THE CONQUEST OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS

Trans-Mississippi West Unit:

INTRO TO TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST

Thomas Jefferson’s Vision for America Jefferson envisioned

a nation of hardworking independent farmers

“Empire for Liberty” Land in the west

served as a form of “welfare” for the poor

INTRO TO TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST

The Concept of Manifest Destiny Idea that the United States was destined

by God to expand to the Pacific Ocean (and perhaps beyond)

To bring the benefits of democracy to “more backward peoples”

“Away, away with all these cobweb issues of rights of discovery, exploration, settlement, continuity, etc.… our claim to Oregon would still be best and strongest. And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us.”

American Progress, 1872

INTRO TO TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST

Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis- 1893 The American Character has been shaped by

the frontier experience The inventive mind Rugged individualism Combination of strength and intelligence

Most important effect- “The frontier individualism has from the

beginning promoted democracy.”  The frontier experience is the reason why there is

a higher level of democracy in the US than anywhere else

Do you agree?

U.S.- NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS

Indian Intercourse Act of 1790 U.S. Government’s view of Native American

Tribes “Nations within a nation”

U.S. – NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS

Frontier line ignored by settlers Government supports settlers with military The “X-factor”

JEFFERSON’S NATIVE AMERICAN POLICY “In this way our settlements will gradually circumscribe

and approach the Indians, and they will in time either incorporate with us as citizens or the United States, or remove beyond the Mississippi.”

“As to their fear, we presume that our strength and their weakness is now so visible that they must see we have only to shut our hand to crush them, and that all our liberalities to them proceed from motives of pure humanity only. Should any tribe be foolhardy enough to take up the hatchet at any time, the seizing the whole country of that tribe, and driving them across the Mississippi, as the only condition of peace, would be an example to others, and a furtherance of our final consolidation.”

Thomas Jefferson (1803) in a private letter to Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison

NATIVE AMERICAN RESISTANCE

Factors that doomed Native Americans east of the Mississippi River

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST “The Great American Desert” Key factors in the “collision

course”

“FRIENDS OF THE INDIAN” Continuation of Jefferson Policy

Tribes would live on reservations Bureau of Indian Affairs- guidance U.S. Military would provide protection “Civilize the savages” How successful was this policy?

DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO

Encouraged by RR companies Buffalo hunted nearly to extinction in 1880s Ruins culture of the Plains Tribes- why?

TRIBES’ DEPENDENCE ON THE BUFFALO

SAND CREEK MASSACRE- 1864

Estimated 163 Cheyenne killed- mostly women and children.

Bodies mutilated, draws retaliation from Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux

BATTLE OF LITTLEBIGHORN-1876

Battle stems from U.S. violation of the Ft. Laramie Treaty after gold is discovered in the Black Hills in Dakota Territory

Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho combine to eliminate Custer’s Army- known as “Custer’s Last Stand”

REACTIONS TO “CUSTER’S LAST STAND” “The Indian is undoubtedly a savage, and a savage

greatly spoiled by the kind of contact with civilization which he gets at the West. There is generally no interest whatever in him or his fate. But there should be some interest in our own good faith and humanity, in the lives of our soldiers and frontier settlers, and in the taxation to support our Indian policy. All this should certainly be enough to arouse a public demand for a thorough consideration of the subject, and the adoption of a system which … would tend to spare us the constant repetition of such sorrowful events as the slaughter of Custer and his brave men.”

“The Custer Massacre”, Harper’s Weekly Magazine, August 5, 1876

RED RIVER WAR

Fought against Apaches- major battles fought in 1874-1875

Warrior tribe led by Geronimo War ends in 1886 effectively ending the Indian Wars

THE NEZ PERCE

Previously good relations with white settlers Gold discovered on their land Some Nez Perce agreed to a treaty Some white settlers killed (Youths or another

tribe?)

THE NEZ PERCE

“When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.”

“I know that my race must change. We cannot hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also.”

Chief Joseph in Washington DC, 1879

ASSIMILATION OF THE TRIBES

Reformers- “Friends of the Indian”

Native Americans had to be assimilated out of Native culture Christianized Individualized Americanized in dress,

gender roles Helen Hunt Jackson and

others Outraged over

continuous violation of treaties

ASSIMILATION OF THE TRIBES

The Dawes Severalty Act Land distributed to

individuals Citizenship

Impact of the Dawes Act Successfully undermines

tribal authority Fails to lead Native

Americans on a path to prosperity or assimilate them into white society

THE GHOST DANCE

Paiute Prophet Wovoka has a vision Ghost dance spreads through the Sioux tribe Seen by whites as a warning of tribal

retribution

WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE- 1890

300 malnourished, freezing Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek (South Dakota)

Nearly all massacred, many survivors freeze to death

NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS TODAY

PINE RIDGE- SOUTH DAKOTA

NAVAJO RESERVATION- MONUMENT VALLEY

NATIVE AMERICAN TEAM MASCOTS

Should they be changed?