Buffalo Soldiers and Sioux Indians

This week was the second week we researched a topic on our own and created our own essential question, and then wrote multiple choice questions for our final. This week we researched the Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans during the westward expansion. We came up with the essential question “Did the government have good intentions when enacting policies for westward expansion? In what ways did these policies impact the natives and buffalo soldiers?”

The American government has a track record for discriminating against whole groups of people, including African Americans and Native Americans. After the Civil War when westward expansion began, mistreatment continued, but this time they used one group to help discriminate against the other.  The government needed an army presence in the Midwest, so they used African American soldiers to control the populations of Plains Indians that lived there. These soldiers became known as the Buffalo Soldiers. With experience from the Civil War and nowhere else to go the Buffalo Soldiers were ideal for the job. Most of the Plains Indians that lived in this area of the Midwest were part of the Sioux Nation. Tribes like the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and Apache were very well unified. They had chiefs who were the political leaders of their tribes, and they held their own religious ceremonies and rituals.

Buffalo Soldiers in the Midwest

To improve westward expansion, the government used the African American soldiers to help enforce newly enacted policies on the Indians. One of the first things the government did was use the soldiers to remove all the buffalo from the Great Plains, which were the Indians source of almost everything. The Buffalo Soldiers implemented total war tactics, destroying everything life sustaining for the Indians in hopes of forcing them off the land. After doing this, the government instituted the Allotment program, where they divided up the Native American land. They gave individuals their own land on reservations, and gave 90% of the land to the public. Then they enacted the Dawes Act that granted titles of land and U.S. citizenship to Natives who wanted to begin a new life as farmers. The Natives didn't want to be pushed off of their home land and into reservations so they began resisting and fighting back. When over 150 Sioux Indians were killed at the Wounded Knee Massacre, they finally gave up and stopped fighting.

The American government wanted to expand their territory, and didn't care that they were disrupting the homes of entire tribes of people. They destroyed the Native Americans' sources of food, and forced them onto reservations. The government had good intentions when giving the Indians land to live on after being forced off of their land, but they never should've moved them in the first place. The Natives lived there for hundreds of years and their lives were completed disrupted by the unfair actions of the U.S. government.

Sources:

ABC-CLIO Overview Videos: http://www.edline.net/pages/Reading_HS/Curriculum/LibraryMediaCenter/Links/New_Edline_folder__Burke_10_27

Buffalo Soldiers Society (PBS LearningMedia Video): http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/49e8d07f-313d-44af-924a-591b0c96aeea/buffalo-soldiers-in-new-mexico/

Excerpt from Dawes Act 1887: http://www.edline.net/files/_FFJNJ_/72e885a0a31113a13745a49013852ec4/Excerpts_from_Dawes_Act.pdf

Image "Buffalo Soldiers in the Midwest": http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/49e8d07f-313d-44af-924a-591b0c96aeea/buffalo-soldiers-in-new-mexico/

Robber Barons and Captains of Industry

This week in history class, the lesson was done much differently from all the others. For this one, we created our own essential question from documents and videos given to us, and then created 40 multiple choice questions on the topic for our final exam at the end of the year. We had more freedom to decide how we wanted to learn the information, and I think it worked very well. The overarching topic was the rise of business in America during the late 1800s, including businessmen like Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller. We learned how these two  men, using somewhat questionable tactics, became the richest men in the world by creating large business that dominated American industry. The essential question we came up with was “Should Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller be classified as Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?”

Captains of Industry were owners of extremely large corporations and businesses in the American economy during the late 1800s. These businessmen fought for control of major industries. Not all Captains of Industry were corrupt, but the majority were, and they were known as Robber Barons. To stay on top, Robber Barons bribed government officials, had extremely poor conditions for workers, hired personal armies to use against people who challenged their policies, and bought out or destroyed their competitors to create monopolies.

Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest businessmen of his time. He produced and sold steel, and invested in oil, iron, the telegraph, and the production of bridges and railroads. He believed in the Gospel of Wealth, the idea that every rich man was made rich by God, and therefor had a duty to use their money to help other people. Following this idea, Carnegie donated extra money to advance education by building libraries and Carnegie Mellon University, and promoted his workers by recognizing their talent and hard work. All these things made Andrew Carnegie the ideal Captain of Industry, a steep contrast to Rockefeller.

Udo J Keppler's political cartoon depicting Rockefeller as an octopus
with a grasp on every area of American industry, including the government.
(September 7, 1904)

John D Rockefeller should most definitely be considered a Robber Baron. Rockefeller made his millions in the oil industry. He was “mad for oil,” and it was believed that everything he did was motivated by greed. He bought out rival companies who weren’t doing well, kept his production costs low to drive other companies out of business, and worked with rival companies’ boards of directors to keep their prices high. Little by little he bought out all the oil companies in America and held a tight grasp on government officials, as depicted in Udo J Keppler's political cartoon from 1904. Although he did donate millions to advancements in medicine, science, and education, he did it all for his own benefit, and for that Rockefeller should be considered a Robber Baron.

From the information we found on Captains of Industry of the late 1800s, I don’t think that all businessmen of the time should be considered Robber Barons. Of course, Rockefeller controlled the whole oil industry with his corrupt ways. But with Carnegie’s donations and interest in innovation for the world and the well-being of others, we can see that not all businessmen can be classified as Robber Barons.

Sources:

ABC-CLIO Overview Videos: http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1187729?cid=140

John D Rockefeller Bio: http://www.edline.net/files/_EfGYe_/dcbcad1ce101c2713745a49013852ec4/John_D_Rockefeller_Bio.pdf

Primary/Secondary Sources Lesson: http://www.edline.net/files/_EfHIe_/9f3369d5493f1a2b3745a49013852ec4/Doug_Ernst-Inquiry_Lesson-Robber_or_Captain.pdf   

Udo J Keppler's Political Cartoon (September 7, 1904): http://www.edline.net/files/_EfHIe_/9f3369d5493f1a2b3745a49013852ec4/Doug_Ernst-Inquiry_Lesson-Robber_or_Captain.pdf