LESSON 13 - Changes on the Western Frontier

Objectives:

Identify the various factors that fueled America's Western Expansion

Identify key technologies that aided America's Western Expansion

Identify what economic and political actions strengthened Western Expansion

Identify how the Western Expansion impacted the rest of the United States

The Growing Conflict of Frontier Americans and the Native Americans

The Native Americans who lived on the Great Plains depended on vast herds of buffaloes and horses. The buffalo herds provided the Native Americans with food, clothing, and buffalo hides were made into shelter. Horses were used to corral and hunt buffalos, as mounts during wartime and service animals when the clans moved across the Great Plains. The Native Americans lived in family groups called clans, which were ruled by a council of its eldest members.

As the Civil War ended, many Americans began looking towards …show more content…
The Dawes Act wanted to dismantle the reservation policy put in place and grant lots of land to the head of each Native American household. The Dawes Act was unsuccessful as the Native Americans were given poor farming and grazing land, and would have lost all rights to gold and silver deposit. Another devastating blow to the Plains Indians was the massacre of the buffalos, which once freely roamed the Great Plains. Without the buffalo, many clans faced severe handicaps in their daily life.

In the 1880s the trials of the Sioux clans continued to grow. Many of the Sioux attempted a ritual called the Ghost Dance to bring back the buffalo and replenish their lands. The ritual was unsuccessful and many of the Sioux began moving to allotted reservations. In 1890, miscommunication between the U.S. Army and the Sioux would result the Battle of Wounded Knee. Over 300 Sioux, many unarmed, and 25 American soldiers were