From roughly 1870 - 1900, the United States expanded into the American West from to a so-called “Geography of Hope”. This move West was sparked mainly by the concept of the Manifest Destiny. This essentially gave people the idea that the act of moving West was both essential and inevitable. Some advancements that made the move easier and more accessible were the railroads and overland trails. There was also the drive that moving West would fulfill one’s life with opportunity and would essentially make the U.S. larger and stronger (Nationalism). For instance, Homesteaders were among one of the groups who benefited from the move as they were able to obtain land for a low cost. Native Americans, on the other hand, lost land as they were pushed
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The Natives were essentially marginalized as the many groups expanded. They were pushed out of the way and not treated well. One of the compromises that the U.S. government tried to make with Indian population was the creation of reservations. The purpose of reservation was to give the Natives there own land that would be untouched by new settlers. The downside to this was the land was usually not the best and the resources they needed usually had to be purchased by white American traders. Another negative affect the move had on Native Americans was the mass killings of bison by the white population. Bison were a main source of food, clothing, and resources for the Indians so the fact that the new settlers took them all for themselves or to trade. The Dawes Act in 1877 was another pernicious effect on the Natives. This act virtually attempted to morph the Indians into “the perfect white citizen”. This most likely was not the way the Native Americans wanted to live on land that was previously “owned” by them. An incident that can be seen as “the final straw” for Native American would be the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. This killing of dozens of members of the Sioux tribe by U.S. troops symbolized a violent ending to the Indian American Frontier because it proved that the government was against their way of life. These impacts prove that the American West was not a “Geography of Hope” for the Native
The Natives were essentially marginalized as the many groups expanded. They were pushed out of the way and not treated well. One of the compromises that the U.S. government tried to make with Indian population was the creation of reservations. The purpose of reservation was to give the Natives there own land that would be untouched by new settlers. The downside to this was the land was usually not the best and the resources they needed usually had to be purchased by white American traders. Another negative affect the move had on Native Americans was the mass killings of bison by the white population. Bison were a main source of food, clothing, and resources for the Indians so the fact that the new settlers took them all for themselves or to trade. The Dawes Act in 1877 was another pernicious effect on the Natives. This act virtually attempted to morph the Indians into “the perfect white citizen”. This most likely was not the way the Native Americans wanted to live on land that was previously “owned” by them. An incident that can be seen as “the final straw” for Native American would be the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. This killing of dozens of members of the Sioux tribe by U.S. troops symbolized a violent ending to the Indian American Frontier because it proved that the government was against their way of life. These impacts prove that the American West was not a “Geography of Hope” for the Native