1868: A Pivotal Year in U.S. History

Blood, tears, and cheers took center stage throughout the year 1868. Through restoration, reconstruction, and the Indian Wars, 1868 contains strong key figures in U.S. history such as: Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, William Sherman, and George Custer. During this year we will see, Johnson’s impeachment, Grants election to president, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Battle of Washita River, and the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The year of 1868 was a noticeably important year in the history of the United States. The Constitution got a little larger in the year of 1868 with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. The amendment began with establishing citizenship within the United States and established counting each

On November 27, 1868, Lt. Colonel George A. Custer and the Seventh U.S. Cavalry attacked Chief Black Kettle and the Cheyenne at Washita River. The war between the U.S. and the Plains Indians began when whites continued to encroach on native territory to the point where hostilities grew too large at the discrepancy of cultures. After tireless work to create peace treaties with one another, congress failed to quickly dispatch supplies to reservations and the Native populations became increasingly

Custer explains his mobilizing with eleven companies of the Seventh Cavalry, ten companies of the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, a detachment of scouts, the Tenth Cavalry, and around twenty to thirty guides and trailers. After returning the battlefield Custer and his men found the bodies of men lost lying about and bodies being savagely mutilated. Furthermore, Custer and his men made a hasty burial ground for the bodies of the fallen and completed a list of all damage witnessed in the dead bodies before him. Most of the bodies listed included bullet holes and arrows as well as missing limbs and heads. A few of the bodies were listed as unknown since they were missing heads and had bodies “partially destroyed by wolves.” In the end, Custer states the battle ended at around three in the afternoon where his cavalry won being outnumbered around three to one. Final tally he gives of the battle is 103 of his soldiers dead and 140 Indians dead. The Battle of Washita occurred months after a treaty of peace signed between the United States and the Lakota Indians. This treaty became known as the Treaty of Laramie. Both sides agreed to turn over criminals to each other, set aside land as reservations, support Indians wanting to farm, and Indians would agree to give children an