The Indian Wars and Reservations

As white settlement of the West accelerated after the Civil War, conflict between the US government and the Plains Indians intensified dramatically. The period from the 1860s to the 1890s saw a series of brutal wars, broken treaties, and the forced confinement of Native Americans onto reservations. This is a key topic in the AQA GCSE History specification.

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Causes of Conflict

Cause	Detail
Westward expansion	Settlers, miners, and ranchers moved onto Native American land in ever-greater numbers
Destruction of the buffalo	The deliberate slaughter of the buffalo destroyed the Plains Indians' way of life
Railroad construction	Cut through Native American territory and brought more settlers
Broken treaties	The US government repeatedly signed treaties with Native Americans and then broke them when settlers wanted the land
Gold discoveries	Discovery of gold in places like the Black Hills of Dakota (1874) led to invasions of sacred Native American land
Different attitudes to land	Native Americans believed land could not be owned; whites believed in private property and "improving" the land