2nd Industrial Rev. & Close of the West
Spread of Industrialization
1869- US builds transcontinental railroad
Railroads and telegraph connect nation
immigrants provide labor
Second industrial revolution
steel, chemicals, precision, machinery, electronics
internal combustion engine --> fossil fuels
Railroad Construction
railroads cut journey wes to days
Led to conflict with Natives
Chinese and other immigrant railroad workers face dangerous conditions
Railroads and banks engaged in massive gov. corruption
Chinese Exclusion act
helped cause panic of 1873
Farming and Raching
Technological advances allow for larger farms and ranches
Barbed wire
steel plow
"prairie fan" water pump
Refrigerated railroad cars
ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION & WESTWARD EXPANSION
Buffalo are killed and used for products. Skin and meat used rest left to rot.
Govt. use this as a way to both make money and weaken Natives to promote western expansion.
Yellowstone National Park
First national park established March 1, 1872.
Sequoia: 25 September 1890. ...
Yosemite: 1 October 1890. ...
Mount Rainier: 2 March 1899. ...
Crater Lake: 22 May 1902. ...
Wind Cave: 9 January 1903. ...
Mesa Verde: 29 June 1906. ...
Glacier: 11 May 1910.
The Indian Wars - post civil war
After the Civil War, US stopped taking treaties with Natives seriously
Numerous wars of expansion
Deny Natives have nations --> called tribes to delegitimize their claims
Buffalo hunted to Near-extinction to weaken Natives’ ability to resist
Comanche Wars
Cayuse War
Apache Wars
Navajo Wars
Yuma War
Ute Wars
Sioux Wars
Mohave War
Modoc War
Nez Perce War
Many African Americans fought for the US calvary. Buffalo soldiers. Fought in the Indian Wars
Battle of the Little Bighorn - (1876)
Sioux (Lakota) Wars
Led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
Last major victory of Natives against US
Custer attacked large camp
Vastly outnumbered
Surrounded and wiped out
press distorts story-US enraged
Sioux later defeated
forced onto reservations
Nez Perce War
Pretty Nose-female chief who fought in the battle
Lakota (Sioux) leader & holy man
Gen. Custer, leader of US cavalry against the Sioux
The black hills were sacred to the Lakota and the US government took the mountains and put the faces of presidents and founding fathers on it. -- Crazy Horse monument under construction
Nez Perce located in WA
Forced off land, despite treaty
pursued by army across west
trying to reach safety in Canada
Captured by US miles from border
Apache Wars
US takes control of land after Mexican-American war
Series of wars from 1849-1886
One by one, different bands of Apache surrender
Sent to reservations
Geronimo last to surrender with 30 followers in 1886
Scattered fighting afterwards
502 Apaches imprisoned in Florida for 27 years
overcrowding and illness
Wounded Knee Massacre
Most Sioux forced onto reservations
350 leave the reservation
Miserable conditions
US army surrounds their camp
US feared Ghost Dance religion
Takes Indians guns
US opens fire-kills about 300 Sioux
Called a “battle” by US
20 US soldiers get Congressional Medal of Honor
Dawes Severalty Act (1887):
Assimilation Policy
Most Natives forced onto reservations
Smaller plots of land
Inferior land
Poor for farming
Few resources
“Kill the Indian, save the man”
Gov. tries to eliminate Indian cultures & languages
Reservations & Boarding Schools
Boarding Schools
Children taken from parents
Forced to European and convert to Christianity
Violence, abuse, few rights
Native languages forbidden → erasure
Native religion forbidden
Rented out to work
Frequent beatings
Can’t leave
Violence & sexual abuse
No cultural connection to parents’ generation
Continues into 1970s