📄
Study Saviour
American West Condensed (Edexcel):
Timeline:
❖ 1830 - Indian removal Act - forces all Natives West of the Mississippi
River and is signed by President Jackson.
❖ 1834 - Permanent Indian Frontier set up as a result of the Indian Trade
and Intercourse Act - which defines native and USA ‘territory’.
❖ 1836 - The Oregon Trail opened.
❖ 1843 - The ‘Great Emigration’.
❖ 1846 - The Donner Party head West but are met with death and disaster.
❖ 1846 - The Mormons begin their voyage to the Great Salt lake.
❖ 1848 - Mexican - American war results in a victory for the USA.
❖ 1848 - Gold discovered in California.
❖ 1849 - California gold rush.
❖ 1851 - Fort Laramie Treaty.
❖ 1851 - Indian Appropriations Act - moves Ameircans to reservations (in
what would now be modern day Oklahoma).
❖ 1859 - Gold mines opened in Colorado and Nevada.
❖ 1858-59 - Gold is discovered in the Rocky Mountains.
❖ 1862 - Homestead Act.
❖ 1862 - Little Crow’s war.
❖ 1864 - The Pacific Railway act is passed, and work starts on the
Transcontinental Railway.
❖ 1864 - Sand Creek Massacre.
❖ 1861-65 - American Civil War.
❖ 1865 - Slavery abolished in the USA.
❖ 1866 Goodnight And Loving reached Fort Sumner with their herd of
cattle.
❖ 1866 - Red Cloud’s War and Fetterman’s Trap.
❖ 1867 - Abilene becomes the first Cow Town.
❖ 1868 - The Winter Campaign.
❖ 1868 - President Grant’s ‘Peace Policy’ comes about.
❖ 1868 - Fort Laramie Treaty II.
❖ 1869 - First Transcontinental Railroad reaches completion.
❖ 1870 - The ‘Open Range’ becomes established.
❖ 1873 - Timber Culture Act.
❖ 1874 - Custer leads his ‘expedition’ to the Black Hills.
❖ 1874 - Barbed Wire goes into mass production.
❖ 1874 - Halliday’s self governing windmill introduced.
❖ 1876 - Battle of Little Big Horn.
, ❖ 1876-81 - Great Sioux War.
❖ 1879 - Exoduster Movement.
❖ 1881 - OK Corral.
❖ 1885 - Plains Indians 'resettled’ to reservations.
❖ 1886-87 - Harsh winter leads to the end of the ‘open range’.
❖ 1887 - Dawes Act.
❖ 1890 - Wounded Knee Massacre.
❖ 1890 - US Federal Government closes Frontier.
❖ 1892 - Johnson County War.
❖ 1893 - Oklahoma Land Rush.
Notes:
❖ The Native Americans, or ‘Plains Indians’ were part of tribes (or nations
if they were large enough, like the Sioux), that were often traditional
allies or enemies. Each tribe comprised bands and these could contain
anywhere from 20 or 30 individuals up to a party of several hundred.
❖ Chiefs were the leaders of Plains Indians society, and they would often
serve for as long as their talents served them. Each tribe would have
many, each band had a band chief who was chosen to guide the band
in finding enough food and sheltering the band from danger. Band
chiefs / elders comprised the Tribe’s council and they would sometimes
be responsible for the decision to declare war on other tribes and on
other important decisions - but no decision would be made until all
members were content. However, in some tribes, such as the Lakota
Sioux, chiefs had no power at all to rule over their people and to
command them and bands made their own decisions - some following
one chief and others a different one.
❖ There were several warrior brotherhoods within a tribe, and young males
joined through proving their bravery, courage and skill in combat with
other tribes; within the Lakota Sioux, brotherhoods included the Strong
Hearts and Crow Owners. Not only did warrior brotherhoods do what
they said on the tin and train young men to fight, but they also
reinstated the tribe’s beliefs and values. They were not often under the
control of the Tribal Council and so this did not obligate them to obey to
peace treaties. Guard units for entire tribes could be assembled from
leading warriors in brotherhoods - who also organised annual buffalo
hunts and where the tribe should gather to set up camp for the night.
Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux founded the ‘Last Child Society’ and
was composed of youngest sons who were believed to be the most
courageous of the siblings.
❖ Unfortunately, women could not be chiefs and a successful male could
wed more than once. Women were responsible for feeding and clothing
their families, processing buffalo hides and meat and creating tradable
commodities. Tribes believed that these traditional roles would ensure
the survival of their tribes and believed that males and females were
equal but born for different destinies, as such.
❖ Life on the Plains was a harsh one, with extreme heat in the summer
months and freezing winters. Rain often came in the form of
, thunderstorms and lightning strikes could ignite fires that raged and
swept across the Plains - whipped up strong winds they engulfed
anything and everything in their paths. Survival meant food, and food
meant hunting the buffalo mounted on horseback which migrated
across the Plains - and so the natives followed. Following the buffalo on
their migration meant following them in both summer and autumn and
that meant adaption by… horse riding and archery skills that allowed
them to ride alongside stampeding buffalo, a nomadic lifestyle of tipis
(tents to live in that were mobile) and travois (transported belongings in
a framework drawn by an animal - usually a horse), using nearly every
part of the buffalo with no waste (for example, the tongue was dried and
made into a hairbrush, the hooves used as glue and the raw hide often
made into bags) and had a great reverence for the buffalo and the
natural space and land (they believed that the Great Spirit who had
created them had created all of this too, and that the land was to be
treated with greatest respect if it were going to aid them in their survival,
and that it should not be tamed but worked alongside - adaptation was
key). During the winter months, many tribes would move to lodges - these
were fashioned from timber logs and earth and comprised a circular
framework with a earth to insulate it, a fire pit would be created n the
centre of the hut and could even be large enough to house 60 residents
at a time and were built, clustered together in sheltered valleys to allow
for defence and protect them from attack (a safety in numbers
technique).
❖ Horses were essential to the Natives’ way of life and not only were they
used to hunt buffalo on, but they were a mark of status and used
commonly in warfare when fighting mounted on horseback - horses were
relied on to such a large extent that the Comanche Tribe had 8,000
horses but just 3,000 tribespeople! Wealth was often measured in the
number of horses that a male acquired, and raids on colonisers and
other tribes.
❖ The Plains Indinas believed that vision quests would aid them in
contacting the Spirit World, and many took to the idea that Spirit
Animals such as hawkes or foxes would help them in doing so. Ritual
dances, such as the ‘Sun Dance’ also helped achieve this common goal.
They believed that some items had talismanic power which could be
charged up through connection with the Spirit World - and that would
bring luck in hunting or combat if used - and even bring them
protection from bullets!
❖ Beliefs regarding land and property: For members of the lakota - Sioux,
the Black Hills or Paha Sapa were especially sacred and they believed
that their people had been created in a cave in the hills by the work of
the Great Spirit. Many of the Plains Indians did not farm the land, 1.
Because it was terribly hard to farm, and 2, because they believed no
one individual or family possessed the land as their own property;
however, it is worth noting that some Plains Indian tribes did farm the
land- as well as hunting, fishing and gathering raw materials and
resources. Treaties were sometimes agreed between Native tribes to
share common hunting grounds, however, sometimes when supplies and
, resources were scant, tribes invaded neighbouring hunting grounds
used by others - often causing fights to break out between the
opponents and traditionally sworn enemies. Farming or mining land was
often seen as incredibly disrespectful to much of Plain Indian society,
and they believed that doing so disrupted and angered the spirits which
were vital for their survival.
❖ Warfare: Natives battled for anything ranging from food to cattle, to
women and for horses etc. Warriors were seen as vital for the survival of
the tribe and were invaluable protectors that the tribes’ safety relied
upon. To spare a great deal of men, the Plains Indians developed certain
tactics: raiders would escape if they faced too much opposition that
didn’t mean that a win was possible, only selected brotherhoods would
embark on a raid and they would ‘count coup’ (which meant that rather
than fighting until the death, tribesmen would instead attempt to hit the
enemy and run away without injury - success in this skill gave a warrior a
great deal of respect.
❖ Settlers believed that they had a greater claim to the land due to their
will to plough it, use minerals and resources for manufacture and clear
forests for timber.
❖ The 1830 'Permanent Indian Frontier’ was signed by President Jackson
under the Indian Removal Act forcing 46,000 natives West of the
Mississippi River, and it ‘promised’ this new land as Native Territory -
forever, the suggestion was also made that this protected them and was
for their own good and safety. The 1834 Permanent Indian Frontier then
reinstated territorial boundaries, and supposedly prohibited white
settlers from occupying the land that now wasn’t their, the sale of
weapons or alcoholic beverages to Natives was also now prohibited
under the Trade and Intercourse Act, and the Frontier was now manned
with US army, forts and an military rode.
❖ The US win of the American - Mexican War meant that the USA had
expanded to encompass lands as far reaching as California in the West
in 1848. The Oregon Country, once shared with Britain, was also now
America’s own, and in 1845 Texas joined the USA. The Native’s part of the
land was now bang smack in the middle of the USA, and to make things
even more interesting, 1848-49 brought with it the California Gold Rush -
and everybody would soon be after a piece of that land and the takings
it had to offer.
❖ The Government had now begun to support settlers’ westward
expansion, and you now had settlers crossing the Plains from left, right
and centre and a not so permanent ‘Permanent’ Frontier.
❖ The 1851 Indian’s Appropriations Act began placing Natives into
reservations; hunting lands were also allocated and their space became
incredibly restricted - hunting would not be enough to rely on now for
their survival, thought the settlers who hoped that this would push them
to take up farming so that they would live more ‘productively’ in the eyes
of the settlers.
❖ Factors encouraging the migration of settlers westward and these
comprised push and pull factors… Push factors (things that led people
away from living in the East): economic conditions weer severe - 1837 had
Study Saviour
American West Condensed (Edexcel):
Timeline:
❖ 1830 - Indian removal Act - forces all Natives West of the Mississippi
River and is signed by President Jackson.
❖ 1834 - Permanent Indian Frontier set up as a result of the Indian Trade
and Intercourse Act - which defines native and USA ‘territory’.
❖ 1836 - The Oregon Trail opened.
❖ 1843 - The ‘Great Emigration’.
❖ 1846 - The Donner Party head West but are met with death and disaster.
❖ 1846 - The Mormons begin their voyage to the Great Salt lake.
❖ 1848 - Mexican - American war results in a victory for the USA.
❖ 1848 - Gold discovered in California.
❖ 1849 - California gold rush.
❖ 1851 - Fort Laramie Treaty.
❖ 1851 - Indian Appropriations Act - moves Ameircans to reservations (in
what would now be modern day Oklahoma).
❖ 1859 - Gold mines opened in Colorado and Nevada.
❖ 1858-59 - Gold is discovered in the Rocky Mountains.
❖ 1862 - Homestead Act.
❖ 1862 - Little Crow’s war.
❖ 1864 - The Pacific Railway act is passed, and work starts on the
Transcontinental Railway.
❖ 1864 - Sand Creek Massacre.
❖ 1861-65 - American Civil War.
❖ 1865 - Slavery abolished in the USA.
❖ 1866 Goodnight And Loving reached Fort Sumner with their herd of
cattle.
❖ 1866 - Red Cloud’s War and Fetterman’s Trap.
❖ 1867 - Abilene becomes the first Cow Town.
❖ 1868 - The Winter Campaign.
❖ 1868 - President Grant’s ‘Peace Policy’ comes about.
❖ 1868 - Fort Laramie Treaty II.
❖ 1869 - First Transcontinental Railroad reaches completion.
❖ 1870 - The ‘Open Range’ becomes established.
❖ 1873 - Timber Culture Act.
❖ 1874 - Custer leads his ‘expedition’ to the Black Hills.
❖ 1874 - Barbed Wire goes into mass production.
❖ 1874 - Halliday’s self governing windmill introduced.
❖ 1876 - Battle of Little Big Horn.
, ❖ 1876-81 - Great Sioux War.
❖ 1879 - Exoduster Movement.
❖ 1881 - OK Corral.
❖ 1885 - Plains Indians 'resettled’ to reservations.
❖ 1886-87 - Harsh winter leads to the end of the ‘open range’.
❖ 1887 - Dawes Act.
❖ 1890 - Wounded Knee Massacre.
❖ 1890 - US Federal Government closes Frontier.
❖ 1892 - Johnson County War.
❖ 1893 - Oklahoma Land Rush.
Notes:
❖ The Native Americans, or ‘Plains Indians’ were part of tribes (or nations
if they were large enough, like the Sioux), that were often traditional
allies or enemies. Each tribe comprised bands and these could contain
anywhere from 20 or 30 individuals up to a party of several hundred.
❖ Chiefs were the leaders of Plains Indians society, and they would often
serve for as long as their talents served them. Each tribe would have
many, each band had a band chief who was chosen to guide the band
in finding enough food and sheltering the band from danger. Band
chiefs / elders comprised the Tribe’s council and they would sometimes
be responsible for the decision to declare war on other tribes and on
other important decisions - but no decision would be made until all
members were content. However, in some tribes, such as the Lakota
Sioux, chiefs had no power at all to rule over their people and to
command them and bands made their own decisions - some following
one chief and others a different one.
❖ There were several warrior brotherhoods within a tribe, and young males
joined through proving their bravery, courage and skill in combat with
other tribes; within the Lakota Sioux, brotherhoods included the Strong
Hearts and Crow Owners. Not only did warrior brotherhoods do what
they said on the tin and train young men to fight, but they also
reinstated the tribe’s beliefs and values. They were not often under the
control of the Tribal Council and so this did not obligate them to obey to
peace treaties. Guard units for entire tribes could be assembled from
leading warriors in brotherhoods - who also organised annual buffalo
hunts and where the tribe should gather to set up camp for the night.
Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux founded the ‘Last Child Society’ and
was composed of youngest sons who were believed to be the most
courageous of the siblings.
❖ Unfortunately, women could not be chiefs and a successful male could
wed more than once. Women were responsible for feeding and clothing
their families, processing buffalo hides and meat and creating tradable
commodities. Tribes believed that these traditional roles would ensure
the survival of their tribes and believed that males and females were
equal but born for different destinies, as such.
❖ Life on the Plains was a harsh one, with extreme heat in the summer
months and freezing winters. Rain often came in the form of
, thunderstorms and lightning strikes could ignite fires that raged and
swept across the Plains - whipped up strong winds they engulfed
anything and everything in their paths. Survival meant food, and food
meant hunting the buffalo mounted on horseback which migrated
across the Plains - and so the natives followed. Following the buffalo on
their migration meant following them in both summer and autumn and
that meant adaption by… horse riding and archery skills that allowed
them to ride alongside stampeding buffalo, a nomadic lifestyle of tipis
(tents to live in that were mobile) and travois (transported belongings in
a framework drawn by an animal - usually a horse), using nearly every
part of the buffalo with no waste (for example, the tongue was dried and
made into a hairbrush, the hooves used as glue and the raw hide often
made into bags) and had a great reverence for the buffalo and the
natural space and land (they believed that the Great Spirit who had
created them had created all of this too, and that the land was to be
treated with greatest respect if it were going to aid them in their survival,
and that it should not be tamed but worked alongside - adaptation was
key). During the winter months, many tribes would move to lodges - these
were fashioned from timber logs and earth and comprised a circular
framework with a earth to insulate it, a fire pit would be created n the
centre of the hut and could even be large enough to house 60 residents
at a time and were built, clustered together in sheltered valleys to allow
for defence and protect them from attack (a safety in numbers
technique).
❖ Horses were essential to the Natives’ way of life and not only were they
used to hunt buffalo on, but they were a mark of status and used
commonly in warfare when fighting mounted on horseback - horses were
relied on to such a large extent that the Comanche Tribe had 8,000
horses but just 3,000 tribespeople! Wealth was often measured in the
number of horses that a male acquired, and raids on colonisers and
other tribes.
❖ The Plains Indinas believed that vision quests would aid them in
contacting the Spirit World, and many took to the idea that Spirit
Animals such as hawkes or foxes would help them in doing so. Ritual
dances, such as the ‘Sun Dance’ also helped achieve this common goal.
They believed that some items had talismanic power which could be
charged up through connection with the Spirit World - and that would
bring luck in hunting or combat if used - and even bring them
protection from bullets!
❖ Beliefs regarding land and property: For members of the lakota - Sioux,
the Black Hills or Paha Sapa were especially sacred and they believed
that their people had been created in a cave in the hills by the work of
the Great Spirit. Many of the Plains Indians did not farm the land, 1.
Because it was terribly hard to farm, and 2, because they believed no
one individual or family possessed the land as their own property;
however, it is worth noting that some Plains Indian tribes did farm the
land- as well as hunting, fishing and gathering raw materials and
resources. Treaties were sometimes agreed between Native tribes to
share common hunting grounds, however, sometimes when supplies and
, resources were scant, tribes invaded neighbouring hunting grounds
used by others - often causing fights to break out between the
opponents and traditionally sworn enemies. Farming or mining land was
often seen as incredibly disrespectful to much of Plain Indian society,
and they believed that doing so disrupted and angered the spirits which
were vital for their survival.
❖ Warfare: Natives battled for anything ranging from food to cattle, to
women and for horses etc. Warriors were seen as vital for the survival of
the tribe and were invaluable protectors that the tribes’ safety relied
upon. To spare a great deal of men, the Plains Indians developed certain
tactics: raiders would escape if they faced too much opposition that
didn’t mean that a win was possible, only selected brotherhoods would
embark on a raid and they would ‘count coup’ (which meant that rather
than fighting until the death, tribesmen would instead attempt to hit the
enemy and run away without injury - success in this skill gave a warrior a
great deal of respect.
❖ Settlers believed that they had a greater claim to the land due to their
will to plough it, use minerals and resources for manufacture and clear
forests for timber.
❖ The 1830 'Permanent Indian Frontier’ was signed by President Jackson
under the Indian Removal Act forcing 46,000 natives West of the
Mississippi River, and it ‘promised’ this new land as Native Territory -
forever, the suggestion was also made that this protected them and was
for their own good and safety. The 1834 Permanent Indian Frontier then
reinstated territorial boundaries, and supposedly prohibited white
settlers from occupying the land that now wasn’t their, the sale of
weapons or alcoholic beverages to Natives was also now prohibited
under the Trade and Intercourse Act, and the Frontier was now manned
with US army, forts and an military rode.
❖ The US win of the American - Mexican War meant that the USA had
expanded to encompass lands as far reaching as California in the West
in 1848. The Oregon Country, once shared with Britain, was also now
America’s own, and in 1845 Texas joined the USA. The Native’s part of the
land was now bang smack in the middle of the USA, and to make things
even more interesting, 1848-49 brought with it the California Gold Rush -
and everybody would soon be after a piece of that land and the takings
it had to offer.
❖ The Government had now begun to support settlers’ westward
expansion, and you now had settlers crossing the Plains from left, right
and centre and a not so permanent ‘Permanent’ Frontier.
❖ The 1851 Indian’s Appropriations Act began placing Natives into
reservations; hunting lands were also allocated and their space became
incredibly restricted - hunting would not be enough to rely on now for
their survival, thought the settlers who hoped that this would push them
to take up farming so that they would live more ‘productively’ in the eyes
of the settlers.
❖ Factors encouraging the migration of settlers westward and these
comprised push and pull factors… Push factors (things that led people
away from living in the East): economic conditions weer severe - 1837 had
