Hello APUSHers!
Alright, here is the much anticipated essay question. Again, you can either type or hand write the essay but make sure it is all your own, original work. The essay is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, November 20th. Also due in class on that day are your notecards for the key terms and people as well as the Ghost Dance extra credit assignment.
Remember with the Free Response Question you still want an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs as well as a thesis.
Good luck!
~Ms. Major
Free Response Question (essay)
How were lives of the Plains Indians in the second half of the nineteenth century affected by technological developments and government actions?
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No one ever commented on this one. Here I go:
In the latter half of the 19th century, the United States government was making efforts to limit Native American presence and culture in the Great Plains region. Technological developments helped drive the Native Americans back, and government actions were conniving in how they prompted mistreatment of the Plains Indians. Whether on purpose, or by accident, both technology and government led to the ultimate downfall of Native American culture and society in the plains.
The Trans-Continental railroad was finished in 1869, uniting the east and the west. While this would make easier trade and communication possible, it was bad news for the Native Americans. Wagon training was over. Settlers had only to ride the railroad to any part of the country. This would bring white settlers to the plains, where they encroached on Indian land. Furthermore, these settlers brought diseases to which the Native Americans had developed no immunity. Disease alone decimated the population. The railroad essentially changed the land. Its construction required the demolition of certain areas, the leveling of trees, and intruding tracks. This not only invaded Indian land, but also negatively affected the buffalo, who could not roam as they once could. Coupled with the new prospect of buffalo hunting, the American bison became practically extinct. Considering that it was a main food source for Native Americans, this took its toll on the tribes of the plains. They were deprived of meat, but also fur, hide, bone, and many other necessities gained from the buffalo.
Not all technology was detrimental to the Native Americans of the plains. When the gun was introduced to the Native Americans, it enabled them to hunt better. A bow an arrow is a formidable weapon, but then hunting a moving target, nothing can beat the speed of a bullet. (Save, perhaps, Superman.) At least this might have had some effect that would counteract the destruction of natural resources in the west. In an ironic twist, the same guns that had been used by settlers were now in the hands of Native Americans and were utilized in battle against the U.S. military. No one here is endorsing violence, but in cases, physical resistance was necessary, and the rifle was an effective way for Native Americans to defend themselves. Advancements in agriculture also helped the Indians. Of course, they didn’t have the farm machinery like the cotton gin or the reaper, but they certainly utilized metal plows and corn planters.
The government was working hard in the 1800’s to eliminate Native American life. Sometimes the actions were subtle, sometimes blatant. The Homestead Act was helpful to white settlers. It stated that a citizen could claim a 160 acre plot of land for FREE, so long as they live there for five years and set up some amenities. It seemed great; free land, right? Nope. That land came from someone, and that someone was the Native American population. Thousands of acres of land that rightfully belonged to the Native Americans were given to people who had loved there for only five years! It might even be considered positive that the Homestead Act didn’t work out the way it should have, and many people never received free land.
Another act by the Federal government was the Dawes Act. It was eerily similar to the Homestead Act in that it offered 160 acres to people; Native American families. It seemed beneficial for the Indians. They would legally gain a lot of land. Only a few Native Americans were suspicious. History has shown that they were justifiably suspect. The Dawes Act was never about helping families. The whole thing was part of the government’s plan to wipe out the Native American culture for good. They chose to divide and conquer, splitting the tribes up and breaking the strength that the Indians found in unity with each other. By enticing the plains Indians with land, eventually the government was able to get more.
Although occasionally Native Americans received some benefit from technological advances or government acts, for the most part they destroyed a way of life for the Plains Indians. From the desecration of the land by railroads to the divide and conquer technique of the Dawes Act, the 1800’s were horrible to the Native Americans. Try as we might, the change that happened can never be reversed, and apologies cannot bring back a lost culture.
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