To answer this essential question we went through similar steps of the prior week. First, we assigned each group a topic to focus and take notes on as we analysed the information given. The same groups were assigned the same topics they were given last week. For example, my group had key people last week, so we had key people this week as well. After everyone had their topic we watched a series of video clips on ABC Clio. These videos were almost identical to the videos last week, except the main focuses were different. Then, in our small groups, we examined a flow chart from ABC Clio. The chart depicted important events during Westward Expansion in chronological order. Finally, we looked at two primary source documents. The documents were Helen Hunt Jackson's Century of Dishonor 1881 and Excerpts from Dawes Act 1887.
Answering the essential question, yes, the government had good intentions while enacting the policies; however, they didn't execute their ideas strongly. An example of someone having good intentions but a poor execution is Henry Pratt. Pratt created a system of schooling called the Carlisle School System. The system focused on the annihilation of all Indians. He said, "Kill the Indian in him and save the man". It sounds harsh to say, but this was what people thought wholeheartedly during this time period. The belief was that they were doing helping the Native Americans by putting them through this system or by placing them in reservations. Also, the Dawes Acts supported the idea of stripping away Indian culture to replace in with Americanized ideas. The purpose of the acts forced Indians to submit to American ideas and adapt to the life of a farmer. If they chose to do so they were rewarded with land and U.S. citizenship. Sadly, the acts had a negative impact and resulted in the Wounded Knee Massacre. More than 150 Sioux were killed when this battle ended and Native Americans continued to resist white culture. In conclusion, there were better ways to get the desired results that the government yearned for. Instead of a gradual change they chose a sudden, harsh, and violent change that was forced upon those impacted by Westward Expansion.
Answering the essential question, yes, the government had good intentions while enacting the policies; however, they didn't execute their ideas strongly. An example of someone having good intentions but a poor execution is Henry Pratt. Pratt created a system of schooling called the Carlisle School System. The system focused on the annihilation of all Indians. He said, "Kill the Indian in him and save the man". It sounds harsh to say, but this was what people thought wholeheartedly during this time period. The belief was that they were doing helping the Native Americans by putting them through this system or by placing them in reservations. Also, the Dawes Acts supported the idea of stripping away Indian culture to replace in with Americanized ideas. The purpose of the acts forced Indians to submit to American ideas and adapt to the life of a farmer. If they chose to do so they were rewarded with land and U.S. citizenship. Sadly, the acts had a negative impact and resulted in the Wounded Knee Massacre. More than 150 Sioux were killed when this battle ended and Native Americans continued to resist white culture. In conclusion, there were better ways to get the desired results that the government yearned for. Instead of a gradual change they chose a sudden, harsh, and violent change that was forced upon those impacted by Westward Expansion.
"Burial of the dead after the massacre of Wounded Knee. U.S. soldiers putting Indians in a common grave; some corpses are frozen in different positions. South Dakota.
The policies forced upon the Native Americans and the Buffalo Soldiers by the government had a negative impact on their way of life. For the Native Americans, a negative impact, was the drastic loss of land that they had to face. The loss of land is due to the Allotment Program, a response to government policies. The program said that the Native Americans' land would be divided up. Meaning individuals would get their own land, but 90% of the land went to the general public. This made it so the Natives had less land than what they started with. Also, it isn't fair to take away land that the Natives believed belonged to no one. The Buffalo soldiers, during expansion, were in charge of mapping territory, repairing forts, laying out miles of telegraph, and going into battle against unruly Native tribes. This made the soldiers undesirable to the Natives being forced off their land and caused a deep resentment between the two. However, the life of a Buffalo soldiers wasn't easy. Because of the government's dreams of expansion they placed the Buffalo Soldiers as "less important", in comparison towards the regular, white regiments. Buffalo Soldiers got the old, ratty uniforms, the weak horses, they fought in places no one else wanted to fight in, and they did whatever no one else wanted to do. The government's unjustified policies enacted during Westward Expansion caused negative impacts on the lives of Native Americans as well as the Buffalo Soldiers.
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