Westward Expansion
Native Americans
What Happened?
The Native Americans were forced off their land by the US government. They were forced to live in places called Indian Reservations. Within these reservations, the land was poor and they hated living on the reservations. They were given some money from the US government if they live there, but it wasn't that much money. Not enough to live on.
How did they live?
In order to survive, the Native Americans killed bison, which was their main source of food and clothing. Sadly, the US army set out to kill all the bison which was pretty much depriving the Native Americans of their food.
Some Important people/tribes were...
The Dakota Sioux Tribe
In 1862, they weren't paid the money they were promised on time and they got mad. They were very hungry so they attacked the traders and other people. Many were sentenced to death.
Hunters
They killed many bison and didn't even use the entire animal, they left much to waste and not many were left for the Native Americans. Within three years (1872-1875), they killed 9 million bison.
US Government and Army
The US government wanted to expand their territory into the west which had been marked as Native American territory. They proposed spreading out the Native Americans which angered some tribes. The US army forced back the Native Americans which took a long time.
The Native Americans were angry
Westward Expansion Rap
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act was in 1887 when they tried to get the Native Americans to behave like white Americans. That process is called assimilation. It did not go as expected and failed miserably.