GCSE SCHOOLS HISTORY

THE AMERICAN WEST

INTERACTIVE1840-1895

Why did the Native Indians lose the Battle for

the Plains?

History InteractiveKey Stage 4 History

THE AMERICAN WESTINTERACTIVE

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History Interactive©

Atlantic OceanThe West

This region is very dry. Tribes like the Nez Perce gathered seeds and berries. They lived in skin

tipis.

The Arctic

Tribes like the Eskimo hunted polar bears and whales in the frozen wastes.

They lived in igloos.

The Mid-West

Tribes like Mohawks grew crops and hunted deer and

moose. They lived in bark covered houses.

Route taken by the Native Americans

Alaska

Siberia

The Great Plains

Tribes like the Blackfoot and Sioux

lived difficult and dangerous lives

hunting buffalo. They lived in skin tipis.

The North West

Tribes like the Nootka fished in the

deep fast flowing rivers and lived in villages of wooden houses and totem

poles.

NorthAmerica

North American Tribes4

Horns -Spoons

Tongue -

Food

Hair -Rope,

stuffing

Stomach -

Cooking Pot

Hide -Tipi covers, Blankets, Clothing

Meat -Food

Tendons -

Thread

Dung -Fuel

Bones-

Scrapers

The buffalo was the central feature of Plains Indian culture. The Indians believed the Great Spirit put buffalo on the Earth to provide for them. Buffalo provided food, shelter, clothing, fuel, toys, ceremonial objects, and weapons among other things. Almost all the parts of the buffalo were used including the bones, teeth, tail, hair, skin, muscle fiber, tendons, horns, skull, meat, fat, tongue, dung, hooves, intestines, and brain.

15

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ains

From the late 1840s the government was driven by the idea of ‘Manifest

Destiny’. They wanted to control all of America and have white people living

all over America. The desire to complete Manifest Destiny encouraged the government to help homesteaders

and cattle ranchers move onto the Plains. The building of the

transcontinental railroad made this easier.

The

thir

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state

s

In 1800 only thirteen states formed the United States of

America. By 1850 many more states joined as Britain,

France and Mexico either gave up or sold their land to America.

Mexico

Mormon Trail

California Trail

Oregon Trail

Between 1839 and the end of the 1850s thousands of men, women and children left their homes in the west to go on the Plains or further west. These trailblazers set routes across America that

others were to follow.

The discovery of gold led to even more

people moving west.

24Expansion West

HomesteadersNot many people seriously thought that anyone but the Indians could live on the Plains. They certainly didn't think that anyone could farm the land and grow crops. However, by the end of the 19th century thousands of families had settled on the Plains. These people were known as the homesteaders. They came from the east of America and from Europe to escape poverty and over-crowding . Many more people went west after the American Civil War ended in 1865. Thousands of freed black slaves became homesteaders.The government encouraged this settling of the Plains with the following laws.1862 Homestead Act - each family was given 160 acres of land as long as they farmed it for five years. 1873 Timber Culture Act - a further 160 acres of land was given as long as 40 acres was planted with trees .The one thing which made it all possible though, was the railroad. People could travel with their belongings on a train much more easily than in a wagon. More than this, the United States government gave the railroad companies the land near their railroads. They sold this to the settlers and used the money to build more railroads. 

An American family make their way West on one of the wagon

trails. 27GCSE Schools History The American West