. It was a memorable and tricky time in the Natives’ history, and the US government made many treatments with the Native Americans, making big changes on the Indian nation. Native Americans wanted to live peacefully with the white men, but the result of treatments and agreements was not quite peaceful. This precedent of mistreatment of minorities began with Andrew Jackson’s indian removal policies to the tribes of Oklahoma (specifically the Cherokee indians) in 1829 because of the lack of respect given to the indians during the removal laws.