Tension on the Frontier

This lesson about buffalo soldiers was taught by us, like the last lesson. The essential question we came up with was: "Were federal policies towards Native Americans and buffalo soldiers intentionally discriminatory or well intentioned?" To answer this, we watched a few videos. Then we read some documents, one of which was the Dawes Act. Reading these documents gave us a better understanding of how buffalo soldiers and Native Americans were treated during westward expansion.
Buffalo soldiers were African American cavalry soldiers. They got this nickname from their wooly hair and superior fighting skill.  The government put them in the Midwest because they believed the U.S. needed more of a military presence there. The buffalo soldier camps did not have the same conditions as the white camps. While the buffalo soldiers were successful in their jobs expanding westward, they faced some discrimination from the government.
The government also put in several policies in place for Native Americans when expanding the nation. This included the allotment program. The allotment program divided up land that was previously owned by full tribes and distributed it to individuals. While this seemed well-intentioned, most of the land ended up going to the white public. Though the government also put in education programs for Native Americans, the children faced beatings and discrimination. When they tried to move natives to reservations, some tribes refused and total war ensued. The Battle of Little Bighorn is well-known as a battle during this period of Indian removal.
.                                                   
The government did have good intentions in the beginning. They wanted to give the Native Americans land and education and the buffalo soldiers opportunities in the army. However, many of their promises fell through, leaving the buffalo soldiers with poor working conditions and the Native Americans with less land and pain in their hearts. The original intentions of the government were good, but became buried by discrimination when things did not go their way.

Pictography
Edline. Pictochart of American Indians. http://www.edline.net/files/stream/2CCF071593645104-0000014DC410FB41/ABC-CLIO+Federal+Native+American+Policies+Visual.gif