Post Civil War Times essays

Post Civil War Times essays After the Civil War, many settlers from the East moved west, the new frontier during the 1860-1890 period. Among those settlers were farmers, miners, railroad builders, and cattlemen who all wanted the rich, vast lands of the West. The movement west occurred because of the following reasons: the railroad companies wanted land to establish railways from the East to the West, farmers felt that the Western land would make them rich, miners wanted the land for the rich silver, gold, and other minerals, and cattlemen wanted to establish the profitable "cattle business" by using the long drive method. The Whites wanted this land no matter what, and they refused to let anything stand in the way of their goals. This led to Indians facing drastic consequences which impacted their way of life, Indian Wars, and the policy of Americanization. The Whites wanted to drive the Indians out of their own lands, and they accomplished this through several ways. One was the destruction of the buffalo, the staff of life for the Indians. The Whites' purposes for exterminating the buffalo were to stall railroad construction, kill for their hides, certain body parts, and/or just for the pure enjoyment of killing these beasts. The Indians needed the buffalo since it provided food, shelter, clothing, weapons, and religious rituals. With most of the buffalo dead, the Indians lacked the necessities of life. Therefore there was a decline of the Indian population. Another way was the diseases of the White man. Indians weren't resistant to these diseases like small pox; therefore, it also contributed to the decline of the Indian's population. Another brutal way was by form of violence. The Whites used Calvary or the ARMY to control the Indians. They also used the revolver, the "six-shooter," something that the Indians didn't have in order t o defend themselves. The factor of violence led to the Indian Wars, which took place during the 1860s-1890s. The first ba...