-
Native American Tribes Before Settlers Arrived to America
Before the settlers arrived to America, Native American tribes spanned the country from coast to coast. Native Americans were not "uncivilized" as many people believed. They had a organized form of government, an effective agricultural system, a functional monatary system, and efficient medicines. -
Period: to
Native American Movement
-
The Pilgrims and the Mayflower
The Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock on the coast of what is now called Massachusetts. the Native Americans that they encountered aided them by helping the grow successful crops, hunt, and fish. They celebrated thier friendship with a feast, the first Thanksgiving. -
Powhatan Indian Attack of 1622
When settlers arrived from England to the Jamestown Settlement they were actually arriving on the homelands of the Powhatan Indians. The settlers decided that they would allow the Powhatans to become a part of their new settlement. However, the European settlers never asked the Powhatans if they agreed with the arrangement. The Powhatans did not agree. The Powatans
attached the settlement and killed 347 settlers. This event was the catalyst for the Powhatan Wars which lasted for 22 years. -
Pequot Wars
The Pequot wars, which lasted the better part of a year, were kicked off by the death of a colonist and ended with more than 600 Pequot Indians dead and the survivors sold off into slavery. -
Captain William Pierce
The Captain of the Mayflower, William Pierce of Salem, Massachusetts, sailed to the West Indies and exchanged Indian slaves for black slaves -
Beginning of the French and Indian War
-
Tuscarora War
Hostilities break out between Native Americans and settlers in North Carolina after the massacre of settlers there. The conflict, known as the Tuscarora War, under the leadership of Chief Hancock, attacked several settlements, killing settlers and destroying farms for the next two years. In 1713, James Moore and Yamasee warriors defeated the raiders. -
End of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, a conflict between France and Britain for possession of North America, rages for decades. For various motivations, most Algonquian tribes allied with the French; the Iroquois with the British. The war spanned the years 1689-1763 -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
As the European population increased, it became apparent that more space and resources would be needed. President Andrew Jackson decided that the best course of action would be to move the Native Americans from their homelands to reserved lands do that European expansion would be possible. -
Choctaw Voluntary Removal
The Choctaw Tribes decided to agree to a voluntary removal in 1831. This removal became the model for all other removals of Native American from their homelands. -
Creek Removal
After substantial resistance, the Creek Indians were forcibly removed from their homelands in 1836. They never signed a treaty. -
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Some Native Americans were resistant to leave their homelands. For example, the Cherokee tribes of Georgia decided to take their case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee, but it did not matter. President Jackson sent troops to move the Cherokee by force. -
Open Lands
Due to President Jackson's Indian Removal policy, 25 million acres of land were now open for development and use. -
The Homestead Act
In inacted by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, the Homestead Act granted qualified applicants ownership of homesteads (160 acres) for little to no money. This was a good deal for white settlers, but not for the plains indians. It was their land that was being deeded away. -
Death of the Iron Horse
The Cheyenne Indians derailed a Union Pacific freight train traveling fron Omaha, Nebraska to Fort McPherson. This is the one and only time that the Native Americans were able to derail a locomotive. -
Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The official completion date of the Transcontinental Railroad and the beginning of the end for the Buffalo and the Plains Indians. -
Endangerment of the Buffalo
The Native Americans and the BuffaloBy the end of 1894 the were and extimate 25 buffalo remaining in the United States. Just 90 years before in 1804, it was estimated that more than 60 million buffalo were roaming the praries and great plains of the Central and Western US. Millions upon millions upon millions were destroyed between the 1830s and the 1870s. Some were hunted for sport, some killed because their grazing land was needed for development, and others died off because their habitats were destroyed. -
Reservations
By 1900 millions of Native Americans had been forced onto reservations. These people were now dependant on the government for their survival. With their primary source of food and supplies (the buffalo) all but extinct, they had no choice but to remain on reservations and survive as best as they could.
