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Recommended: Political causes of westward expansion

In 1848, discoveries of gold and silver sparked interest in white settlers. In order to make room for more land, the federal government seized the land of the Sioux tribes. Unfortunately, the Sioux tribes were forced to move to these “reservations.” With so many pioneers moving to the gold sites, the Native Americans’ lands were yet taken again. In turn, the government implemented more restrictions on the tribes. Their boundaries just kept shrinking. All of this tension instigated a battle between the American Indians and the whites known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. However, the major causes of the Wounded Knee Massacre were western expansion, the Ghost Dance, and Sitting Bull’s arrest.
A few years after the Civil War, the federal government opened the West for settlement. There was much at stake. For whites, there were acres of open land suitable for farming, trading, or transportation. For Native Americans, the plains was their home. Travelling from place to place, these tribes followed the herds of buffalo that provided food and clothing. Indian oppositions were met with many conflicts between the tribes and U.S. troops (“Wounded Knee Massacre”). Occasionally, some of the Native Americans’ attempts were successful in ceasing settlers from trespassing their land. With news of gold discoveries, many whites brought complications into the American Indians’ lives. Often, the settlers would take advantage of them. Signed by American agents and representatives of Indian tribes, early treaties primarily assured them of peace and integrity of their land (Martin). As more and more settlers arrived, these treaties were broken. The whites often sought protection from the government, and the government would obviously favor the whites. C...

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...ilitary History. June 2007: 62+. War and Terrorism Collection. Web. 12 Mar. 2014
Martin, Stacie.”Native Americans.” Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah Shelton. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 740-746. Global Issues In Context. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
“Massacre At Wounded Knee, 1890,” EyeWitness to History, www.eyewithnesstohistory.com (1998).
“Native American.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357826/Native-American.
Ostler, Jeffrey. “Wounded Knee.” Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L. Shelton. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 1166-1168. World History in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
“Wounded Knee Massacre.” American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

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