the second part of this program focuses on the american west module of the gcse history syllabus the american west is a study in depth this is very different from a development study like the history of medicine in this kind of study you only cover a short period in this case 55 years from 1840 to 1895 and one place the great plains of the usa but in much greater depth at the heart of this study and depth on the american west is a tremendous culture clash between the plains indians and people from the eastern usa in 1763 the british who now ruled this part of america established a frontier along the appalachian mountains the settlers were not allowed to advance beyond this line all the land to the west of it was left in the hands of the indians but it wasn't long before the new leaders of the united states took over from the british they opened up the frontier again and let the settlers through a law was also passed that indian land could only be bought by the government over the next 90 years indians were forced to make treaties which gave the whites control over huge areas of their land by the 1860s the only large part of america still held by the indians was the great plains here tribes such as the sioux the cheyenne and the arapaho had begun to use horses and guns so who were these plains indians and what kind of people were they the great plains is a very harsh environment fiercely hot in summer bitterly cold in winter and sometimes swept by high winds and tornadoes to the west the rocky mountains 200 miles wide rise to 14 000 feet but the plains indians had developed a nomadic way of life well adapted to this environment as you watch this clip write a couple of sentences describing the plains indians attitude to the world about them in the olden days the indian communicated to his maker the great spirit through the various animals eagles and bears and of course buffalo wolves they regarded these animals as having a possessing power that great spirit gives them but the human beings were were not so blessed so in order to get power blessings of the great spirit they got to go through these animals so when they have a vision concerning a buffalo or bear or something they regard that particular animal as their protector i would say that until recently that the croatian regarded earth ears first in the original mother and that the human mother is just temporary that eventually the croiden will go back to his first mother earth and they're thinking yes while they're here on mother earth's bosom you should treat it nicely don't abuse it and treat your mother kindly and it will treat you kindly in return the indians saw the environment as a bountiful system which supported all living things nature was something to fit in with not something to be exploited this view has parallels with that of modern environmentalists by far the most important item in the indians environment was the huge herds of american bison or buffalo while he watched the next clip make notes on the many ways in which the plains indians way of life depended on the buffalo you'll find them helpful when we look at our next sample question the planes were dominated by two species which together formed a culture that endured for centuries one was man this is a pony warrior buffalo bull his face painted with a sign of the buffalo his fellow creatures of the plane in the south the apache and further north the cheyenne the crow and the sioux all depended for their living on the great bison herd color sketches made by george catlin in the 1830s are snapshots of that time the lancers were 10 to 14 feet long the more efficient bowmen carried up to 50 arrows fired from a short bow indian methods are studied by gary johnson who has crow ancestors most indians got their meat with with a little bow like this one and the bow itself is made from parts of the animal the basis of the bow is wood in this case it's ash a local hardwood but the strength of the bow comes from a layer of sinew that's glued onto the back of the bow and in this case which is a little bit of exceptional the entire bow is encased in intestine to further waterproof it even the bow string is made from twisted sinew village life depended on the bison in more peaceful ways [Music] strips of meat hung drying outside the teepee or lodge the family clothes were buffalo hide and the horse trappings were hide too this crow lodge is made of 25 buffalo skins sewn with sinew by the women lodges were rapidly stripped and reassembled as the tribe followed the herds the most important nations of the indians were the sioux the comanche the crow the cheyenne and the apache these nomadic nations were split into tribes individuals lived in a band made up of several extended families which numbered between 100 and 500 members each band had a chief who was advised by a council of elders but decisions were agreed by all the men of the tribe by the 1860s sporadic conflicts between the indians and settlers from the east were escalating into an almost permanent state of war the planes tribes were fighting to preserve their land their way of life and their buffalo while you watched the clip ask yourself what was the most important weapon the easterners used to defeat the indians the wagon trains crossing the area on the way to california disrupted the vast herds of buffalo and made it more and more difficult for the indians to hunt driven close to starvation the plains tribes started to fight back for almost the first time the united states found itself in a prolonged war with the indians from now on the white population of america would always remember the indian as the bloodthirsty savage the army had failed to defeat the plains tribes and so the u.s government tried something else something less expensive the government told white hunters to go out and destroy the indians main food supply the buffalo [Music] rotting buffalo carcasses littered the plains they were stacked at rail heads to be shipped to factories to make fertilizer and explosives in the mid-1800s there were about 60 million buffalo in the united states by 1910 there were thought to be just 85 left in killing the buffalo the whites had destroyed the indians whole way of life hopefully you noticed that destroying the buffalo was a kind of economic warfare against the native americans it took away their means of life coming up is a typical exam question about the plains indians refer back to the notes you made earlier about the way the plains indians lives depended on the buffalo the great father of life who made us and gave us this land to live on made the buffalo to give us our only means of life food fuel and clothing that's a native american warriors description of the importance of the buffalo dating from 1859 how does this source show us that native americans saw the buffalo as more than just a supply of food this question would carry around four marks this is a typical source-based question you need to read the source but also think about what you already know about native americans the lowest number of marks tells you that you will not be expected to write more than a short paragraph for this question so don't hang about what four points are you going to make the source tells you that the buffalo provided more than just a supply of food it mentions fuel dried buffalo dung and clothing buffalo hide for coats and moccasins the sauce said that they regarded the buffalo as provided by the great father of life this fits in with what we know about their beliefs that all creation was holy that the great father of life provided them with land and the buffalo to support their whole way of life if you have access to the internet you'll find further source material on native americans and sample exam questions on the bite size history site [Music] firstly try and remember the order of events rather than the dates this will help you to not get mixed up also if you think of pictures in your head of events this will help you remember that's the end of the section on the plains indians the clash of cultures between plains indians and easterners went back to the first contact between native americans and the first european settlers in the early 1600s while you watch the next clip jot down the main differences you notice between the settlers attitude to land and that of the native americans europeans believed that they had come to a wilderness they could not see that many native people had a highly successful way of life based on careful use of the environment the indians roamed the countryside hunting harvesting wild foods and sometimes growing crops but because the europeans couldn't see the kind of farms they were used to they thought the indians weren't using the land properly they brought with them european farming methods and animals and changed the new england of hunting and harvesting into one of organized farmland and fences puritans were particularly keen on fences because they showed everybody that they owned the land the first easterners to travel in the west were fur trappers not all were white james p beckworth for example was half black they were not a threat to native americans and usually got on well enough with them during the first 50 years of the 19th century the united states expanded steadily westwards buying seizing or conquering land from france mexico and britain by 1848 the usa controlled all north america between mexico and canada by the 1850s easterners were moving into the planes in much greater numbers in great wagon trains to get to california and the west to mine or to hunt buffalo before the railroads all transport and communications across the huge distances of the american west was by horse wagon train or stagecoach and was difficult dangerous and slow the stagecoach from california to saint louis took 25 days in the 1860s the telegraph came enabling messages to get from coast to coast in a single day then the government provided a subsidy to two railroad companies to build a line across the west the west to east central pacific and the east to west union pacific met in 1869 in utah other rail links soon followed the opening of the railroads brought big changes [Music] it kick-started the cattle business in the plains as there was now a way of transporting beef to markets in the east it encouraged the settlement of homesteaders who began to farm the plains the railroads help cities to grow and the usa to become a united rich industrial nation and in the process they also severely disrupted the lives of the nomadic plains indians and the buffalo on which they depended [Music] that's the end of the section on pioneers and transport now we move on to cattle ranchers and homesteaders after the american civil war of 1860-65 three things came together to bring about a boom in the cattle business on the plains during the war cattle in the south were allowed to breed uncontrolled and there were millions of cheap unwanted cattle texas longhorns were a tough breed of cattle able to live on the poor grass of the plains farming in the north had also been disrupted and the expanding cities of the north needed meat and by the 1860s the railroads had reached into the plains providing a means of shipping the meat to market cattle were brought to the plains from the south along cattle trails up to 1500 kilometers long the trails ended at railroad heads where cattle were taken east on trains the main cattle trails were the sedalia trail from texas to missouri the chisholm trail which by 1871 was bringing six hundred thousand head of cattle to abilene kansas each year the western trail to dodge city kansas and the good night loving trail striking out west towards the rocky mountains this is a clip from footage filmed early this century it is in fact one of the earliest documentaries cattle driving was hard skilled work up to 20 cowboys looked after a herd spending most of the day in the saddle and sleeping in the open they had to contend with stampedes bad weather dust storms and attacks from rustlers native americans and homesteaders most early cowboys were from texas they included black americans and many mexicans by the 1870s cattle ranches were being opened up all over the great plains after all why trail cattle from texas when they could be farmed on ranches near the rail heads there were three main reasons why ranching was made possible more railroads were being built new hardier breeds of cattle were able to withstand the harsh winters on the plains and as the buffalo herds were destroyed there were vast areas of land available the cattle ranchers regarded the land as open unused and simply took it even though it was often part of the native american lands they let the cattle wander at will over the open range as they called it every spring and autumn they were rounded up by the cowboys cattle from different herds were separated and the calves branded with the brand of the rancher they belonged to so much money could be made that people flocked to set up branches but by the late 1880s the ranges became overcrowded and the poor grass of the plains had become overgrazed in 1886 and 1887 bad winters with terrible blizzards killed off thousands of cattle up to about 1870 the great plains were considered uninhabitable and unsuitable for farming but then farmers called homesteaders from the new houses or homesteads they had to build began to settle and farm land in the west there were several reasons for this land in the east was becoming overcrowded and expensive so land-hungry pioneers drifted west they included black ex-slaves germans norwegians and swedes as well as english-speaking whites the u.s government wanted to attract settlers onto the plains they passed the homestead act in 1862 this said that any male could have 160 acres of land free if he built a house on it and farmed the land for five years homesteading was a hard life 160 acres was not really enough for a family to live on there was a shortage of timber for building and fuel there was a shortage of water and digging wells was a back-breaking task to help homesteaders the government passed the timber culture act in 1873 allowing farmers another 160 acres if a quarter of it was planted with trees machinery to drill deep wells and wind pumps to pump the water out of them began to solve the water problem new strains of wheat eg turkey red produced better yields than wheat grown in the east the invention of barbed wire by joseph glidden in 1874 provided a cheap easy means of fencing a new farm machinery helped bring large farms into cultivation by 1895 farming on the plains was prospering once again there's more source material on settlement in the west on the bitesize history online site that's the end of the section on cattle ranchers and homesteaders now we move on to the defeat of the indians in 1834 the us government believing that the west was a useless desert had declared a permanent indian frontier this meant that at the time they saw a limit to u.s expansion westwards there was a frontier with native americans with the great plains seen as one large reservation but easterners believed it was their manifest destiny to control the whole continent by the 1840s tension was rising as more and more easterners moved into the plains and the us government stepped in for almost the first time the united states found itself in a prolonged war with the indians the indians would mutilate their victims because according to indian beliefs the whites would then be reborn disabled in their next life as stories of indians killing whites spread the whites lost patience it was easy to forget that whites had been massacring indians for generations the battle for the planes cost the united states millions of dollars and led to america's only defeat in a war against the indians when the oglala sioux leader red cloud forced the government to sign a peace treaty a number of treaties were signed in an attempt to prevent further conflict in 1851 the treaty of fort laramie handed over certain areas near the migrant trails to easterners in return the native americans were guaranteed large but separate tribal reservations in the 1867 treaty of medicine lodge creek most native americans apart from the sioux were forced to agree to settle in a number of smaller scattered reservations in 1868 after a revolt by the sioux under chief red cloud the new fort laramie treaty guaranteed a large area of land to the sioux including the sacred black hills ultimately however the treaties did nothing to stop a war to the finish in 1864 a colonel of militia john chivington massacred black cattle's tribe of over a hundred men women and children chivington was not a soldier but the soldiers paid a terrible price for his butchery the slaughter continued on all sides after a bloody revolt the war-like sioux were imprisoned in their lodges their leaders were hanged the sioux held this territory sacred and believed it was theirs forever by treaty with the united states but the black hills were not sacred to the government they could be valuable george armstrong custer went to the black hills to investigate rumors of gold his expedition was given all the publicity that he craved [Music] in that year of economic slump 1873 the camp followers were close behind still seeking their fortunes the hunters followed the prospectors into sioux territory there were still herds in the missouri valley for them to hunt a man named after the buffalo saw a vision sitting bull dreamed that his people would destroy the invading whites he fasted and prayed cut flesh from his body and offered it in sacrifice for victory george armstrong custer paraded his seventh cavalry and rode out to subdue the indians the sioux nations in the cheyenne camped together in montana territory several thousand warriors dreamed sitting bull's dream the confrontation between two cultures took place in june 1876 in the valley of the little big horn river the war parties camped across the river swept over this ford and overwhelmed the soldiers who were sacrificed to custer's arrogant incompetence [Music] not one soldier survived the government poured reinforcements into the planes the sioux and cheyenne were heavily outnumbered and desperately short of food and gradually the army brought them into reservation compounds where they were imprisoned the white men made us many promises more than i can remember but they never kept but one they promised to take our land and they took it in 1888 a nevada paiute called wavoka had a vision god told him that by dancing and performing certain rituals indians could bring back their old way of life and his followers believed that their dancing would make the ground roll up like a carpet taking the whites with it and that the dead indians and their animals would return [Music] in a last frenzied effort to preserve their way of life tribes people throughout the west danced and sang for supernatural help [Music] [Music] the help they danced and sang for never came in december 1890 soldiers opened fire on a group of unarmed sioux at wounded knee south dakota more than 300 men women and children were killed before the arrival of columbus there were more than 5 million indians in america by 1890 there were only 250 000 during the same period the white population increased from zero to 75 million here's an example of the kind of question you could be asked about the defeat of the plains indians this question carries 16 marks choose two items from the list below and use each of them to show changes in the attitude of the us government towards the plains indians in the 19th century 1834 permanent indian frontier 1851 treaty of fort laramie 1867 treaty of medicine lodge creek 1876 battle of little bighorn now stop the tape and have a go yourself don't get too hung up on the details of the events themselves use them as markers for key changes in the easterners attitudes towards native americans [Music] here are the points you ought to be thinking of when you answer this question the permanent frontier lasted only as long as easterners saw the west as useless for settlement it lasted less than 20 years by 1851 easterners were moving into the west in larger numbers the fort laramie treaty still allowed the native americans big reservations of land but separated into tribes easterners now knew that the indians consisted of different nations with different characteristics but saw them as a menace by 1860 it was clear the great plains could be used for ranching and for farming cattle drives had begun and railroads were being built easterners saw it as their manifest destiny to occupy the west and began to see the indians as inferior people with no rights the agreements of 1834 and 1851 were broken and the tribes fought back but the medicine lodge creek treaty of 1867 was a defeat for all but the sioux with the black hills gold rush all agreements were broken again and this triggered the final battle between indians and easterners the battle of little bighorn in 1876 led to such brutal revenge that native americans were forced off their remaining land [Music] when i'm working on scripts i like to use highlighter pens to pinpoint the important things to me and that can also help with your revision whether you're learning for the history of medicine or the american west i'm sure highlighting important phrases or timelines will help you learn them and remember them in the exams congratulations you should now be much more confident about answering questions in your gcse history exam on both medicine through time and the american west [Music] this program should also have given you some practice in key skills you need for the exam in how to write about history in looking for patterns in the broad sweep of history and in understanding and organizing the historical facts you know that's the end of the whole program on schools history project looking at medicine through time and the american west the other two programs are modern world history and modern british history [Music] don't forget you can find more information in the gcse bite-sized books and on the website at dot www.bbc dot co dot uk forward slash revision [Music] so [Music] you