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Homestead Act of 1862
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed any US Citizen to claim 160 acres of government land if they hadn't fought against the US in the Civil War. This act really helped to explore and settle the new lands to the west. -
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was actually several acts that gave railroad companies permission from the government to build the transcontinental railroad. The railroad completely changed the way people traveled across the country, it cut travel times from 6 months to 6 days to get from east coast to west coast. -
Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
The Morrill Land Grant Act gave permission to create land grant colleges across the US. This is important because some of the colleges that were created by this act are still around today. -
Sand Creek Massacre
The Sand Creek Massacre was the murder of 150-500 Native Americans of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, most of which were women and children. This event was important to history because it showed how horrible the US government treated the Native Americans. -
Medicine Lodge Treaty, Chief Satanta 1867
The Medicine Lodge Treaty was a group of three treaties that were signed by Southern Plains tribes and the US government. This treaty was important because it is the treaty that relocated the Native Americans by giving them specific reservations to go to. -
Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was the treaty that established the Great Sioux Reservation. It stated that any white person that went into the reservation or any Native American outside of the reservation would be punished. This treaty was brought back up in the 1980 Supreme Court case, United States vs. Sioux Nation of Indians, and it was decided that the US government too the land from the Sioux illegally. -
The Great Sioux War
The Great Sioux War was several battles that occurred between the US government, the Lakota Sioux, and the Cheyenne. This war ended with the eventual US victory and the relocation of more Native Americans. This war was caused because there was gold discovered on the Native American land and the US government wanted the land and gold for themselves. -
Little Bighorn, 1876
The battle of Little Bighorn was one of the battles of the Great Sioux War. This battle is also known as Custer's Last Stand and is very significant because this battle was won by the Native Americans. -
Chief Joseph 1877
Chief Joseph was the chief of the Nez Perce tribe and surrendered on this day. This tribe was at war with the US because the US broke a land agreement that they had. This is significant because because Chief Joseph had one of the longest surrenders in history. He retreated for over 1,000 miles with 300 men, and he fought off over 2,000 men while retreating. -
Exodusters
Exodusters are African Americans that moved out west after the Civil War. The Exodusters Movement occurred in 1879 and was the movement of African Americans to Kansas. This is important because it was the first mass movement of African Americans after the Civil War. -
Dawes Severalty Act
The Dawes Severalty Act is an act that split of the land between Native American tribes that tribes still held. It also allowed white settlers to purchase the left over Native American land. This act is important because it's known as one of the most destructive acts against Native Americans in history. -
Massacre at Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre was the murder of the Lakota Native American tribe. Most of the Natives that were murdered were women and children. This was another show of how terrible the US government was to the Native Americans. -
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Boarding Schools
The boarding schools for Native Americans were created by the US government and had required attendance. The Native children were pulled from their homes on the reservations and taken to the schools to learn what the government called life skills. The government believed that they were rescuing these children from the poverty that they were living in. The children were taken from their parents no matter what.
