-
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was when Cherokee Indians were forced to migrate from Georgia to Oklahoma. This migration was quite treacherous and cause around 4,000 Indian deaths. They were forced to leave under the Indian removal act of 1830 singned in by president Andrew Jackson. Most Native Americans resented The fact that they were forced to relocate, This event greatly ruined the relasionships between Indains and Americans. -
Mexican Cession
The existance of slavery in Texas concerned many of its mexican citizen. A small revolution occured in Texas in 1835 over this issue and eventually leads to the ceding of Texas to the U.S. in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The United States gladly took Texas and added it to its ever growing territory. This had little direct infliunce on the U.S. and Native Americans relationship. -
Reservation Policy
After Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act in the 1830's anything west of Mississippi was considered to have been permanently the Indian's land. However, this did not last very long due to the Oregon Trail and the transcontinental railroad which ran through the west. In 1851, the federal government began assigning various areas called reservations for Indians. Many Indians refued to remain with in the boudnaries, wishing to follow the buffalo. This hurt the Indian and U.S.'s relationship. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was a ploy by the government to get citizens to move into the western territories and colonize them. They were offering 160 acres of land, free, to any family that would settle on it for five years. The Homestead Act cause millions of U.S. citizens to travel to the west to settle in the territories, where the Indians were located. The Natives had been relocated before, only to delay the inevitable. So once again there would be conflicts between the citizens and the Indians. -
Transcontinental Railroad
Towards the end of the Civil War, Congress began funding the first transcontinental railroad. This creation was soon to be one of engineering feats of the century. This railroad was created to link California with the rest of the United States. Several thousand Chinese immigrants were hired to handle the task of building it. The building of the railroad had no direct effect on the relationship between the United states and the Natives. -
Sand Creek Massacre
Colorado Territory militia led by John M. Chivington Attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. The Indians were attacked and 400 Indians were killed, including many women and children. The interaction by Homesteaders trying to gain new land and the Natives led to constant conflict. This was one of the many Indian wars that took place by settlers coming into conflict with the Native Americans. This damaged the U.S.'s and Natives relationship due to the inability for the two coexist. -
McCoy-Abilene
Joseph G. McCoy, trying to make money built the first stockyards along the railroads in Abilene, Kansas. These stockyards were there to hold the millions of cattle driven up the Chisholm trail. At the time the cattle could be sold from $30 to $50 per head in Chicago. This had no direct effect of the relation other then starting herding cattle from the Indians. -
Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a path used to drive cattle overland from Texas to Kansas. The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, who built several trading post along its paths before the war. The Texas rangers also used this path to travel and protroll. This event had no direct affect other than how people traveled out west on their relationship. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
This battle was the most prominent part of the Sioux Wars. George Custer was the commander at Little Big Horn when they were ambushed by Crazy Horse and company. After, tribes were forced to follow the terms to move to reservations. After this point Indians were being put on reservations in which they did not like at all. This had a very negative effects on the U.S. and Indian's relationship. -
Sioux wars
An army led by Captain William Fetterman was killed by a group of Sioux warriors. Treaties were made to try and make Native Americans stay on small reservations. The second Sioux War was led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. After all of the wars were over many of the Indians had died and a lot of their culture had been destroyed. This hurt the relationship between the Indians and the United States. -
Carlise School
-
End of Buffalo Herds
After the war, the Texas cattle business was easy to get into due to the five million buffalo roaming and that grass was free. The cattle business took a catastrophic hit during the 1880s due to three factors. Overgrazing, blizzard & Drought, and also the introduction of Homesteaders. The Buffalo were an important aspect of living for the Indians, using them for; food, clothing, weapons, and shelter. This had a big impact on the Indians because they lost one of their main source of survival. -
Century of Dishonor
The Century of Dishonor was a book written in 1881 by Helen Hunt Jackson. She is known for starting the “Friends of the Indian” movement. The book went through want the U.S. did to the Indians and how it was wrong. An example of a similar writing would be Uncle Tom's Cabin, which help African-Americans. This event help the relationship between Indians and the United states. -
Dawes Act
The act broke up tribal organizations which kept them from becoming law-abiding citizens. The Indian land was then divided into small plots of land and allowed individual Indians the ability to purchase land. This could have both hurt and improved their relationship. On one hand they accept them as citizens but on the other they are forced into being citizens. -
Ghost Dance Movement
Ghost Dance was a movement by the Native Americans to try and get white settlers to move off of their land. They believed that after preforming this dance they would become invinsable to the white man's bullets. The movement was not planned to be a violent one but it quickly turned bad. Groups like the Sioux, Arapahos, Cheyennes and Kiowas were violent groups that were part of the Ghost Dance movement. This hurt the relationship between the U.S. and Indians. -
Wounded Knee
It was called the battle of Wounded Knee but many would consider it more of a Massacre. The battle of Wounded Knee was the final effort made by Native Americans to push whites away from their homeland. This massacre which occurred in South Dakota was a part of a larger religious movement for Natives called the Ghost Dance movement. This had hurt the relationship between the U.S. and the Indians.
