Battle Of The Little Bighorn Essay

Most Americans know the Battle of the Little Bighorn as “Custer’s Last Stand”, but it is also marked as a significant Indian victory and the worst United States Army defeat. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the last battle of the Great Sioux War. During this war, the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians allied together to defend their homelands against incursions by the United States government and American settlers (Calloway). Tensions between the groups had been rising since the discovery of gold on Indian lands. However, this gold was in the Black Hills, a sacred land to the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. American settlers who entered the land clearly violated the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)–forcing leaders such as

The languages, culture, religion, beliefs and ceremonies of conquered people fell into decline. The news of the disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn shocked Americans who were accustomed to battlefield victories and convinced of their inherent superiority and claim to manifest destiny (Calloway). The demise of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their ideals that the Indians needed to be civilized. The Battle of the Little Bighorn led to increased intolerance of the Indians and a determination to place them on a reservation in order to 'civilize' them

The United States had accomplished what they hoped, to return the Indians back to reservations. The United States crushed the spirit of the American Indian causing them the inability to live independently from the government. Indians relied on the government for food and shelter, most of which was low quality. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was not just about land disputes or Indians leaving their reservations, it was about the preservation of a way of life. Even for many Americans, the battle was a final clash between two ways of life, “savagery” and “civilization