American West

• This will be the last lesson of this topic and it will be quite a long one so you might want to do it in a couple of sittings
• Some of the subject material here is going to be quite heavy so that's another reason why you might want to take a couple of bites at this one
• Aims of this lesson

  • Know the ways in which the Plains Indians lifestyle ended
  • Explain how the US government destroyed the Plains Indians way of life
  • Evaluate the extent to which US government policy at this time amounted to genocide
• The last two aims are likely to appear quite controversial, especially to any American viewers
• This isn't intended to offend anyone, the presenter is looking at this from an outside point of view as someone who is British
• The presenter will try their best not to impose any of their own opinions on this directly
• It is up to the viewers as historians to consider their position on these controversial points
• Do now task


  Consider how the Lakota Sioux boys lost their Indian identity and why the government may have encouraged this
• The boys' clothing and hairstyles have been adjusted to look more like people of European ancestry
• The boys are sitting on chairs, which Indians didn't tend to do as nomadic tribes had little need for chairs
• Reason why the government may have wanted the Indians to lose their identity

  To break down their identity as warriors, making them less likely to fight back against the US government
• The gravestones/markers show where Custer's men fell in the Battle of the Little Bighorn
• The Indians won this particular engagement, but the long-term consequences were severe for them
• After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Indians had a simple choice: assimilate or die
• In 1868, the 2nd Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteed the Black Hills to the Sioux as a sacred site
• In 1874, gold prospectors flooded into the Black Hills, leaving the Fort Laramie Treaty in tatters
• The Sioux rejected the US government's offer to buy the Black Hills for $6 million
• Sitting Bull said "the whites want a war and we will give it to them"
• The Sioux had 2,000 warriors and 5,000 other Indians with them, including women and children
• In June 1876, the Sioux met the US Army at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Custer and all of his men were slaughtered by their own overconfidence, arrogance and the bravery of the Sioux
• Reasons why Custer's force was destroyed

  • Custer's men were outnumbered
  • Custer split his force into three
  • Custer left behind powerful Gatling guns
  • Sitting Bull led the Sioux women and children to safety
  • Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led the Indians well
  • Custer's men were surrounded by the Sioux
• Although the Indians won the Battle of the Little Bighorn, this was likely to harden both public and government opinion against them
• Consequences of the Battle of the Little Bighorn


  • Plains Indians must stay on the reservations
  • The US government could now ignore previous treaties
  • The US Army increased control over the Indians
• Source A is a painting of Custer's last stand by a white artist made in the 1890s, based on newspaper articles
• Source B is a depiction of the battle by White Bird, a Cheyenne Indian who was present at the battle
• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written


  1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Marginal utility

  The additional utility (satisfaction) gained from the consumption of an additional product
• If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
• Dawes Act


  Similar to Homestead Act in providing opportunity to get free land by farming it, but different in that it aimed to escape the reservation and assimilate Indians into white farming lifestyle
• Plains Indians did not have the skills to become successful farmers in the harsh conditions of the plains
• Ghost Dance


  A vision by a Paiute Indian called Wovoka in 1890 that the Great Spirit would bring the dead Indians back to life and a great flood would sweep the whites away
• The Ghost Dance spread rapidly and the whites began to feel very threatened