Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: American West GCSE History Revision All notes taken from BBC Bitesize website which you can download directly from the BBC website. BBC Bitesize Notes
2. Slide 2: The development of cattle ranching Cowboys and cattle ranchers were the first group of European settlers to move permanently onto the Great Plains. They did so, to a degree, by adopting or copying many of the ways of the Native Americans. So … why and how did cattle ranching develop on the Great Plains? BBC Bitesize Notes
3. Slide 3: Cattle ranching - a brief history 1820-1865: Origins in Texas • Ranching first started in Texas, with ranches mostly manned by Mexican cowboys called vaqueros. • In 1836 Texan ranchers drove many Mexicans out, and claimed the cattle left behind. • The Civil War started in 1861, and Texans went off to fight. The cattle roamed free as huge herds grew up. On returning home, the Texans started rounding them up and driving them to sell in places such as New Orleans and California. BBC Bitesize Notes
4. Slide 4: 1865-1870: The 'long drives' & first 'open range' ranch • Great demand for beef in the north of the USA, the Texans drove their cattle north on a long drive to Sedalia in Missouri, where they were loaded onto trains for Chicago. • Two Texas ranchers, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving, pioneered a second trail, to Denver in Colorado, where they sold their cattle to gold miners. • In 1868, a rancher named John Iliff (the 'cattle- king of the northern plains') won the contract to supply beef to the Sioux, who had been forced onto a reservation in the Black Hills. • A safer drive (the Chisholm Trail) was established to Abilene. This was set up by Joseph McCoy as a 'cow-town', with railroad stockyards (and numerous saloons where the cowboys could spend their wages). John Iliff was the first rancher to set up an 'open range' ranch - in Wyoming in 1867. BBC Bitesize Notes
5. Slide 5: 1870-1885: The 'open range' • There were huge areas of 'open range' - unfenced land which was free for anyone to use. • Charles Goodnight is reputed to have invented the crazy quilt (by buying small patches of land here and there over an area, he could effectively control all of it). • Refrigeration cars on trains opened a world-wide market for beef. • By 1885, just 35 cattle-barons owned 8 million hectares of range, and owned perhaps 1.5 million cattle. BBC Bitesize Notes
6. Slide 6: 1885-1890: The end of the 'open range' • Ranchers had over-grazed the plains. Overstocking had also led to a fall in prices. • In spring 1886 there was a drought, followed by a scorching hot summer (up to 43°C). This was followed by a winter storm in January 1887, in which the temperature dropped to -43°C. Half the cattle on the plains died in a single year. • More and more homesteaders were coming onto the plains, and fencing off their farms with barbed wire (patented in 1874). BBC Bitesize Notes
7. Slide 7: Practice Question - 'The railroads were the critical factor in the development of cattle ranching.‘ Discuss List all the ways the railroads affected the development of cattle ranching.    Think about the arguments and facts you would use to describe:   6. Why cattle ranching developed in Texas? 7. How and why cattle ranching spread from Texas further into the Great Plains? 8. Who the cattle pioneers were? 9. Why cattle trails and 'cow towns' were set up in the 1860s? 10. How cattle ranching was affected by the railroads? 11. Why the 'open range' had come to an end by the 1890s? BBC Bitesize Notes
8. Slide 8: S ug g e s te d ans we rs The railroads affect the development of cattle ranching …   • In 1865-1870 beef was transported north on the railroad from Sedalia, causing the opening up of Chicago and the other northern markets. • The long drives were developed solely to get the cattle to the railroads. • The development of 'cow-towns' such as Abilene were to allow the safe loading of cattle onto the railroads. • In 1870-1885, refrigeration cars on trains opened a world- wide market for beef. • After 1885 many homesteaders, who eventually destroyed ranching, were brought to the West on the railroads. BBC Bitesize Notes
9. Slide 9: Why cattle ranching developed on the Great Plains? Vast fortunes were made for a while out of cattle ranching on the Great Plains. The industry was based on a combination of factors that made it highly profitable, though unfortunately for the cattle barons the bonanza did not last for ever. BBC Bitesize Notes
10. Slide 10: Key factors in the development of the cattle industry The underlying factor in the development of cattle ranching was the free availability of three crucial natural products: • wild cattle • wild horses • grass BBC Bitesize Notes
11. Slide 11: • These factors, together with a huge and growing market for beef in the north, meant that ranching became a good way to make a living. • For ranching to work, several things had to be in place. The railroads were a critical factor in the development of cattle ranching - without them the cattle would not have reached the marketplace. The long drives (which took the cattle to the railroads), cow-towns and stockyards (where the cattle were loaded onto the trains) were also all vital in getting the product to market. BBC Bitesize Notes
12. Slide 12: Cowboys The cowboys were another essential ingredient - without their skills nothing, particularly the long drives, would have been possible. E n g ra vin g b y G H De lorm e , 18 92 , s h o wing Ab ile n e c a ttle tra il fro m Te xa s , on th e wa y to m a rke ts in th e no rth BBC Bitesize Notes
13. Slide 13: Other factors added weight to the basic elements • Range rights and the invention of crazy quilt allowed ranchers to acquire huge areas of land very cheaply. • Skilful breeding (the development of heavier cattle, which were still tough enough to survive on the plains) increased the ranchers' profits. • Also important for profits was the defeat of the rustlers and the Indians (which allowed ranchers to trade unhindered). • Finally there was publicity - which encouraged people to take up cattle ranching. BBC Bitesize Notes
14. Slide 14: Charles Goodnight Charles Goodnight had a huge effect on the history of cattle ranching: 3. He was one of the original Texas ranchers, starting as a rancher in 1856. 4. He was the first to recognise and exploit the huge and growing market for beef in the mining towns of Wyoming. 5. He pioneered the 'long drive' (the Goodnight-Loving Trail). 6. He helped to develop the cowboys' skills on the long drives. 7. Range rights: Goodnight is reputed to have invented the technique he called the crazy quilt. 8. By crossing the Texas Longhorn with British Herefords, Goodnight was able to breed heavier cattle, which were still tough enough to survive on the plains. 9. He made a truce with a famous local rustler, 'Dutch Henry', then helped to form the Panhandle Stock Association, which drove out rustlers (especially Billy the Kid, who was killed in 1881). 10. James Brisbin's book about Goodnight - 'How to Get Rich on the Plains' - encouraged many other people to take up cattle ranching. BBC Bitesize Notes
15. Slide 15: Revision preparation Identify eight factors that helped cattle ranching develop on the plains. Think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain:   4. Why cattle ranching developed in Texas. 5. How cattle ranching was affected by the railroads. 6. Whether the railroads or Charles Goodnight had the greater impact on the development of cattle ranching. BBC Bitesize Notes
16. Slide 16: Suggested answers Eight factors that helped cattle ranching develop include:   3. three essential natural products for the task 4. a growing market 5. 'long drives' and 'cow-towns' 6. cowboys 7. range rights 8. skilful cattle breeding 9. the defeat of rustlers 10. Charles Goodnight BBC Bitesize Notes
17. Slide 17: Who were the cowboys? When cattle ranching declined in importance, many cowboys ended up working as extras on cowboy films! Hollywood films, cowboy novels and, later, TV programmes such as 'Bonanza', glamorised the cowboys, and made them seem like heroes. Was this a true reflection of genuine cowboys? BBC Bitesize Notes
18. Slide 18: The real cowboys • The Hollywood image of cowboys was not realistic. Many real cowboys were black ex-slaves, whereas the Hollywood heroes were always white. Also, after the hardships of the long drive, it seems unlikely that many genuine cowboys were specially good-looking! • They were, however, highly skilled. They could ride, shoot, lasso, wrangle, round up, herd, cross rivers, 'turn' stampedes, scout, keep watch and drive off rustlers - all in rain, hail and burning sun. Nat Love, African American cowboy, c.1876 BBC Bitesize Notes
19. Slide 19: Life as a cowboy • The life of a cowboy followed the seasons: • In winter they hung round the ranch, or lived in 'line camps', taking daily rides to stop the cattle 'drifting' onto the open plain. • In spring, they went 'bog-riding' to haul out 'mired' cows, and then went on the 'round-up'. • In summer, they went on the trail drives to market. BBC Bitesize Notes
20. Slide 20: Cowboys' lives were similar in many ways to the lives of Native Americans: • They were entirely dependent on the natural products of the Great Plains. • They moved around (though the cowboys were herding cattle, whereas the Native Americans were following the buffalo). • They cared for the cattle (eg by bog-riding and from line-camps) in a way similar to the way Native American dog-soldiers cared for the buffalo. • Their food and clothing was derived from cattle (beef and leather). • The round-up was a collective, community event similar in many ways to a buffalo hunt. • Cowboys developed a system of long-range signals, such as waving a hat, in much the same way as the Native Americans used smoke signals. BBC Bitesize Notes
21. Slide 21: Real life cowboys had to endure numerous hardships: 1. freezing winter cold in the line camps 2. danger of being trampled (especially in a stampede) 3. danger of drowning (crossing rivers) 4. rain, hail and burning sun on the long drive 5. having to stay awake all night on guard duty on the long drive 6. having to ride 'drag' on the long drive (dust from the herd) 7. attacks from Native American warriors on the long drive 8. attacks from rustlers BBC Bitesize Notes
22. Slide 22: The Homesteaders - Moving to the Great Plains Setting up home on the Plains was not an easy option for those considering a new start in life in the middle of the 19th century. But there were many desperate (or adventurous) people prepared to overlook the difficulties. BBC Bitesize Notes
23. Slide 23: Who settled the Great Plains? Before 1860, few people moved west to try to settle on the Great Plains. The poor soil and harsh climate discouraged them (along with the fact that the Plains were officially 'Indian territory'), land was expensive to buy, and anybody wanting to go west faced a long, dangerous and uncomfortable journey. After 1865, thousands of settlers moved onto the Plains. BBC Bitesize Notes
24. Slide 24: Who settled on the Plains? continued • Freed slaves went there to start a new life as freemen, or to escape economic problems after the Civil War. • European immigrants flooded onto the Great Plains, seeking political or religious freedom, or simply to escape poverty in their own country. • Younger sons from the eastern seaboard - where the population was growing and land was becoming more expensive - went because it was a chance to own their own land. • They were followed by other Americans - such as tradesmen and government officials - who hoped to make their living from the farmers who had moved onto the Plains. BBC Bitesize Notes
25. Slide 25: Factors encouraging people to go West 2. The Homestead Act, 1862 This allowed homesteaders to claim 160 acres of land free if they lived and worked on it for five years. The prospect of free land was very attractive to people who could never have afforded a farm back home. 3. Railroads In order to encourage the railroad companies to build the transcontinental railways, the government gave them a two-mile stretch of land either side of the railroad - part of the companies' profit came from selling this land. Therefore they launched a massive sales campaign, offering a 'settlement package', which included:  a safe, cheap and speedy journey west  temporary accommodation in 'hotels' until the families had built their own home  other attractions such as schools, churches and no taxes for five years BBC Bitesize Notes
26. Slide 26: Factors continued .. 1. Manifest destiny The idea grew up that white Americans were superior, and that it was America's manifest destiny (obvious fate) to expand and encourage 'the American way of life' on the Great Plains. The writer Horace Greeley, who popularised this idea, advised Americans: 'Go West, young man'. 4. Tall tales Once the population of an area reached 60,000, it could apply to become a state of the USA. Local governments therefore encouraged publicity campaigns which claimed (for example) that farmers in the west could grow pumpkins as big as barns and maize as tall as telegraph poles. Many people moved west thinking they would make a fortune BBC Bitesize Notes
27. Slide 27: Myth o f the Gre at Plains • Henry Worrall was a Kansas vine-grower and artist, who painted this picture to contradict claims that Kansas was a place of drought. • This painting shows farmers harvesting huge grapes, melons, maize, pumpkins and parsnips. It was used in railroad company pamphlets and became 'the biggest single advertisement Kansas had ever had. BBC Bitesize Notes
28. Slide 28: Revision preparation Make spidergrams to show the four reasons people did not settle on the Plains before 1865, four kinds of person who went to live on the Plains after 1865 and four factors encouraging people onto the Plains As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 3. Why people settled and stayed in the West. 4. Why people moved west to become homesteaders in the late 1860s and 1870s. 5. Which of the following was the most important factor in opening up the West:  the railroad and the railroad companies,  federal and state government actions,  the belief in 'manifest destiny' and the hopes and aspirations of the settlers,  the Homestead Act of 1862. BBC Bitesize Notes
29. Slide 29: Homesteaders' problems Life was very tough for early settlers and homesteaders on the Great Plains - how did they cope with the harsh conditions? BBC Bitesize Notes
30. Slide 30: Problems and solutions Early settlers and homesteader on the Plains faced huge problems. The burden of many of these fell on the women, whose lives were burdensome and Unpleasant. BBC Bitesize Notes
31. Slide 31: Homesteaders: Problems and Solutions Building a house There was little wood Settlers built 'sod to build log cabins. houses', while they lived out of doors – people did their cooking on an open fire. BBC Bitesize Notes
32. Slide 32: Homesteaders: Problems and Solutions Dirt and disease Outdoor toilets and A 'good thick coat of open wells. whitewash' killed The sod houses leaked, bedbugs. and fleas and bedbugs 'A layer of clay' lived in them 'by the stopped leaks. million'. Homesteaders It was impossible to eventually built more disinfect the floor. modern houses. As a result the death rate, especially from diphtheria, was high. BBC Bitesize Notes
33. Slide 33: Homesteaders: Problems and Solutions Housework A travelling shoe-maker or There was no wood for tinker might pass through who fuel, and no shops to would provide or mend buy items such as household items, but usually candles and soap. families just had to make do. The women collected 'buffalo chips' for fuel, stoked the stove, A typical household had and made their own candles only two buckets, some and soap. crockery and one cracked 'I have often wondered how my cup. There was no water mother stood it', wrote an early and little food. settler. BBC Bitesize Notes
34. Slide 34: Homesteaders: Problems and Solutions Isolation People had to make No doctors or the most of any trip to midwives. their nearest town, No social life where the women 'because of the talked of the harvest distances between and the men smoked farmhouses'. In the corncob pipes and winter families were talked politics. shut in 'and longed for spring'. BBC Bitesize Notes
35. Slide 35: Homesteaders: Problems and Solutions Law and order Local government Law courts and was non-existent, sheriffs such as and some early Wyatt Earp slowly lawmen (such as established law Henry Plummer) and order. were worse than the bandits. BBC Bitesize Notes
36. Slide 36: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. What life was like for the early homesteaders? 2. What problems faced the homesteaders, and how they overcame them? 3. What life was like for women in the early homesteads? BBC Bitesize Notes
37. Slide 37: Farmers' problems in the West Life on the Plains was really tough for the first European farmers there. But they were determined to survive, and found ingenious answers to many of the problems that faced them. BBC Bitesize Notes
38. Slide 38: Farmers - Problems and solutions Farming A hard crust on the Teams of 'sodbusters' soil made it hard to using steel ploughs did start farming. the first ploughing. Farmers could not After 1880, thresher afford a plough or teams travelled around machines. following the harvest. Farmers could hire them There were not enough workers. for just a few days. BBC Bitesize Notes
39. Slide 39: Farmers – Problems and solutions Drought The well driller and There was only 38cm windpump allowed deep of rainfall in a year, wells to be dug, which gave water. New methods and the hot summers of dry farming were evaporated dampness invented (the 'Turkey Red' variety of wheat was from the land. In the imported from Russia, and 1860s there were farmers put a layer of dust on the soil after rain, terrible droughts, which stopped evaporation). followed by fires. BBC Bitesize Notes
40. Slide 40: Farmers – Problems and solutions Food The government Farmers could not realised that 160 acres grow enough on was not enough to their farms to feed a sustain people. The family. Timber Culture Act of 1873 gave farmers another 160 free acres if they grew some trees. BBC Bitesize Notes
41. Slide 41: Farmers - Problems and Solutions Fences Lack of wood for Barbed wire fencing meant farmers (patented by Joseph could not keep cattle Glidden in 1874) off their crops. This led solved the problem to trouble with the of fencing. cattlemen. BBC Bitesize Notes
42. Slide 42: Farmers – Problems and Solutions Insect pests Settlers tried to harvest In the 1870s, the crops before the grasshopper plagues grasshoppers came. They stripped the cornstalks tried to kill them, but gave ‘naked as beanpoles' up, 'weary and dispirited'. and sent pregnant women insane. The government raised relief funds. Modern Colorado beetle destroyed insecticides solved this potato crops. problem. BBC Bitesize Notes
43. Slide 43: Farmers – Problems and Solutions Law and Order Rival settlers Law courts and - Bandits sheriffs such as Wyatt Earp slowly - Renegade Native established law and Americans order - Vigilante cattlemen BBC Bitesize Notes
44. Slide 44: S ourc e a na lys is a nd a ns we r pre pa ra tion • See how many problems you can spot facing the homesteader in Source A.   • Relate each of the problems in the source to the problems.   BBC Bitesize Notes
45. Slide 45: Answer preparation Think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. Why farmers were able to settle on the Great Plains. 2. How homesteaders reacted to the many problems facing them on the Plains. 3. What life was like for the first farmers on the Plains. 4. How important the Timber Culture Act of 1873 was, in helping homesteaders to settle on the Plains. BBC Bitesize Notes
46. Slide 46: Suggested answers • farmers struggling to use hoes and pick axes (problem 1: farming on hard soil) • sun and sparse vegetation (problem 2: drought) • no trees (problem 3: food) • few fences (problem 4: fences) • Colorado beetle (problem 5: insect pests) • grasshoppers (problem 5: insect pests) • Native Americans (problem 6: law and order) • bandits (problem 6: law and order) BBC Bitesize Notes
47. Slide 47: Problems of law and order The first settlers of the American West had to be extremely tough to survive, so law and order was a rough and ready business in the newly settled territories. Things started to improve as more people arrived, and federal territories became fully fledged American states. BBC Bitesize Notes
48. Slide 48: Federal territory • At first, newly-occupied land on the Plains was federal territory (it belonged to the US government) and was administered by a governor, three judges and a US marshal. • When the area reached a population of 5,000, it became a territory, with - in addition - locally elected sheriffs, who could deal with local criminals. New territories were notoriously lawless. BBC Bitesize Notes
49. Slide 49: Towns h ip of Tombs tone , Ariz ona , in 1881 Th e g unfig h t a t th e OK Corra l took pla c e ne a r h e re on 26 Oc tobe r 1881 • Miners in the mining towns set up miners' courts, which settled local matters such as disputed claims, but were powerless to stop gangs of outlaws or rustlers.   • In many areas, local citizens set up vigilante groups, who dished out summary justice to people suspected of crimes BBC Bitesize Notes
50. Slide 50: Federal territory continued … • When the population reached 60,000, the territory became a state, with its own laws, government and finances, although there was still a US marshal with responsibility for criminals who broke federal laws. Slowly, helped by improved communications (for instance the telegraph), law and order was established. • Among the lawmen who helped achieve this were Pat Garrett (who shot Billy the Kid) and Wyatt Earp (famous for his shoot-out with the Clanton gang at the OK Corral). BBC Bitesize Notes
51. Slide 51: Nine problems of law and order in the West 1. Distance (difficult to cover the large areas and isolated communities of the West) 2. Poverty and harsh conditions (people were prepared to resort to desperate measures) 3. More men than women (no calming influence; prostitution) 4. Different races (differences of language and culture led to there being little sense of a united community) 5. Culture of violence (everyone carried guns, and sorted out problems by using violence) 6. Land claims and gold (arguments over land ownership; greed, gamblers, criminals) 7. Cattle barons (fear of reprisal; 'respectable' citizens were scared to speak out; juries could be bribed and were often biased) 8. Poor court system (judges often had poor knowledge of law; courts often gave unfair verdicts; lack of convictions) 9. Vigilantes (often as much a problem as the criminals) BBC Bitesize Notes
52. Slide 52: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. What the structure of government was on the Plains. 2. Why law and order was a problem on the Great Plains. 3. What ways were used to try to solve the problems of law and order. 4. How successfully law and order was established on the Plains. BBC Bitesize Notes
53. Slide 53: The Johnson County War (Wyoming) 1892 The first farmers on the Plains clashed with the cattle barons who had their ranches there. There were many disputes, particularly over fencing and waterholes, leading to a series of clashes known as the range wars. The most famous confrontation was the Johnson County War. BBC Bitesize Notes
54. Slide 54: Events of the Johnson County War Part 1 • Governor Barber of Wyoming supported the cattlemen, who said homesteaders ('nesters') were rustling (stealing) their cattle. • The sheriff of Buffalo (Red Angus) supported the homesteaders, who said the cattle barons were stealing their land. BBC Bitesize Notes
55. Slide 55: Events of the Johnson County War Part 2 • The cattlemen regularly caught and hanged local homesteaders. • Among those they hanged were Ella Watson and Jim Averill (a poor local couple), and nine trappers who were out hunting wolves. BBC Bitesize Notes
56. Slide 56: Events of the Johnson County War Part 3 • The cattlemen assembled a list of 70 rustlers they wanted killed. In spring 1892 they hired a lynching party of 43 cattlemen (including 20 hired gunmen). • The lynching party attacked a ranch known as the KC ranch. They killed Nick Ray and his partner Nate Chapman, who was roundup foreman of the local Northern Wyoming Farmers & Stock Growers Association. BBC Bitesize Notes
57. Slide 57: Events of the Johnson County War Part 4 • In response, Red Angus raised a posse of 319 men, who rode out and trapped the cattlemen at a ranch called the TA. • The cattlemen were eventually rescued by the Army cavalry. BBC Bitesize Notes
58. Slide 58: Events of the Johnson County War Part 5 • The cattlemen were charged with murder. They bribed the jury and the case was dropped. Nevertheless, the war marked the end of the power of the cattlemen. BBC Bitesize Notes
59. Slide 59: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. Why cattlemen and homesteaders clashed on the Great Plains. 2. What the problems were that hindered the establishment of law and order on the Plains. 3. Who won the Johnson County War, and what the main events of that war were. BBC Bitesize Notes
60. Slide 60: Struggle for the Plains The struggle for the Plains was an unequal one, with the US government putting great pressure on Native Americans. They put up a vigorous resistance, but their way of life was doomed. BBC Bitesize Notes
61. Slide 61: Main events in the struggle for the Plains • 1803-1851: The Pe rmane nt Indian Fro ntie r BBC Bitesize Notes
62. Slide 62: • In 1803, the US government Policy purchased Louisiana from the French. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced all Native Americans in the eastern United States (eg Cherokee, Seminole) to go there (the Trail of Tears). • First settler trails across Plains to Pressures on the West - Oregon Trail (1841), Native Americans Mormon Trail (1846), California Trail (to the goldfields, 1849). Results • First skirmishes between Native and white Americans. BBC Bitesize Notes
63. Slide 63: •   1851-1867: Co nc e ntratio n o f Native Ame ric an land BBC Bitesize Notes
64. Slide 64: • In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, the US Policy government agreed that large areas of land should belong to Native American tribes 'for all time' (eg the Sioux were given the Black Hills of Dakota). Pressures on Native• Gold was discovered in Colorado (1859). The first cattle drives were opened up (eg the Americans Goodnight-Loving Trail, 1866). The Pony Express and a regular stagecoach service to California started up. • Indian wars of 1860-1867 Results • Little Crow's war (1860-61) • Massacre of Sand Creek by Chivington's 3rd Colorado Volunteers (1864) • Red Cloud led the Sioux in a successful war against the US (1866-7). During this war the Fetterman massacre (1866) occurred, in which 80 US cavalry troopers died. BBC Bitesize Notes
65. Slide 65: • 1867-1875: Native Ame ric ans o n s mall re s e rvatio ns BBC Bitesize Notes
66. Slide 66: • In the Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867) the southern Policy plains tribes agreed to move to Oklahoma. In the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) Red Cloud realised he could never defeat the US permanently, and the Sioux agreed to move onto a small reservation. The US government promised to supply food and medicine. Pressures on Native • Railroads. Cow towns and cattle ranching. Americans Gold was discovered in the Black Hills. Many white Americans wanted to exterminate the Native Americans. Slaughter of the buffalo. The US government broke its promises of 1868, and supplies were inadequate. • Indian wars of 1875-85 Results • Custer and his army were wiped out at the battle of Little Bighorn (1876). Custer's Avengers swelled the US Army, and superior US numbers, technology and winter campaigns forced the Sioux to surrender. BBC Bitesize Notes
67. Slide 67: • 1885: Ope ning up Na tive Am e ric a n te rritory   BBC Bitesize Notes
68. Slide 68: • The US government made Native Policy American territory available to white settlers (eg the Oklahoma Land Run, 1889). Homesteaders arrived. The Native Americans' own law courts were abolished. The Native Americans had to seek justice in the white man's court. • End of the Native American way of Result life. BBC Bitesize Notes
69. Slide 69: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. How the policy of the American government towards the Indians changed between 1803 and 1890. 2. Why the policy of the American government towards the Indians changed so often between 1803 and 1890. 3. What the consequences were of the changes in policy of the American government towards the Plains Indians. 4. What the causes of the Plains wars were. 5. What the consequences of the Plains wars were. BBC Bitesize Notes
70. Slide 70: Conflict on the Plains The harsh conditions of the Great Plains meant that both the new settlers and the Native Americans had to struggle to survive, and they fought hard against anyone who threatened their way of life. There was certainly little understanding between the various sides in the conflict, making it hard to distinguish between 'goodies' and 'baddies'. BBC Bitesize Notes
71. Slide 71: Looking at the conflict There a number of ways you can look at the conflict on the Plains.   • It is possible to see the conflict as a clash of cultures. White Americans did not understand the Native Americans' way of life. Consequently, they distrusted and feared them, and could believe anything (including torture and deceit) of a people they did not understand. Conversely, the Native Americans felt that white Americans were devils who ruined the earth. Differences of culture caused them to hate and despise each other, and led to war.   • The wars might be seen as the result of racism. The white settlers believed that the Native Americans were inferior. They felt justified in saying that 'complete extermination is our motto', and in slaughtering the buffalo to starve the Native Americans to death. In 1864, Colonel Chivington justified the massacre at Sand Creek by saying: 'Kill them all, big and little: nits make lice'. Faced by an attitude of genocide, Native Americans had nothing to lose - as the Sioux Chief Gall said: 'You fought me and I had to fight back'.   • It could be argued that war broke out simply because the white men wanted the Great Plains - firstly to cross, then for gold, then for cattle and then for farming. Many white Americans believed that it was their manifest destiny to take over the Plains. They took the land that Native Americans believed belonged to everyone.   BBC Bitesize Notes
72. Slide 72: Bad behaviour However, bad behaviour on both sides added to the confrontation.   • The US government regularly broke its treaty promises - as the Sioux Chief Gall said: 'If we make peace, you will not keep it'.   • Meanwhile, some Native Americans wanted war. Early travellers on the Plains were robbed and murdered. And when some Native Americans made peace with the US government, others would stay out on the warpath - white Americans could not understand that the chiefs had no power to make their warriors obey. BBC Bitesize Notes
73. Slide 73: Map showing major battles between white and Native Americans BBC Bitesize Notes
74. Slide 74: Negotiation to Extermination In 1866, a group of Native Americans wiped out a unit of US cavalry (the Fetterman Massacre), and events like this, and the defeat at Little Bighorn (1876), made the white Americans determined to win the war. BBC Bitesize Notes
75. Slide 75: White Americans attitudes to .. Race and Red skin White Americans regarded Native (and black) Americans as subhuman. Horace Greeley wrote that: '...their wars, treaties, habitations, crafts, comforts, all belong to the very lowest ages of human existence'. President Jefferson wrote that they were: '...backward in civilisation like beasts'. BBC Bitesize Notes
76. Slide 76: White Americans Attitudes to .. Adapted to the Plains (Nomadic, Tipis, Leisure crafts and Acceptance) White Americans demanded a settled, farming way of life. They thought that tipis were: '...too full of smoke ... inconceivably filthy'. Horace Greeley despised the Native Americans for: '…sittingaround the doors of their lodges at the height of the planting season', and said they were '...squalid and conceited, proud and worthless, lazy and lousy'. 'These people must die out,' he wrote, 'God has given this earth to those who will subdue and cultivate it.' BBC Bitesize Notes
77. Slide 77: White Americans attitudes to .. Loved the land Land cannot be owned or sold • White Americans believed that God had given them the right to 'subdue the earth', and they wanted to make money from it. They thought land ownership, fences and cultivation were natural. White Americans thought only they could make full use of the land. They gave the Plains to the Native Americans when they thought they were 'wholly unfit for cultivation', but when they found this not to be true, they took the land for themselves. BBC Bitesize Notes
78. Slide 78: White Americans attitude to .. Government and laws Influence of chief, Community spirit and Horse stealing White Americans could not understand why chiefs could not make their warriors obey them. Government based on 'community spirit' was incomprehensible to white Americans, whose government was based on laws and compulsion. They particularly hated horse stealing, because 'depriving a man of his horse could mean life itself on the Plains'. White observers declared that the Native Americans were 'without government'. BBC Bitesize Notes
79. Slide 79: White Americans attitude to .. Religion and morality (Animistic (spirits) Medicine men young marriage Easy divorce Polygamy, Exposure of old people to the elements to die) • Christian preachers thought '...the Indians have no religion, only ignorant superstition'. Native American customs of marriage, divorce and exposure of old people to the elements offended white Americans' religion and morality. BBC Bitesize Notes
80. Slide 80: White Americans attitude to .. War Preserve life, Ambush and stealth, Coups & Scalping • White soldiers saw ambush as treachery, scalping as barbarous and retreat as 'a total lack of courage'. 'The first impulse of the Indian,' wrote Colonel Dodge, '...is to scuttle away as fast as his legs will carry him ... there is one example of a fair stand-up fight.' BBC Bitesize Notes
81. Slide 81: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. What attitudes different white Americans had towards Native Americans. 2. Why white Americans and Plains Indians came into conflict on the Plains. 3. Why white Americans and Plains Indians found it so difficult to reach a peaceful settlement of their differences. BBC Bitesize Notes
82. Slide 82: The Battle of the Little Bighorn 1876 The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the most decisive defeat for the US Army during the whole of the Indian wars. BBC Bitesize Notes
83. Slide 83: Events leading up to the Battle of Little Bighorn • Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace of 1868. • Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. • The Sioux refused to sell their land in the Black Hills. • The government ordered the Sioux onto small reservations. When the Sioux refused, they were declared 'hostile'. BBC Bitesize Notes
84. Slide 84: The Battle Plan • General Philip Sheridan was sent to defeat the Sioux. • In June 1876 US armies, led by the generals Alfred Terry and John Gibbon, met at the Yellowstone river. • Gibbon was set to march up the Little Bighorn river, and Lt Colonel George Custer was ordered to march round the Wolf mountains, as part of a two-pronged attack on the Sioux camp. BBC Bitesize Notes
85. Slide 85: The Battle • The Sioux had been joined by the Cheyenne and Arapaho, making an army of more than 3,000 warriors, armed with Winchester repeating rifles. • Custer marched his men through (not round) the Wolf mountains, to arrive at the Sioux camp first. • Custer divided his 600 men into three groups. BBC Bitesize Notes
86. Slide 86: The Battle • Custer sent Captain Frederick Benteen scouting, and sent Major Marcus Reno to attack the Sioux village from the south. • Custer headed north of the village with 215 men. • The Sioux cut off both Reno and Custer. Benteen rescued Reno, but Custer and all of his troops lost their lives. • The Sioux withdrew when Terry and Gibbon arrived. BBC Bitesize Notes
87. Slide 87: Why was Cus te r de fe ate d? Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Little Bighorn because he made a lot of fundamental errors. 3. He acted alone - even though Gibbon's last words to him were: 'Custer, don't be greedy. Wait for us.' 4. Instead of going round the Wolf mountains, Custer force-marched his men through the mountains. His troops and horses arrived tired after the long march. 5. He weakened his forces by dividing them into three (although this was classic US Army tactics). 6. He expected the Sioux warriors to scatter and run. Instead they outmanoeuvred and surrounded him. 7. He was hugely outnumbered. 8. He was arrogant and over-confident, and wanted the victory to bolster his political ambitions. He ignored the advice of his Crow scouts to wait for reinforcements. 9. The Sioux leaders - especially Crazy Horse - were expert and experienced generals. 10. The Native Americans regarded the war as their last chance - they fought with desperation. 11. The Sioux were determined: 'The whites want a war and we will give it to them', said Chief Sitting Bull. 12. Custer had poor information - he did not know how big the Sioux army was, nor that they were armed with Winchester repeating rifles. BBC Bitesize Notes
88. Slide 88: Source analysis • This painting depicts the traditional view about the heroism of Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - Custer can be seen brandishing two guns, fighting until the very end. • However, this painting illustrates the problem of reliability of sources. This depiction is almost certainly wrong. An archaeological survey in 1983 found that Custer's men fell in a running battle, perhaps as they scattered and fled down the hillside towards the river. It also found that Custer was not scalped, which suggests that he shot himself, because the Sioux did not scalp a suicide. BBC Bitesize Notes
89. Slide 89: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. Why war broke out between the US government and the Sioux in 1876. 2. Why the Sioux won the Battle of the Little Big Horn. BBC Bitesize Notes
90. Slide 90: The end of the Native American way of life The Battle of the Little Bighorn only seemed like a Sioux victory. In fact, it was the start of the total defeat of the Sioux. Before long the US government had completely defeated the Native Americans, and their way of life was destroyed over the next 15 years. So what were the key steps? BBC Bitesize Notes
91. Slide 91: November 1876 • The US Army began winter campaigns against the Sioux, starving them into surrender. Colonel Mackenzie destroyed Dull Knife's Cheyenne camp - driving the Cheyenne into the hills to survive the winter without any food. BBC Bitesize Notes
92. Slide 92: January 1877 • Chief Sitting Bull fled to Canada. He joined a Wild West show, but eventually returned to join the reservation. BBC Bitesize Notes
93. Slide 93: October 1877 • Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé tribe tried to flee to Canada, but was intercepted. 'I will fight no more forever', he vowed. BBC Bitesize Notes
94. Slide 94: 1879 • Richard Pratt opened the first boarding school for Native American children. • The Sioux were given cattle and forced to become cattle-herders. BBC Bitesize Notes
95. Slide 95: 1881 (-1887) • Geronimo led a series of rebellions by the Apache warriors, but eventually had to surrender and become a vegetable farmer. BBC Bitesize Notes
96. Slide 96: 1883 • The Bureau of Indian Affairs issued the Code of Religious Offences, banning Native American religious customs such as the Sun Dance. BBC Bitesize Notes
97. Slide 97: 1887 • The Dawes Act divided the Native American reservations between the different families. BBC Bitesize Notes
98. Slide 98: 1889 • The Oklahoma Land Run. The government split 2 million acres of former 'Indian territory' into 160 acre plots, and people had to race to claim a plot. The race began at noon on 22 April 1889 and by next day all the land was claimed. BBC Bitesize Notes
99. Slide 99: 1890 • A medicine man called Wovoka started a Ghost Dance - although it was peaceful, the Army, fearing a rebellion, tried to arrest Sitting Bull, who was taking part (he was killed during the attempt). Then when Sioux Chief Big Foot, trying to avoid the trouble, led his people to Wounded Knee Creek, they were massacred by the US Army. BBC Bitesize Notes
100. Slide 100: Why did the white Americans win the West? White Americans won the West because everything was on their side. The Native Americans fought bravely, but the odds were completely against them. BBC Bitesize Notes
101. Slide 101: Reasons why the Whiteman won  Little Bighorn - the massacre of Custer's regiment caused thousands of 'Custer's Avengers' to join up, and it made the US Army determined to hunt down and destroy the Native American warriors.  Lies - the US government made promises which it later broke.  Economy - the US government had unlimited men and money. After the Little Bighorn, the Sioux had to disband their army because the land could not support so large a group for long.  Technology - the US Army had access to repeating rifles, machine guns, cannons and the telegraph. The Native Americans had to buy rifles, and used smoke signals to communicate.  Railroads - thousands of white Americans and US soldiers could travel to the West in hours by railroad. BBC Bitesize Notes
102. Slide 102: Reasons why continued …  Slaughter of the buffalo - after the 1870s, white hunters destroyed the buffalo, not only for their hides, but partly to destroy the Native Americans, whose way of life depended on these animals. By 1895, less than a thousand buffalo remained on the Great Plains.  The US Army was too big and strong for the Native American warriors. It controlled the Plains from a system of forts.  Reservations destroyed the Indian way of life, because people on them were forced to become farmers. Many warriors became alcoholics. The influence of the chiefs declined, because the reservations were run by agents. The Code of Religious Offences destroyed the Native American religion, and the Dawes Act ended community ownership.  Education - the Indian boarding schools (which the children were made to attend) forced Native American children to become 'white'. They were beaten if they even whispered in their own language - the motto of one school was 'kill the Indian to save the man'. BBC Bitesize Notes
103. Slide 103: Answer preparation As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain: 1. What the purpose and effect was of the reservations. 2. Why the Native Americans lost the battle for the Plains. 3. How important the Battle of the Little Big Horn was in the eventual defeat of the Plains Indians. 4. How successfully the so-called Indian problem was resolved. BBC Bitesize Notes