DBQ 2/14

In the mid 1800’s whites in the U.S. started to expand west. With these expansions, the government brought up the idea of a transcontinental railroad. Although, these expansions seemed to be a huge profit to the U.S. the westward movement caused conflicts with the Native Americans who had lived on the land. These conflicts lead to government policies that treated the Native Americans as less than human, and eventually lead to the downfall of their culture.

The U.S. Government set up reservations, to “protect” the Natives. When in reality, they were trying to assimilate them and gain control of their land to build the railroad, distribute to settlers, and mine for gold. Government actions, such as The Dawes Act, divided Native lands into 100-acre plots. One plot to each man and his family, the rest of the land would be sold to settlers. Document 1 shows an act of “de-indianization”, the native women are dressed in “white” clothing and working in a type of factory sewing clothing. Most Native American traditions were stifled, because they were misunderstood. Document 3 shows a newspaper headline from 1890, saying “The Massacre Begun!”. Some people believed the “ghost dancing” the natives did as tradition were meant to destroy the whites, when in actuality they were praying to recover their lands and return to their old way of life. The reservations were not a sanctuary for the natives as some government policies made them out to be, document 4 describes a little girl’s experience of humiliation as her hair was cut off, a sign of strength and spirit in her culture. Some of the government officials saw that the way the natives were being treated was wrong, and tried to reform the way reservations were run, though, their attempts at helping the natives did not go as planned.

From these government actions, the native culture almost ceased to exist. Some of the natives gave into assimilation immediately, while others resisted at the cost of their lives. Document 5 is an editorial, telling of the death and determination of Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull hated the whites for making him leave his home, naturally, what he believed to be his own, and because of this he sought revenge through resisting conforming to the white society which then lead to his own death. The Natives looked up to sitting bull, when he died many of their spirits went with them and they gave into assimilation. Because of the misunderstanding of cultures, whites feared them, and because of this fear, they brutally attacked the natives. At Wounded Knee, almost a full tribe of natives was massacred, just because of their desire to keep their traditional way of life. Killings were not the only cause of death among the natives. The poor conditions of the reservations, as well as introducing whites to the people created a breeding ground for disease. Document 6 shows the drastic decline of the Native population in only 50 years.

The Westward Expansion led to a major decline in the Native traditions and population itself through assimilation and disease. The Natives struggled to keep traditions alive, but they were no match from the inevitable control of the whites through the government regulations. Several regulations, such as the Dawes Act broke up native lands and grouped different tribes and cultures together ruining their only known way of life, treating them as less than human.