GILDED AGE NATIVE AMERICANS

Question 1

Give context statement

Answer 1

• Period of economic growth when state/federal govt concerned with social/economic impact of industrialisation and high level of immigration

Question 2

Ways federal govt positively impacted rights

Answer 2

• Dawes act made some native Americans landowners - gave full rights of American citizenship
• Reservations enabled them to establish farming communities
• Reservations gave them better healthcare - low life expectancy and high rates of disease
  -Reservations enabled tribal customs to continue - gave them sense of belonging

Question 3

Ways native Americans themselves positively impacted rights

Answer 3

• Navajo tribe - rare success, grew from 8000 in 1868 to 22000 in 1900
• Navajo tribe did well - increased land from 4 million to 10.5 million acres, number of sheep/goats from 15000 to 1.7 million
• Used education to get better jobs - Indian agency officers, interpreters

Question 4

Ways white people positively impacted rights

Answer 4

• Very small minority saw conflict and general clusters defeat at battle of Little Bighorn as sign native Americans were treated badly - things needed to be improved
• Boarding schools in Virginia and Pennsylvania dealt with poor standards of education on reservations -> boys had vocational training and girls with domestic skills
• 1882 Indian rights association - criticised board of indian commissioners for mistreating native Americans

Question 5

Ways federal govt negatively impacted rights

Answer 5

• Govt subsidies were insufficient and first to be cut when govt had other priorities - Sioux left to starve led to 1862 little crows war
• Highly dependent on govt for food - humiliating, often supplied didn’t come and they starved
• Govt wanted native Americans to lose all sense of previous identity - conversion to Christianity, banning religious practising
• 1871 more aggressive belief in manifest destiny - govt abandoned negotiations with native Americans and give congress power to pursue assimilation
  -1898 Curtis act took away all befits of 5 civilised tribes - no longer self governing
• Position of native Americans declined as reservations were gradually reduced in size - then replaced by allotments, attempting to assimilate into American society, destroying culture and way of life
• Reservations meant they lost their freedom - denied civil rights, wards of state
• Life on reservations were harsh - land was poor, difficult to farm

Question 6

Ways native Americans themselves negatively impacted rights

Answer 6

• Matriarchal tribes lost their status after allotment - money went to men eg Cherokee and iroquois trib
• 1900 - only 100000 of original 240000 native Americans inhabiting plains in 1860 remained -> infectious diseases, moved from native lands, alcohol addiction

Question 7

Ways white people negatively impacted rights

Answer 7

• Education on reservations were poor - those who went to boarding schools couldn’t find jobs, retuned to reservation life
• Education separated people from their culture, not allowed to speak language - when they returned they were alienated and seen as untrustworthy
• 1882 Indian rights association founded - white philanthropic organisation convinced native Americans were less civilised, wanted to assimilate them, tried to persuade them to abandon religious beliefs
  -1893 census bureau claimed whole western frontier was occupied - discovery of gold/precious metals in Great Plains

Question 8

Other ways rights were negatively impacted

Answer 8

• 1890 massacre at wounded knee - destroyed Sioux, peoples dream died there
• Couldn’t farm a lot of land they got through allotment policy - forced to sell, money quickly spent leading to increase in poverty
• 1880s drought hit crops and disease killed cattle - situation made worse, fighting only option, high tension