HIST 2112 Many white Americans were sympathetic to the Native American movement Westward expansion was most intense right after the Civil War o All the energy was faced towards the West The West had cheap land for people to start their own farms American dream They divided the land up into a quarter section 160 acres o Especially in Nebraska o It was sold for 2 50 Reasons for going 1 Cheap land 2 Set up businesses 3 Bought the land for cheap and turned around to sell it 4 Manifest Destiny American Progress 1872 a The idea that America is fated to own the whole country b From seas to shining sea The biggest business out west was cattle o Ranches First multinational business o The British were investing in the American cattle industry Johnson County Wyoming 1892 Johnson County War o Economic downturn o Cowboys went on strike for better pay o Most were fired o Many decided to set up their own independent ranches o The former owners hired assassins to kill their former employees o Got so violent the army had to come in to make peace Many former slaves tried to settle out west Eradication School o Found Indians for the sole purpose of killing them o Sand Creek Massacre November 1864 Kill them all boys Kill them all and scalp them because nits make lice Shayenne o Battle of Little Big Horn Indians completely wipe out a cavalry of Americans The Myth of the Vanishing Indian o The idea that the Indians will not survive the Manifest Destiny o They will be wiped out o Many tried to preserve their culture and keep some alive Didn t want their history to die with them o They wanted to help the Indians become civilized Teach them rather than kill them Cultural murder Kill the Indian save the man Boarding schools for kids that stripped them of every cultural identity they had Forbidden to practice their religion Forbidden to speak their language o Daws Act Took the reservations and divided them into 160 acre chunks Each family on the reservation was given this amount of land Government offered to teach them to farm to integrate into the population and the American dream Typically it was the women s job to farm and process meat and it was the man s job to hunt They were not about to take up a woman s job Government took the rest of the land and sold it to the American public Indians tried practicing the ghost dance and everything will return to normal white people will disappear o Wounded Knee Massacre A group of Indians fled but the cowboys caught them and killed all of them women and children too with machine guns
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