Indians and the Frontier

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Indians and the Frontier The frontier after the Civil War was changed just like the rest of America. Immigrants flocked here from all over the globe. This led to huge population increases, which meant that more land was to be used. The frontier was slowly divided among the masses, and people began claiming their stakes. With the land being devoured, the Indians felt that they were being denied the rights to what was theirs. The Indians were greatly outnumbered, and out skilled. In one of the last deciding battles, Wounded Knee, the Indians lost one-hundred and forty-six dead, and fifty-one injured, where as the U.S. Army had twenty-five killed and thirty-nine wounded. The Native Americans were no match for the machine guns with their out-dated hand-to-hand combat style. After the battle, the Natives had to accept the fact that they were defeated, and had to take what they could get. I-D. Reconstruction failed because the Civil War was fighting for the idea of a freed slave, it was not fighting the ideas of a bigoted south. The war may have accomplished rights for the Black American, but it did not tell the South how to treat the African population. Many felt at the time that freeing them was enough, and that it was not the government’s place to tell the general population how to act. Corruption in the government had quite a bit to do with it all too. The Democrats were sorely against blacks, and in some cases refused to take part in either house. If they did not say that they were present during role call, it was determined that there were not enough officials present to conduct a hearing. So in a sense, they tried to accomplish their victory by simply doing nothing at all. The Blacks continued to be oppressed for almost another century after the war. This led to many conflicts regarding segregation, separate but equal, and many acts of violence. If the government would have just completed what they were set out to do, this period after the war could have been avoided, or at least, shortened. II. If I had to choose only three events from our history as a nation, I would choose that which defines us the most. The Louisiana Purchase, because it was the single event that more then doubled the size of our nation.

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