Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

As manifest destiny and US government policy showed, the US government wanted the settlers to spread across North America.

Previous government legislation

• In 1830, President Andrew Jackson had signed the 'Indian Removal Act'. This forced the Indians to move all of their people from the east of the Mississippi River to the west of the Mississippi River. This was a 'forced resettlement' that made roughly 50,000 Plains Indians move west.
• In 1834, the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act formed a boundary between USA and Indian Territory, banning Americans from buying or renting land from the Indians. It effectively stopped them from using Indian land.

Causes of tensions between settlers and Indians

• More migrants were travelling along the Oregon Trail and more farmers were settling in the Great Plains. This meant that the migrants and settlers were competing with the Indians for food, water and other resources.

The Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868

• In 1868, the US government signed a treaty with representatives of the Plains Indian tribes.
• It secured safe passage along the Oregon Trail for all travellers.
• Settlers would be permitted to settle and build on the land along the trail.
• In exchange, the Plains Indians would receive an annual payment of $50,000.
• The Treaty was also supposed to end wars between the Indian tribes, but within a few years, the Crow and Cheyenne tribes were back at war.
• Fort Laramie also introduced railroad surveyors and military posts in Indian territory, whilst tribes had to pay fines if they attacked white settlers.

The Indian Appropriations Act, 1851

• As well as the Fort Laramie Treaty, the US government passed the Indian Appropriations Act.
• This act moved nomadic tribes into enclosed areas called 'reservations'. These reservations would be protected by the US government.
• Theoretically, reservations would preserve areas of land for the Plains Indians to continue their lives undisturbed by settlers and migrants.
• However, the shift imposed White Settler property rights on the Indians and undermined their nomadic lifestyle and independence.
  • The reservations effectively forced the Plains Indians to live in a smaller area of land.

  1 The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

  1.1 The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

  1.1.1 The Plains Indians - Social Structure

  1.1.2 The Plains Indians - Way of Life

  1.1.3 End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

  1.1.4 Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

  1.2 Migration & Early Settlement

  1.2.1 The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

  1.2.2 Manifest Destiny

  1.2.3 Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

  1.2.4 End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

  1.2.5 Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

  1.3 Conflict & Tension

  1.3.1 Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

  1.3.2 Lawless Towns

  1.3.3 End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

  2 Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

  2.1 The Development of Settlement in the West

  2.1.1 Causes of the American Civil War

  2.1.2 The American Civil War

  2.1.3 Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

  2.1.4 Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

  2.1.5 Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

  2.1.6 End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

  2.2 Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

  2.2.1 Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

  2.2.2 Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

  2.2.3 The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

  2.2.4 End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

  2.2.5 Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

  3 Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

  3.1 Changes in Farming & Settlement

  3.1.1 Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

  3.1.2 The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

  3.1.3 End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

  3.2 Conflict & Tension

  3.2.1 Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

  3.2.2 Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

  3.2.3 Destroying the Indian Way of Life

  3.2.4 End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

  3.2.5 Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

  Jump to other topics

  1 The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

  1.1 The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

  1.1.1 The Plains Indians - Social Structure

  1.1.2 The Plains Indians - Way of Life

  1.1.3 End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

  1.1.4 Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

  1.2 Migration & Early Settlement

  1.2.1 The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

  1.2.2 Manifest Destiny

  1.2.3 Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

  1.2.4 End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

  1.2.5 Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

  1.3 Conflict & Tension

  1.3.1 Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

  1.3.2 Lawless Towns

  1.3.3 End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

  2 Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

  2.1 The Development of Settlement in the West

  2.1.1 Causes of the American Civil War

  2.1.2 The American Civil War

  2.1.3 Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

  2.1.4 Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

  2.1.5 Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

  2.1.6 End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

  2.2 Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

  2.2.1 Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

  2.2.2 Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

  2.2.3 The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

  2.2.4 End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

  2.2.5 Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

  3 Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

  3.1 Changes in Farming & Settlement

  3.1.1 Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

  3.1.2 The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

  3.1.3 End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

  3.2 Conflict & Tension

  3.2.1 Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

  3.2.2 Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

  3.2.3 Destroying the Indian Way of Life

  3.2.4 End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

  3.2.5 Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension