The Black Hawk War was a major conflict between the United States of America and the Native Americans. It, like many Native American versus America wars, is fairly unknown. It took place in the year of 1832. There are many things one should know about the Black Hawk War, such as what started it, the major military events, and what happened once the war was finished.
Before the war began, William Henry Harrison, who would later find himself to be the President of the United States, negotiated a treaty in 1804 with two Sauk representatives that he thought opened all Sauk lands to the east of the Mississippi River for only $2,500. The Sauk Indians in Wisconsin and Illinois did not approve of the treaty, saying that the two Indians who signed were drunk and did not have the authority to speak for the whole tribe (Wyman and Hagan). Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, otherwise known as Black Hawk, also said the treaty was invalid; however, he later confirmed the treaty with his own signature in 1816, but then said he did not understand that it would mean he would later have to give up his home village of Saukenuk on the Rock River. Settlers moved into this village and Black Hawk returned with his band to plant corn. The settlers were frightened at this, and they frantically requested militia support. When they arrived, Black Hawk's band was already gone and the U.S. agreed to supply them with corn if they stayed out of the area (“Black Hawk War begins”).
Later Black Hawk led his band of 1,200 Sauk, 400 braves and their families, back across the Mississippi River to the area in April of 1832, hoping to get the support of the Ho-Chunk and the British if fighting erupted (“Black Hawk War”). General Henry Atkinson then gathered a large force of v...
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...r and think it was just another pointless battle in which some group of Indians charged at some United States troops before being shot and some journalist wrote about it, calling it a war. They do not realize that there is a bigger story behind it. The same is true with many wars in which the Native Americans fought the United States; history forgets what happened; therefore, people do not learn of the battles that occurred right where their house is built.
Works Cited
"Black Hawk War." infoplease. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
“Black Hawk War begins.” The History Channel. N.p., 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014
Peterson, John. "Black Hawk War." Utah History to Go. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Smith, Robert. "Black Hawk." History Net. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Wyman, Mark and Hagan, William. "Black Hawk War (1832)." Wisconsin History. N.p., 1998. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian wars in the Southwest. Geronimo and a band
General George Armstrong Custer During the course of this Assessment I will be sceptically and analytically examining the role and background of General George Armstrong Custer during the Indian Conflict at the Battle of Little Bighorn, and during the Civil War. All sources of information or evidence used will be thoroughly examined in order to eliminate as much bias as possible. The essay has been written using subheadings for easier navigation and for clearer understanding of my findings. The main aim of this Investigation is to answer the question, “Was Custer a Hero or a Villain?”
1.The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was necessary to end the war with the least number of total casualties and in the fastest possible way. The figures regarding the exact number of American lives that would’ve been lost has been highly debated, but considering the great resolve that the Japanese army had, they would almost surely have been more than those killed in Nagasaki, and that is just on the American side. I do not value American lives more than the lives of the innocent, many of whom were victims to the attack, but it is important to remember that regardless of whether we had dropped the bomb or not, we were fighting total war. In the many battles that would’ve occurred if the war had continued, women and children may have still been victims as we advanced our troops. These battles could’ve taken as long as another year, and who can say when the Japanese would’ve finally surrendered? They were filled with pride and resilience, and many soldiers would’ve prefered to die with honor, defending their homeland, than to surrender.
Tecumseh ,Shawnee war chief, was born at Old Piqua, on the Mad River in western Ohio. In 1774, his father, Puckeshinwa, was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and in 1779 his mother, Methoataske, accompanied those Shawnees who migrated to Missouri, later died. Raised by an older sister, Tecumpease, Tecumseh would play war games with other fellow youths in his tribe. Tecumseh accompanied an older brother, Chiksika, on a series of raids against frontier settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1780’s. Chiksika had a vision that he would not survive the battle at Buchanan’s station he went ahead as plan and attacked the stockade and was mortally wounded and was carried from the battle field and the dying warrior asked not to be buried but to be placed on a hill. Tecumseh and the other’s retreated back to a Cherokee village where most went back to Ohio while Tecumseh and some other warriors stayed behind. After that Tecumseh went on mostly hunting but occasionally attacking settler’s. After that moved back towards home and come to find out that the Shawnee’s had moved on to where it’s much safer. The battle of Fallen Timber’s broke confidence in British assistance as well as many casualties. Pissed off by the Indian defeat, he refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville (1795). In the 1800’s Tecumseh began to show signs of a prominent war chief. He led a group of yong Indian warriors to a village on the White River in east-central Indiana. There in 1805 Lalawethika ex...
William Henry Harrison, later to become the ninth President of the United States, was a military officer born to a political family. Joining the military at a young age he rose in its ranks under the tutelage of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne where he served as a lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp during the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The winning of this battle paved the way for the “peace” signing of the Greenville Treaty. This single treaty ceded most of present day Ohio and pushed many Algonquians from their tribal lands. In less than 15 years time, by Harrison’s efforts, 48 million acres of Native American lands would be lost by cessation. Appointed as Superintendent of the North West Indians and Indiana Territory Governor he was undoubtedly the single most powerful white in the West. Harrison, having higher ambitions then frontier...
Borneman, Walter. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.
Alexander T. (2013). “Historynet.com” Battle of Antietam: Two Great American Armies Engage in Combat < http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-antietam> . 3/21/2014
Remini says, “William Weatherhead, known as Chief Red Eagle led the attack---and with it commenced the Creek War that finally placed Jackson on the road to national fame… Red Eagle, leader of the militant Red Sticks, a faction of the Creek Nation… the Red Sticks actively pursuing policy against white settlers. Thus, it needs to be remembered that from start to finish the Creek War, as it developed, was essentially an Indian Civil War. And most important of all, that it was General Andrew Jackson who took supreme advantage of this internal strife and used it to advance the interest of his country. It is with this information that we see that we see Andrew Jackson as the aggressor of the continuation friction of the Creek Nation. The purpose of this was to divide and conquer
The Indians were being confined to crowed reservations that were poorly run, had scarce game, alcohol was plentiful, the soil was poor, and the ancient religious practices were prohibited. The Indians were not happy that they had been kicked off there land and were now forced to live on a reservation. The Indians then began to Ghost Dance a form of religion it is said that if the Indians were to do this trance like dance the country would be cleansed of white intruders. Also dead ancestors and slaughtered buffalo would return and the old ways would be reborn in a fruitful land. Once the Bureau of Indian affairs noticed what was going on they began to fear this new religion would lead to warfare. The white peoplewere scared that this new dance was a war dance. They called for army protection. Army was called in to try to curbed this new religion before it could start a war.
The War of 1812, also known as “America’s Forgotten War” and “America’s Worst Fought War,” was fought between the U.S. and Great Britain over violations of the U.S. seafaring rights. The British intrusion with American fur trade and their illegal impressment of seamen off American ships severely strained Anglo-American relations in the years before the war. According to the New Standard Encyclopedia, “There is considerable disagreement as to why this ultimately led to war and what this war represented. (W.30)” The strongest pressure of war came from Congressional leaders known as “the War Hawks” who mainly represented the western frontier and the South.
Turner, Wesley. The War of 1812. The War That Both Sides Won. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1990
On the Morning of April 6, 1862, General Albert Sidney Johnson lead 40,000 Confederate soldiers through a forest in southwestern Tennessee near Pittsburg Landing, The Shiloh church, and the Tennessee River, until they came upon their destination, a Union camp. The Union soldiers were taken by surprise as it was early in the morning. Some men were still sleeping, eating breakfast, or just emerging from their tents. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his men were driven out of their camps back towards the river and the church. Grant refused to lose. He ordered his men to not move an inch at all costs and to form a battle line, which became known as the “Hornets Nest.” The Confederate general Johnson was killed the first day of battle, and Pierre GT Beauregard took his place the next day. The counterattack and the higher Union majority of troops forced the Confederates back, and the “Hornets Nest” remained intact. As the battle came to a close, it was a Union victory. However, it came at a high price: about 23,746 casualties in total were estimated. Approximately 13,047 Union, and 13,724
As white settlers poured across the mountains, the Cherokee tried once again to compensate themselves with territory taken by war with a neighboring tribe. This time their intended victim was the Chickasaw, but this was a mistake. Anyone who tried to take something from the Chickasaw regretted it, if he survived. After eleven years of sporadic warfare ended with a major defeat at Chickasaw Oldfields (1769), the Cherokee gave up and began to explore the possibility of new alliances to resist the whites. Both the Cherokee and Creek attended the 1770 and 1771 meetings with the Ohio tribes at Sciota but did not participate in Lord Dunnmore's War (1773-74) because the disputed territory was not theirs.
One of the critical tasks that faced the new nation of the United States was establishing a healthy relationship with the Native Americans (Indians). “The most serious obstacle to peaceful relations between the United States and the Indians was the steady encroachment of white settlers on the Indian lands. The Continental Congress, following [George] Washington’s suggestion, issued a proclamation prohibiting unauthorized settlement or purchase of Indian land.” (Prucha, 3) Many of the Indian tribes had entered into treaties with the French and British and still posed a military threat to the new nation.
At the conclusion of the battle, the stories of the Indian savagery were used to demonize their culture and there were no survivors from the 7th cavalry to tell what really happened. The Strategic Setting In 1875, Custer had made a commitment to the Sioux (aka. Lakota) that he would no longer fight Native Americans. Custer's promise came as a U.S. Senate commission meeting was taking place with the Lakota in an effort to purchase the gold mining fields in the Black Hills (which Custer had discovered a year earlier). The Lakota rejected the Senate’s offer in favor of sticking with the 1868 treaty that promised protection of their lands.