Native Americans were greatly affected by the expansion of the United States during the 1800s. As the U.S. moved west, they stole large amounts of Native American land by settling the land and killing the Natives who once lived there. Also during this time, their culture was being taken from them due to assimilation. While United States citizens were expanding into the west, many Native American lives were lost. They were also responsible for destroying a major food and supply source for Native Americans. Expansion in the South made it difficult for the Natives to keep their land. Over the mid to late 1800s, the Native Americans lost almost all of their land to the U.S. Document 1 shows that almost all of the Natives land was taken over the …show more content…
At the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864, hundreds of women, children, and elderly people were killed while the men were away hunting. They were killed because people of the Colorado militia wanted that land so they fought for it against defenseless people. This made the men afraid to go on hunts for fear that another attack would occur. Document two shows the Native Americans being surrounded by a militia, and they couldn’t do anything about it because they had no one to protect them. Their way of life was also harmed because with the expansion came the building of a railroad. The U.S. citizens were killing buffalo to feed railroad workers and to give leather to factories. Around 1 million buffalo were killed each year and soon they were dying off. In document five, it shows what each part of the buffalo was used for. It shows that the Native Americans used every part of the animals just to survive. They used it for food, clothes, shelter, and tools. With the buffalo being killed so rapidly this was causing the Native Americans to rethink how they were going to get supplies and …show more content…
In the sixth document, two pictures are shown, one of Indians and one of American looking people. However the pictures are of the same people, only one was taken after assimilation occurred. Assimilation is when one culture takes over another, and it’s seen in this because the first picture shows Native Americans on the ground with long hair and animal skin clothing. In the second picture, they are shown in chairs, with short hair, and wearing suits, just like Americans. Some Americans believed assimilation was a good thing, but Natives like the leader Sitting Bull thought the opposite. In document four he says “If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.” He’s saying that he is an Indian and no one should try and change who he is. In 1887, the Dawes act was passed, this forced Native Americans to be more like whites. It made them farm with whites and send their children off to American boarding schools. In the boarding schools, their children learned how to farm, do manual labor, and how to speak English. They were being taught the American culture. Assimilation was the main reason as to why Native Americans lost their culture. The U.S. expansion greatly affected Native Americans. They lost land, their culture, and many lives. Native Americans would now have to adapt to a new way of life. They had lost power to the U.S. which made the Natives angry
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
Indians were removed from their homeland and killed. This was directly attributed to the Lewis and Clark expedition which spurred the movement. Although it most likely was not the intentions of the group, their effects on Westward Expansion was the beginning to an end for Native Americans, and has left impressions on history that are still present
Ednica Maxineau An Analysis of President Andrew Jackson’s Speech Concerning The Indian Removal Act When we look back on history in America and discuss the topics regarding human rights and oppression, the first thing that might come to mind is slavery of the black population and white supremacy. However, we often tend to forget about other groups that were also subjected to discrimination, racism, and oppression. One group in particular which faced harsh conditions and discrimination were the Native Americans. The Native Americans were described as uncivilized savage hunters by the American government compared to the Europeans who were looked upon as civilized and respected. The Native Americans faced racial and religious discrimination.
The US government wanted the indians to take come into “white ways”. Chief Luther Standing Bear tells his experience after leaving the reservation. He explains how he unexpectedly learned the ways of the white man instead of his original idea of doing a “brave deed”. Also, in Powell’s report, he pushes for Native children to be put into schools to learn english and american ways to work. He pushed for houses to be built to encourage indians to convert to american traditions and ways of life.
In addition, poverty impacted the natives as well and pushed them further back from making progress. Indian communities were destroyed
Prior to the discovery of the New World by Europeans, Native Americans populated what is presently North and South America in massive numbers; however, due to massive population loss, mainly caused by diseases introduced by Europeans and Africans, the Native Americans were unfortunately forced to live as inferiors to the Europeans. A major issue that faced native populations of the New World was the fact that the Europeans introduced foreign animals that carried diseases the natives had never seen before. Specifically in Mexico and Peru, the natives had alpacas and llamas in small and isolated groups, so diseases were not able to originate in them [McNeil 178]. On the other hand, the animals that the Europeans brought over, such as cattle,
Class, When considering the events regarding the Plains Indians there are three things that come to mind first as contributing factors to the decline of their culture. The existence of the buffalo was seriously threatened. The white pioneers brought disease not experienced by the Indians. The federal government fought them with “military force”.
The U.S. has stated that, “Those Indian tribes and nations, which have remained under their own form of government, upon their own soil, and have never submitted themselves to the government of the whites, have a perfect right to retain their original form of government…” This is an important political change because the U.S. has already claimed that the Cherokee are civilized. The Cherokee have already had to assimilate and lose their old culture in order to be more like the white people, yet they are being forced to move. By assimilating the Natives, the Americans have to teach the Cherokee all of the white American laws, and inform them that their native laws were “incorrect”, “They must be brought gradually under our authority and laws, or they will insensibly waste away in vice and misery.” The new laws that the Cherokee had to follow were a huge political change they had to undergo, Now that Jackson had become president, as a new leader he made drastic changes like this, that would cause the Cherokee Indians to change all of their old laws and learn the “new laws” that the whites went by.
The removal of the native Americans from their land, and the boarding school movement, which is when many native children were separated from their families, stripped from their language and often got abused by white. They lost their home, family because most American thought that Indian should integrated to their white culture, so it 'll be easier for them. The lost of family play a big impact in Native American life from generation to generation. Native America are still one of the United States most economically disadvantaged population. Not only that, most of their land are owned and managed by the federal government.
-PBS (WHY). This greatly affected the Indians since they lost so many lives that day. The adaptation to the whites, the extinction of buffalo, and the domination of whites are just some of the reasons how the Native Americans land and culture was affected by the Westward Expansion. Although the Native Americans lost much of their homeland and their way of life, they still proved that even threw the worst conditions possible they stick together and fight through
When the Europeans began colonizing the New World, they had a problematic relationship with the Native Americans. The Europeans sought to control a land that the Natives inhabited all their lives. They came and decided to take whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected the Native Americans. They legislated several laws, such as the Indian Removal Act, to establish their authority. The Indian Removal Act had a negative impact on the Native Americans because they were driven away from their ancestral homes, forced to adopt a different lifestyle, and their journey westwards caused the deaths of many Native Americans.
Due to the Northwest Ordinance there wasn’t “slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory” (Doc. H) showing how people were starting to realize how slavery was wrong and inhumane. The relationship between the Indians and the Americans had also shifted due to the revolution. The Native Americans were concerned about their relationship with the Americans due to the fighting with the British, but “it [made] [their] hearts rejoice to find out that [their] great father, and his children the Americans have at length made peace”(Doc. C). The Chickasaw Indians were happy to see that their relationship with the Americans was improving due to the American Revolution.
The government tried to force assimilation on Native Americans as well as an attempt to “kill the indian, save the man.” These ideas and policies are similar to those popular during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson developed a sense of ‘paternalism’ towards indians and believed he was saving them by forcing them to live out west of the Mississippi river away from white culture. The difference was that Jackson did not believe in assimilation of indians into white culture, he believed they should be kept separate. With the help of the Federal government removing indians from land west of the Mississippi, Americans were
By 1900, Native Americans had lost half of the land that had been originally given to them. Meanwhile, the farming and assimilating of Native Americans was not successful. By many accounts, Indians were not adjusting to neither their new family dynamic nor farming. The Cheyennes had to learn how to plough, plant, and harvest their new aired properties. One Sioux recalled the struggle men especially had of being stripped of his previous purpose, hunting buffalo, and his tribe, with whom he hunted with.
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.