Native Americans In The Reconstruction Period: The Railroad
Native Americans in the Reconstruction Period: The Railroad
It was considered “the most powerful weapon that the white men could use against natives” yet one of the most efficient American ingenuity; creating jobs, the economy to flourish and the expansion of a nation. One might ask how this weapon came to be and how was it used against the natives of the U.S. ?
It was the height of the American Civil War; the north and the south raged in combat. The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln had issued the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 establishing the government oversee the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Tasked with this were The Union Pacific and The Central Pacific RailRoad Company; before the act was issued they were in rivalry to see which railroad company could build the quickest and most efficient amount of a track that would connect both coasts together. …show more content…
Settlers from the east were heading towards west claiming land that was previously never owned in the past. The loss of land for the natives would create a casualty for cultural heritage on top of struggling to survive without plentiful resources. One retaliation was led by the Cheyenne Indians who teared up the tracks that had been put down. If the natives were not wreaking and attempting to repair the damage already laid down, they were attacking the workers. Several lives were taken all in part of attempting to cease the construction of this locomotive transportation system in order to preserve what little they had left.
In the end, the native Americans land was lost to settlers. Used for cultivating crops to provide nutrition for the country. The natives were thus forced into smaller settlements, losing the place they came from. The new Trail of Tears, a new relocation to someplace that is not their original home, forming a forced new identity for their
It was considered “the most powerful weapon that the white men could use against natives” yet one of the most efficient American ingenuity; creating jobs, the economy to flourish and the expansion of a nation. One might ask how this weapon came to be and how was it used against the natives of the U.S. ?
It was the height of the American Civil War; the north and the south raged in combat. The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln had issued the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 establishing the government oversee the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Tasked with this were The Union Pacific and The Central Pacific RailRoad Company; before the act was issued they were in rivalry to see which railroad company could build the quickest and most efficient amount of a track that would connect both coasts together. …show more content…
Settlers from the east were heading towards west claiming land that was previously never owned in the past. The loss of land for the natives would create a casualty for cultural heritage on top of struggling to survive without plentiful resources. One retaliation was led by the Cheyenne Indians who teared up the tracks that had been put down. If the natives were not wreaking and attempting to repair the damage already laid down, they were attacking the workers. Several lives were taken all in part of attempting to cease the construction of this locomotive transportation system in order to preserve what little they had left.
In the end, the native Americans land was lost to settlers. Used for cultivating crops to provide nutrition for the country. The natives were thus forced into smaller settlements, losing the place they came from. The new Trail of Tears, a new relocation to someplace that is not their original home, forming a forced new identity for their