LAST BLOG POST!

Our last lesson of the year we studied Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans and how their lives were impacted by the government. The class came up with an essential question, “Were federal policies towards Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers intentionally discriminatory or well intentioned?” To come up with this essential question my class watched various videos and read numerous documents trying to understand the topics. We were split into small groups and each assigned a different topic, my topic was Key Terms. While watching the videos and reading the documents we took notes on our topic that we would then help  use the information to answer the essential question.

Buffalo Soldiers were African American Cavalry Soldiers. We watched ABC Clio videos to learn the background of the topic. The Buffalo Soldiers served in the Spanish and Indian wars. African Americans were put into Cavalry troops in the late 19th century. The Buffalo Soldiers experienced many challenges. The Buffalo Soldiers were discriminated against, and many fights broke out  between the soldiers and citizens. Although the government established a few laws and acts that helped the Buffalo Soldiers they also created some that were intentionally discriminatory. For instance the government gave Buffalo Soldiers the jobs that all white soldiers would not want to do. On the other hand the government typically treated the Native Americans nicely.

Picture of Buffalo Soldiers

The Native Americans lived out in the West peacefully, with little to no white interference. We read an article about the Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers. The article helped give us a better understanding of the topics. In 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by Andrew Jackson. The Indian Removal act relocated many Native tribes  to the west of the Mississippi River. It was claimed that the act passed was to benefit the Native Americans as well as the whites. However, once the government discovered there was a gold on Native territory the government no longer was nice to the native but instead became very violent. Fights broke out that resulted in casualties. The government used war techniques to wipe out the tribes. The government removed the buffalo in the surrounding areas, which limited the food and clothing supply. The Native Americans were then forced to move to new territory. The government's acts show that it was intentional discrimination. The government also forced Native American child into schools. The government thought that this was beneficially to the Native Americans for educating their children but in a way it took away their children's teaching of the culture.

Picture of Native Americans

I enjoyed learning about this unit however some of the things we learned were quite brutal. Although the government's intentions started off being well they turned into being discriminatory toward the buffalo soldiers and Native Americans. This is still seen in life today, where the government tries make sure everyone is equal but yet there are still many cases where they are discriminatory against certain races and religions.