Native Americans
How were they affected in the Westward Expansion? 1807-1912
Forced to live on Reservations.
One of the main effects was that the Native Americans were forced to move onto the Reservations. Reservations are land put aside for the Native Americans, and it is very bad quality land. In exchange for living on the reservation, the Indians were paid annuities. It never had much money in them, and they never paid it to them on time.
Destroying the Bison
Bison, or buffalo, was the main source of food and clothing for the Native Americans. US army, white settlers, and railroad companies purposely set out to kill all of the Bison.
Dakota Sioux Uprising
The Dakota Sioux, who were located in Minnesota, got angry when they were not paid their annuity on time. They wanted revenge and went after the US troops. Hundreds of peoples died. Happened in 1862
Assimilation
Assimilation is the process of one group of people being "absorbed" into another group. They wanted all of the Native Americans to live and become and behave like White Americans.
Dawes Act (1887)
Reservations were separated up into "allotments" that were given out to individual families. They were told to farm and build their own houses to support their families. It ended up failing because not all of the Native Americans wanted to adopt a new way of living so they decided to sell their land to White Settlers.
Military Conflict
Many of the Native Americans hated living on the reservations and they were always on the verge of starving. They did not like the fact that they were never paid on time and they were starving.
Impact of Westward Expansion on Native Americans