Indians Land In The West example essay topic

the expansion of americans into the west was a major step in the 1800's. the united states had a great deal of land that no one had ventured to settle. however, that all changed as the prospect of making it big in the west entered people's minds. although white settlers wanted desperately to settle the west rapidly, they encountered various problems. the west was land like the had never seen. the climate could change from one extreme to the other in a matter of hours, it was very dry, there was hardly any water, the was different, and the settler's crops would not grow. in order to be successful in the west, americans had to find a way to get around these problems. in order to make up for the lack of water, settlers used windmills to generate their own. in order to make up for the lack of wood, which was needed to fence around land, barbed wire was invented. finally settlers had to alter what they grew in order for it to survive. instead of traditional wheat, they grew red wheat, which failed better in that environment. one problem white settlers faced in the west was the great plains indian population. when america was settled, most of the indians had been forced westward. those indians were now on land that white settlers wanted. the beginning of the conflict between settlers and indians came when he transcontinental railroad was being built. the railroad itself not only disrupted indian land, but the workers killed millions of the indian's chief food source, the buffalo. the buffalo were supposedly hindering the progress on the railroad, so they were slaughtered. next came the plea from the settlers to the government to allow them to travel through indian land. the government allowed settlers to do so but promised the indians that no one was going to take their land. although our government made promise after promise to the indians, they hardly ever followed through. as the gold rush began to boom, indians' land was taken from them and given to white settlers. the government greatly encouraged westward expansion and gave no thought to their deal with the indians. they drove the indians off of the land they had been given and put them on smaller reservations on land no white settler would want. as a result of the secure of land and the destruction of buffalo the indians slowly began to fight back. various battles occurred during the 1800's between the indians and settlers. in fact, over 200 battles were fought during this time. from the sand creek massacre, which pitted against chief black kettle, to the battle of little big horn where custer finally defeated the sinus to general sherman chasing indians all over the west until they were finally unable to run anymore. the final great battle of wounded knee saw over a hundred men, women, and children slaughtered and ultimately sealed the fate of the great plains indians. all the while that settlers and indians engaged in battles, the government kept changing their views on the. in the beginning the government had given the indians land in the west, no strings attached. then they bargained to be able to travel thought the land, but not take it. then the government took the land to give to settlers, but they gave the indians less land that was harder to live on. in fact, 5 indian groups that had been placed on oklahoma were moved and placed on barely hospitable locations. then the government decided that the indians should be made american. they took their children and put them in english schools, and tried to teach them christianity. the great plains indians had been tortured for years. they fought for their land and lost because of lack of technology in weapons, lack of food, and lack of strength. they were ultimately exhausted by all of the fighting and were defeated. although the battle is over, the consequences of the outcome of the war can still be seen today. indian culture, religion, and lifestyle were all greatly altered. as the indians lost members in battle and as the government tried to christianize them and t hier children, their culture slowly disappeared. they also lost their lifestyle as they were forced to adapt to american food and ways of life to survive. finally their religions was lost as the forced their own beliefs upon them. although the great plains indians have had a hard existence, they are a very strong people. they have endured more pain and conflict than most groups ever dream of. but in the end, although only very few are left, some have survived. those few continue to live out the legacy their ancestors started generations ago..