Mr. Klopfenstein's History Blog

APUSH- 1/24/12 January 24, 2012

We concluded Last Stand at Little Bighorn.

We discussed the West.

Extra Credit opportunity:

• Watch Geronimo, airing tonight at 9:00 on PBS (KCPT), or streaming online.
• Answer the following questions and submit to Turnitin.com by 7:45 a.m. Monday:
  • What was “manifest destiny” and how did it fuel the westward expansion that encroached on Indian territory? Research Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier thesis.” Turner stated that the spirit and success of the U.S. was directly tied to the country’s westward expansion. How did the ultimate closing of the frontier change the way Americans perceived Native peoples? How were Native peoples like Geronimo and Sitting Bull portrayed in the myth of the American West?
  • Between the 1820s and the 1850s, the U.S. experienced explosive growth and the beginnings of an industrial revolution. Besides transportation (railroads) and communication (the telegraph), there were major changes in journalism. What were these changes and how did they affect the lives of Native peoples in the Southwest? How did newspapers spread the idea of “manifest destiny”? How did they hasten the end of the Indian Wars?
  • How were Apache homelands affected (present-day New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas) by the Mexican American War of 1846? In what other areas of the country were settlers urging the U.S. government to take possession of disputed land?
  • The discovery of gold in 1848 ushered in the California Gold Rush. Why was the discovery of gold so disastrous for the Native people in the region? Of all the groups in the West, miners have the worst record of interacting with Native people. Why do you think that is?
  • During the 1850s, conflicts over states’ rights and slavery caused sectional tensions that ultimately led to the Civil War. What economic opportunities in the West and Southwest put pressure on the U.S. to resolve the status of slaves in the territories?
  • More than a million square miles of new territory came under U.S. control in the 1840s. Most emigrants traveled over the great overland trails to get to these new lands. Which trails did travelers use to travel through Apache country and what economic opportunities awaited them? How were they treated by Native peoples as they passed through Native lands?
  • Examine the particular political borders of Apacheria and the climate and terrain of the region. Evaluate how these factors enabled Apaches to resist effective American control over them for so long.
  • How did the U.S. Army respond to potential threats to movement and settlement following the annexation of Texas in 1845, the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute in 1846, and the successful conclusion of the Mexican War in 1848? Why did their actions harden Indian opposition and provoke more violence?
  • The Dreamer emerged at a time of great distress for the Apache people. What other examples are there of Native American religious leaders who offered their people religious deliverance during times of considerable social, economic and political upheaval?
  • Enforcement of the reservation system resulted in some of the bloodiest wars between Native peoples and the U.S. What were the conditions on reservations that led to these wars? What was the Dawes Act of 1887 and how did it change the reservation system? Why did it fail?
  • What was the Civil War’s impact on the Southwest during Geronimo’s time? What happened to government resources and the reservations? How did military technology used in the Civil War affect the outcome of the Indian Wars? Did the Native peoples of the Southwest participate in the Civil War?