Since we will be studying about the American Indian experience across time, use the timeline below to help you as we go through each lesson.
how did the first americans arrive in the americas?
Historians believe that the first Americans arrived either by:
(1) crossing a land bridge that used to connect Asia and the Americas AND/OR
(2) paddling in small boats from Asia down along the western coast of the Americas.
(1) crossing a land bridge that used to connect Asia and the Americas AND/OR
(2) paddling in small boats from Asia down along the western coast of the Americas.
where did the first americans settle and how did they live?
American Indians settled all over North and South America. Below is a map of where they settled.
There were many different regions in North America. Each region has a different geography and environment; each tribe used the resources around them in order to survive.
Plains Region
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Eastern Woodlands Region
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Southwest Region
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how and why did europeans arrive in the americas?
Reasons for European Exploration
Gold --> Europeans wanted to find a route to India to get spices quicker. This would make it cheaper and help them make money.
God --> Many Europeans were Christian, and they wanted to spread their religion to other people. Others left for religious freedom.
Glory --> Many European countries wanted to expand their empire. They wanted to gain more land and more power.
Gold --> Europeans wanted to find a route to India to get spices quicker. This would make it cheaper and help them make money.
God --> Many Europeans were Christian, and they wanted to spread their religion to other people. Others left for religious freedom.
Glory --> Many European countries wanted to expand their empire. They wanted to gain more land and more power.
what did the europeans and americans indians think of each other?
First impressions are extremely important! Read some of the excerpts below to see what the Europeans' and American Indians' first perceptions of each other:
Europeans' Perception of the American Indians
A written account by British naturalist and explorer, John Lawson, in 1709:
"We do not so by them (generally speaking) but let them walk by our Doors Hungry, and do not often relieve them. We look upon them with Scorn and Disdain, and think them little better than Beasts in Human Shape….We reckon them Slaves in Comparison to us, and Intruders, as oft as they enter our Houses…" Excerpt from Christopher Columbus's Journal "… should your Majesties command it, all the inhabitants could be taken away to Castile [Spain], or made slaves on the island. With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." |
American Indians' Perception of Europeans
A member of Hernando de Soto's expedition recorded the reaction of a Creek Chief to de Soto's Arrival at the Village of Achese in Georgia. (1557)
"Very high, powerful, and good master. The things that seldom happen bring astonishment. Think, then, what must be the effect, on me and mine, of the sight of you and your people, whom we have at no time seen, astride the fierce brutes, your horses, entering with such speed and fury into my country, that we had no tidings of your coming--things so altogether new, as to strike awe and terror into our hearts…" A story recorded by French Jesuit missionary Paul Le Jeune in 1633: “…when they [Indians] saw for the first time a French ship arrived upon their shores…they thought it was a moving Island; they did not know what to say of the great sails which made it go; their astonishment was redoubled in seeing a number of men on deck…” |
what were some immediate effects of european exploration?
Read and study the documents below to learn about the positive and negative effects of European exploration on the American Indians:
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How did the American government treat American Indians during the period of westward expansion?
Westward Expansion
As the U.S. continued to grow after the American Revolution, more land was needed. So, American began to look west. Many people believed in “manifest destiny,” which was the belief that it was the United State’s destiny to expand westward all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
As a result of this westward expansion, the American Indians became a problem to the Americans. What were they going to do with these people? This was called the "Indian Problem."
- At first, the U.S. federal government tried to solve this problem by negotiating treaties (formal written agreements between two nations). In these treaties, American Indian tribes agreed to give up their rights to hunt and live on land in exchange for trade goods, yearly cash payments, and promises that no further demands would be made on them.
- But as time went on, they realized that the American people wanted more land and that it might be difficult to get the land needed as long as native people continued their current lifestyles (i.e. using the land to hunt and live). The U.S. government promised the Cherokee and other tribes that if they could assimilate (absorb or integrate oneself into a culture or society) into European American lifestyles, they would be considered equals.
- But, in the 1820s, Americans had changed their mind about how to deal with the tribes. They didn’t think that the Indians could be like them anymore. Indians were seen as inferior (lower in rank or status). Instead, the President at the time, Andrew Jackson, decided on Indian removal.
Click on the link below to watch a video about Indian removal, also known as The Trail of Tears:
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/akh10.socst.ush.exp.trail/trail-of-tears/
Reservation System
The reservation system created many problems and made life very difficult for the American Indians:
- Nomadic tribes lost their entire means of subsistence by being constricted to a defined area.
- Farmers found themselves with land unsuitable for agriculture.
- Many lacked the knowledge to implement complex irrigation systems.
- Hostile (warring) tribes were often forced into the same proximity.
The reservation system created many problems and made life very difficult for the American Indians:
- Nomadic tribes lost their entire means of subsistence by being constricted to a defined area.
- Farmers found themselves with land unsuitable for agriculture.
- Many lacked the knowledge to implement complex irrigation systems.
- Hostile (warring) tribes were often forced into the same proximity.
What was the government’s role in the loss of Native American identity/culture?
The reservation system didn’t work to “civilize” the “savages,” so the government thought of another solution to the “Indian problem.” The government decided that the solution to the “Indian problem” was to absorb them properly into mainstream American society and culture. They decided to do this by placing them in boarding schools.
At these boarding schools:
Look at the images and quotes below to see what conditions were like in Indian boarding schools:
At these boarding schools:
- Students had to cut their hair short.
- Students could only speak English.
- Students had to wear American-style clothes.
- Students were given American names.
- Students were taught Christianity.
Look at the images and quotes below to see what conditions were like in Indian boarding schools:
Students were prohibited from speaking their native languages. Instead, they were supposed to converse and even think in English. If they were caught "speaking Indian" they were severely beaten with a leather belt.
I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says.
She said, 'Then who are you?'
Wright says he told her his name was Billy.
'Your name's not Billy. Your name's 'TAH-rruhm,' " she told him.
And I went, 'That's not what they told me.' "
Ojibwe student Merta Bercier wrote: "Did I want to be an Indian? After looking at the pictures of the Indians on the warpath — fighting, scalping women and children, and Oh! Such ugly faces. No! Indians were mean people — I'm glad I'm not an Indian, I thought."
“Two of our girls ran away...but they got caught. They tied their legs up, tied their hands behind their backs, put them in the middle of the hallway so that if they fell, fell asleep or something, the matron would hear them and she'd get out there and whip them and make them stand up again.”
Illness was another serious problem at the boarding schools. Crowded conditions and only the basic medical care no doubt contributed to the spread of diseases such as measles, influenza and tuberculosis. Death was not an unknown occurrence either. At Chemawa (a boarding school), a cemetery contains headstones of 189 students who died at the school, and these represent only the ones whose bodies were not returned home for burial.
"[Long hair] was the pride of all Indians. The boys, one by one, would break down and cry when they saw their braids thrown on the floor. All of the buckskin clothes had to go and we had to put on the clothes of the White Man. If we thought the days were bad, the nights were much worse. This is when the loneliness set in, for it was when we knew that we were all alone. Many boys ran away from the school because the treatment was so bad, but most of them were caught and brought back by the police."
What are some challenges American Indians face today?
In 1928, an official report came out that looked at conditions on Indian reservations in 26 states and showed all the horrifying details of what they saw. In response, the government began to eliminate Indian reservations. Instead, they began to divide up the land and distribute it to individuals to own. Click on the slides below to learn about the legislation (laws) that passed after that.
But, American Indians are still facing challenges today. Read the article below to find out what they are:
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To summarize, some challenges that American Indians are facing today are:
- Poverty
- Destruction of old traditions
- Alcoholism
- Depression & suicide
- Identity confusion