APUSH 6.1.6: Impact of Migration and Expansion STUDY GUIDE

Sitting Bull

(ca. 1831 - 1890) A Lakota Sioux religious leader who became a war leader in battles against the U.S. Army. He took part in many battles, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He turned himself in to the U.S. Army in 1881. He died in a fight that started when officials came to arrest him, believing that he was about to leave the reservation.

Dawes Severalty Act

A law passed in 1887 that gave land to individual American Indian families who were living on reservations. This was an attempt to change American Indian culture to that of white Americans. The act also opened these lands to non-Indians and railroad companies.

How did life for American Indians change as the white American population grew throughout the 19th century?

As the white American population grew, American Indians were forced out of their homelands in the East and Midwest. They were forced to relocate to unfamiliar lands farther west to accommodate white settlers' demands for land.

How did industrial technology contribute to the removal of American Indians from their land in the 19th century?

Industrial technology, especially railroads, allowed white settlers to travel farther west than ever before. Railroads brought food and supplies from the East to support western communities, encouraging more white Americans to flock to the region. Railroads also cut off buffalo migration routes, devastating American Indian communities that depended on the herds.

Did white American attempts to assimilate American Indians constitute a major change in American attitudes? Explain why or why not.

Many answers are defensible. You might argue that assimilation intends to eliminate American Indian culture, essentially continuing the policy of Indian removal that began during the colonial period. On the other hand, you might point out that it was a sizable change from earlier policies that aimed to violently force American Indians off their land.

Which single 19th-century change do you think produced the most drastic consequences for American Indians?

Many answers are possible. You might argue that industrialization produced the most substantial change, as it allowed white Americans to settle areas of the western United States that had once been inaccessible. Railroads and rifles, both industrial inventions, also contributed to the decimation of buffalo herds that supported the tribes.

How did white American reformers hope to change U.S. policy toward American Indians in the mid- to late 19th century?

Reformers, especially Christians, argued that the United States should assimilate American Indians rather than fight them or relocate them farther west. Reformers established schools that took American Indian children away from their parents and immersed them in white American culture. They hoped that this strategy would allow them to "save" the American Indians by convincing them to give up their own culture in favor of the supposedly superior white American culture.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

The 1876 battle begun when American cavalry under George Armstrong Custer attached an encampment of Sioux, Arapahos, and Cheyennes who resisted removal to a reservation. Custer's force was annihilated, but their victory was short-lived.

How did the white American response to the Ghost Dance movement provide an example of historical continuity?

The American response to the Ghost Dance movement continued a longstanding American policy of using violence in response to perceived threats by American Indians. White settlers' fears about the potential threat of American Indians who were unified through the Ghost Dance movement prompted a group of soldiers to kill over 100 American Indians in an event that was later called the Wounded Knee Massacre. This event could be viewed as a continuation of the paranoia that had contributed to the Sand Creek Massacre.

Why did the Dawes Act produce such negative consequences for American Indians?

The Dawes Act divided American Indian lands into small, individual homesteads rather than collective tribal land. The U.S. government used this policy to seize reservation land that it deemed "unnecessary" for American Indian homesteads, allowing white settlers to claim millions of acres of former reservation territory.

How did the Sand Creek Massacre change American Indians' response to white settlement in the West?

The Sand Creek Massacre convinced American Indian Plains tribes that they needed to respond to white settlement with organized military action. While earlier tribes, such as the Dakotas, had launched raids on white settlements, the Sand Creek Massacre prompted many of the largest tribes to unite and fight in order to protect themselves.

What role did treaties play in relations between the United States and American Indian tribes during the 19th century?

The United States used treaties to justify its acquisition of American Indian land throughout the 19th century. Treaties were often signed by American Indians who had no real control or leadership over tribes, making the treaties largely meaningless from the American Indians' perspective. Even though the treaties generally favored white Americans, the United States still repeatedly broke them whenever settlers began demanding access to new lands.

Assimilation

The process by which a minority group becomes more like the majority group. American Indians and immigrants were encouraged, and sometimes forced, to give up their way of life to live as white Americans did.

Wounded Knee

The site in South Dakota of the Wounded Knee Massacre in the winter of 1890. Soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry killed around 150 Sioux men, women, and children. The Sioux use of the Ghost Dance may have frightened the soldiers and helped lead to the massacre.