The new century saw the United States transformed by exponential
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Indicator 4-5.4: Summarize how territorial expansion, related land policies, and specific legislation that affected Native Americans, including the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Indian Removal Act. |
Learning Tasks:
Ø Students will read from the ABDO eBook Westward Expansion, pages 23-27, taking notes on the Westward Expansion Effects on Native Americans graphic organizer to determine if the westward expansion legislation's affected the Native Americans geographically, politically, or economically. Need AT LEAST one detail for each factor and a response to the though bubble. Ø Students will analyze the painting “Trail of Tears” from Kids InfoBits using the photo analysis sheet. (DOK 2-3) Ø Students will view the Discovery Education video clip “The Cherokee Trail of Tears” (5 min and 25 seconds total). They will analyze the video using the video analysis sheet. (DOK 2-3) Ø Students will read closely ReadWorks.org “Westward Expansion: The Trail of Tears.” They will write a personal response to the text in their notebooks. (How did the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and specific legislation affect the Native Americans during Westward Expansion? What facts would you select from the text to support your thoughts?) (DOK 3) Ø After completing the above indicator tasks, students will create 2 perspective letters or diary entries, taking the role of a white settler child and a Native American child. Using what they have learned, they will write about - how they feel about the legislation - how it is affecting their lives. They may write about what they would see if they were watching or walking the “Trail of Tears,” or they may write about what they hear their parents discussing. They will also draw a picture from each perspective. (DOK 3-4) Ø ** Brain Pop Video "Trail of Tears". Complete the cause & effect graphic organizer. |
It is essential for students to know: Territorial expansion and related land policies had a very negative impact on Native Americans. As more settlers moved farther west, they took more Native American land and created conflict with the Native American tribes. The United States government exercised its power to make treaties and thus to force tribes to move from their ancestral lands. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed new lands to organize as territories and later as states when their population of white settlers reached a certain number. The ordinance also provided for public schools and outlawed slavery in the region. The new American government under the Constitution continued with these ordinances (4-3.6). This region later became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin and could not allow slavery. This was the first time the national government had taken a stand against the spread of slavery that was motivated by the ideas of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” Although the Northwest Ordinance promised that the “utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians, their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent,” because the Land Ordinance and the Northwest Ordinance encouraged westward expansion, Native Americans were forced to give up their lands and move farther west. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a law passed by the United States Congress and signed by President Andrew Jackson. It provided land and money the president could use to enter treaties with the Native American nations in which the tribes agreed to leave their lands east of the Mississippi and move west. This held especially true of the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes” of the southeastern United States. Tribal resistance to American encroachment was answered with military-forced takeover. Having no choice, some Native American tribes moved farther west voluntarily. Other tribes, such as the Cherokee nation, attempted to live in harmony with the American settlers by adopting many American customs, including a written language and governmental system and even the plantation system with slavery. The Cherokee tried to resist removal by taking their case to the Supreme Court. Even though the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee had the right to keep their land, President Andrew Jackson ignored the court’s ruling and used the army to force the Cherokee to move from their homes in the Appalachian Mountains across the Mississippi River to present-day Oklahoma, then designated Indian Territory, on what is called “The Trail of Tears.” The use of contract labor to insure the move was accomplished earned the moniker as roughly one fourth of the population died on what evolved into a forced (foot) march during the winter. The Seminole tribe tried a different approach, going to war in Florida over their refusal to evacuate and transfer themselves to reservations in designated areas. Because the Seminoles lost, many were captured and forced to move to Indian Territory. Even though the Native Americans were promised reservations in the west, settlers and military often broke treaties. White settlers wanted Native American lands because of the gold, silver, or rich grazing land found there and this process was continually repeated as land was settled This caused conflicts between settlers and Native Americans that later led to a series of Indian wars. These conflicts were sometimes used as an excuse by soldiers and settlers to massacre Native Americans. Native Americans resisted until they defeated and forced onto reservations in the period after the Civil War. |