OCR Specification focus:
‘In 1865, Native Americans faced pressures intensified by the Plains Wars (1854–1877).’
Native Americans’ position in 1865 was precarious, defined by territorial loss, cultural disruption, and mounting U.S. expansionist pressures, all intensified by the devastating Plains Wars.
Native Americans’ Position in 1865
In 1865, at the close of the American Civil War, Native American societies across the Great Plains and beyond were under severe strain. The end of the conflict allowed the United States government to focus more aggressively on westward expansion, bringing settlers, railroads, and soldiers into direct conflict with Indigenous nations. Although many Native communities maintained their tribal sovereignty, their autonomy was increasingly threatened by a federal policy rooted in the belief in Manifest Destiny — the conviction that American expansion across the continent was both inevitable and divinely ordained.
Land, Sovereignty, and Cultural Disruption
Before 1865, Native Americans had already suffered significant territorial losses through treaties, forced removals, and encroachments. By this time:
Many tribes, including the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa, still controlled large swathes of the Great Plains and resisted U.S. authority.
The reservation system — land set aside by the federal government for exclusive Native use — was expanding, often through coercive treaties.
Tribal sovereignty remained in principle, but U.S. policies increasingly undermined Native governance, culture, and independence.
Reservation: A tract of land managed by a Native American tribe under the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, often created through treaties or acts of Congress.
The imposition of reservations restricted nomadic hunting lifestyles, particularly those dependent on the buffalo (bison), which faced rapid decline due to commercial hunting and settler activity. This undermined the economic and cultural foundations of Plains societies.
Pressures on Native Americans after 1865
Following the Civil War, a surge of settlers moved westward, spurred by the Homestead Act (1862) and the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Native lands were increasingly targeted for agriculture, mining, and transport routes. These developments escalated tensions and made conflict more likely.
Economic and Demographic Changes
Railroads cut through Native hunting grounds, disrupted migratory patterns of buffalo, and brought more settlers and soldiers into the Plains.
New towns and farms displaced Indigenous peoples and intensified competition for resources.
The U.S. Army, now free from wartime duties, redirected its power westward to enforce federal policy and protect settlers.
These pressures contributed directly to the outbreak and escalation of the Plains Wars — a series of conflicts between the U.S. government and various Native nations seeking to defend their land and way of life.
The Plains Wars, 1854–1877
The Plains Wars were a sequence of armed confrontations driven by land disputes, cultural clashes, and U.S. expansionism. They involved multiple tribes and spanned over two decades. Although some began before 1865, their intensity and consequences increased sharply after the Civil War.
Key Early Conflicts (1854–1865)
Grattan Massacre (1854): A minor dispute over a cow in Nebraska escalated into violence, marking the start of prolonged conflict between the U.S. Army and the Lakota Sioux.
First Sioux War (1854–1856): Sparked by the Grattan incident, this conflict set a pattern of retaliatory raids and punitive expeditions.
Sand Creek Massacre (1864): U.S. troops attacked a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho camp in Colorado, killing around 150 people, mostly women and children. This atrocity united Plains tribes against U.S. forces.
These events fostered deep mistrust and hostility, setting the stage for larger and more organised resistance.
Intensification after 1865
The conclusion of the Civil War allowed the U.S. government to commit more troops and resources to western campaigns. This intensified the conflicts, which now aimed at subjugating and confining Native nations to reservations.
Major Wars and Battles (1865–1877)
Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868): The Oglala Sioux leader Red Cloud resisted U.S. efforts to build forts along the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming and Montana. His campaign forced the U.S. into the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868), which recognised Sioux control of the Powder River Country.
Map of Red Cloud’s War illustrating the Bozeman Trail corridor, U.S. forts, major battle sites, and treaty-recognised Indigenous territories. It shows why fort construction threatened Oglala Sioux control of the Powder River Country. Source
Medicine Lodge Treaty (1867): Attempted to relocate southern Plains tribes like the Comanche and Kiowa to reservations in Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma), often under coercive conditions.
Battle of Washita River (1868): George Custer’s attack on a Cheyenne village in Indian Territory demonstrated the U.S. Army’s willingness to use extreme force to enforce policy.
Great Sioux War (1876–1877): The discovery of gold in the Black Hills, sacred to the Sioux, violated the Fort Laramie Treaty and led to war. The Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), where Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Custer, was a rare but short-lived Native victory.
Nez Perce War (1877): The Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, attempted a 1,400-mile retreat to Canada to avoid forced relocation, ultimately surrendering near the border.
Consequences of the Plains Wars
Despite occasional victories, the Plains Wars overwhelmingly ended in Native defeat and further erosion of autonomy.
Key Outcomes
Loss of Land: By 1877, most Plains tribes were forced onto reservations, losing vast ancestral territories.
Collapse of Buffalo Herds: The mass slaughter of buffalo — from over 30 million to fewer than 1,000 by the 1880s — destroyed the economic base of many Plains societies.
Diagram of the original distribution of plains and wood bison across North America. It highlights the vast pre-contact range sustaining Plains cultures and the catastrophic impact of near-extirpation. The inclusion of wood bison extends slightly beyond the OCR syllabus but provides useful context. Source
Cultural Disintegration: Forced relocation, Christian missionary activity, and government-run boarding schools sought to assimilate Native peoples into Euro-American society.
Legal Subordination: Treaties were often violated or reinterpreted by Congress and the Supreme Court, undermining Native sovereignty and treaty rights.
Assimilation: A policy aimed at absorbing Indigenous peoples into mainstream American culture by eroding their traditional customs, languages, and governance structures.
The federal government’s strategy combined military conquest, treaty manipulation, and cultural assimilation to incorporate Native peoples into the expanding United States. By the late 1870s, Native resistance on the Plains had largely been crushed, and the groundwork was laid for further assimilationist policies such as the Dawes Act (1887).
Legacy of the Period
The period from 1854 to 1877 was transformative for Native Americans on the Plains. Their position in 1865 — though still rooted in cultural resilience and territorial control — was overwhelmed by the combined pressures of U.S. expansion, military force, and demographic change. The Plains Wars epitomised this struggle, culminating in the near-destruction of the traditional Plains way of life and setting the stage for the federal policies that would dominate Native affairs in the late nineteenth century.
FAQ
The U.S. Army became the main instrument of federal policy in the West after 1865. Freed from Civil War duties, it increased its presence on the Plains, building forts, patrolling trails, and launching punitive expeditions against resistant tribes.
Tactics included destroying villages, seizing horses, and targeting food supplies, which undermined Native resistance. The army’s mobility improved with new technologies such as the telegraph and railroads, enabling faster troop deployment and coordination. These strategies contributed to the eventual defeat and forced relocation of most Plains nations.
Buffalo were central not just to Plains economies but also to spiritual life, culture, and social structures. Their disappearance had far-reaching consequences:
Cultural impact: Ceremonies, traditions, and stories tied to the buffalo declined.
Social disruption: Loss of hunting roles weakened traditional leadership and gender roles.
Political vulnerability: Tribes reliant on buffalo became dependent on government rations, reducing their bargaining power in treaty negotiations.
The treaty marked a rare instance where the U.S. recognised Native sovereignty — specifically, Lakota control over the Powder River Country and the Black Hills. It also guaranteed the closure of the Bozeman Trail and removal of forts that had provoked Red Cloud’s War.
However, the treaty’s significance was undermined within a decade. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in the 1870s led to widespread treaty violations, and U.S. policy shifted towards assimilation and reservation confinement, illustrating how treaties could be overturned when they clashed with expansionist goals.
Native resistance was not uniform and evolved with circumstances:
Armed resistance: Leaders like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse organised coordinated attacks on forts and troops.
Mobility and guerrilla tactics: Tribes exploited their knowledge of terrain for ambushes and hit-and-run warfare.
Negotiation and diplomacy: Some groups sought treaties to secure favourable terms or temporary peace.
Differences reflected tribal priorities, geography, and leadership styles, demonstrating the diversity and adaptability of Native resistance despite overwhelming U.S. power.
Military conquest alone was insufficient to achieve long-term control. Federal policymakers aimed to dismantle tribal structures and integrate Native peoples into Euro-American society.
Assimilation policies included:
Establishing boarding schools to suppress Indigenous languages and traditions.
Promoting Christianity through missionary work.
Encouraging individual land ownership to replace communal systems.
These measures reflected a belief that cultural transformation was essential for “civilising” Native Americans and securing U.S. dominance over western territories.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks):
Identify two ways in which the position of Native Americans changed by 1865 as a result of U.S. expansion.
Mark scheme:
1 mark for each valid change identified (maximum 2 marks).
Examples:Increasing pressure on tribal lands due to westward expansion.
Growing use of the reservation system to restrict movement and territory.
Decline of traditional nomadic lifestyles due to settler encroachment and buffalo depletion.
Erosion of tribal sovereignty through treaties and federal intervention.
Question 2 (6 marks):
Explain how the Plains Wars between 1854 and 1877 intensified the pressures faced by Native Americans.
Mark scheme:
Level 1 (1–2 marks):
Basic statements with little detail or explanation.
Examples: Mentions fighting or land loss without development.
Level 2 (3–4 marks):
Some explanation of how the wars increased pressures, but limited detail or range.
Examples: Notes that the U.S. Army forced tribes onto reservations or that buffalo herds declined, with brief supporting examples.
Level 3 (5–6 marks):
Clear and well-developed explanation of how the Plains Wars intensified pressures, supported by accurate examples.
Answers may include:Increased military campaigns after the Civil War aimed at forcing Native nations onto reservations (e.g., Red Cloud’s War, Great Sioux War).
Treaty violations and land seizures following conflict, such as loss of the Black Hills after gold was discovered.
Economic and cultural pressures intensified by buffalo destruction, undermining Plains societies.
The erosion of sovereignty and traditional governance as assimilationist policies followed military defeat.
