American progress painting title 1872

Westward Expansion Timeline

  • Bureau of Indian Affairs ~ Boarding Schools

    Bureau of Indian Affairs ~ Boarding Schools
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs produced the first Indian Boarding schools. This helped the Native americans become more distinguished and educated.
    boarding schools
  • Homestead Act of 1862

    Homestead Act of 1862
    The Homestead Act was put into action during the Civil war. It granted any American adult to have 160 acres out in the west. Participants had to improve the land they were on by building a home and cultivating the land. there was a small fee but if they did what they were suppose to after five years then the land was theirs. This is significant since it helped establish more home and increase the population out west. Homestead act link
  • Pacific Railroad Act of 1862

    Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
    This Act enabled government to have the federal support to start the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. This is an important part of history since it helped produce the First transcontinental railroad which changed the way we transported forever. Pacific Railroad Act link
  • Morrill Land-Grant Act

    Morrill Land-Grant Act
    This Act allowed new states in the west to be able to establish their own colleges, which is significant because they helped improve the education of the new western population.
  • Sand Creek Massacre

    Sand Creek Massacre
    This massacre was caused by colonel john chivington, who leaded several Colorado volunteers to massacre the Cheyenne and Arapaho indians in Sand Creek, Colorado. This was important because it shows how our government wasn't very fair when it came to the Native Americans.
  • Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868

    Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868
    This treaty gave the native americans another reserve. Crazy horse was known for his fight against encroachment, so after the treaty was signed he still fought and tried to get all of the land back where he roamed as a kid instead of accepting the small reserve. Red cloud would not sign the treaty unless the US government removed there forts from the reserve first. This Shows the differences in Native Americans, some only wanted peace and some wanted nothing except their land.
  • Medicine Lodge Treaty, Chief Satanta, 1868

    Medicine Lodge Treaty, Chief Satanta, 1868
    This act provided Native Americans a number of small reservations but Chief santana was against this and would go off the reservation and raid white settlers. Shows how even though the American Officials were trying to sound and look considerate by giving the Indians reserves, the indians never wanted them and so some indians retaliated with force.
  • Great Sioux War, 1876-1881

    Great Sioux War, 1876-1881
    The Great Sioux war was a series of battles and negotiations between the americans, Lakota sioux, and northern cheyenne. The war began since the american settlers discovered gold on the Natives land (black hills) and so the US government wanted ownership of this land and the Natives refused. This would be significant to history since it shows how important gold was to the US, since they literally caused a war over it.
    Great Sioux War
  • Chief Joseph 1877

    Chief Joseph 1877
    Chief Joseph was loved his homeland, his people, and he loved peace. He got tired from running from the US Army. On october 5, 1877, he surrendered to never fight again after being pursued by the US Army after a 1000 mile journey and 40 miles away from canada and he and his people's freedom. This shows how much trouble the Americans would go through to eradicate the Native Americans.
    Chief Joseph
  • Exodusters

    Exodusters
    Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the mississippi river, in order to get to Kansas. Significant because it describes the people that would try and be in better conditions to make a better life also this shows how the southerners would make them want to leave.
    Exodusters
  • Dawes Severalty Act, 1887

    Dawes Severalty Act, 1887
    A law that provided Native Americans with land. In the hopes of them to become farmers like white men. Native americans who received land, became a US citizen. Shows how the US was trying to make the native americans people they werent and also shows how we basically discriminated them.
  • Massacre at Wounded Knee, 1890

    Massacre at Wounded Knee, 1890
    The US Army demanded the surrender of all the sioux weapons. The chief was going to surrender but then a shot rang out. the US Army killed almost all of the 300 men, women and children that was there and most of them were women and children. Some of the wounded died later on because of wounds and froze to death in the snow. This once again shows how the US army killed so many innocent people just for there land.