Following the Civil War, the country was engaged in a great struggle over the frontier. As the western line was continuing to be moved farther and farther west, the Indians were increasing the defensive position on their lands. The Great West was very inviting and contained an aura that was not present anywhere else in America. Unfortunately, the land was overrun with Indians whose willingness to give up their lands was non-existent. They had now become skilled riders of the horse and superb warriors. Having been introduced to the nature of the white man during isolated incidents of the Civil War, the Indians had experience that would aid them in this new struggle. In an effort to peacefully quell the situation, treaties were signed with the chiefs of specific tribes to avoid violence. But these treaties would not hold as the policy makers would place the Indians in reservations.

            The creation of reservations throughout the Midwest forced dozens of tribes into designated areas of land. Being forced into these areas also gave the white man the opportunity needed to take over the ancestral lands of many of the Indians. Also, many Americans performed many flagrant violations of treaties. In one instance, Sioux Indians reacted to these betrayals and were summarily crushed by federal troops. Those that were tried were hung. Such situations aroused heated warfare between Indians and whites. Fierce and harrowing battles raged on, a list that covers over a hundred pages. Some of the Indians, with repeating rifles and ponies, were well equipped for war. The encounters would not be as easy as they had been in the colonial days. The tenacious efforts of the Indians often resulted in the deaths of innocent Indians by American soldiers who were weary of possible threats. Such preventative measures would result in many massacres, but the persistent nature would not hold out forever as the Indians were eventually defeated.

            Many of the tribes, ranging from the Apache to the Nez Perce, were forced to engage in warfare in order to protect their lands from the encroaching white men. Unfortunately, they were out matched in numbers and despite a very respectable defense, they were overrun. Behind the leadership of great chiefs, like Geronimo and Chief Joseph, and repeating rifles, they put on a good war that lasted. But that was not enough, as the defeated Indians were forced out and whites took over. During the latter part of the 19^th century and the early part of the 20^th century, states in the Midwest were admitted into the union and certain acts made the lives of the Indians easier. They were granted citizenship and allotted the Reorganization Act, but the hostile takeover of lands they once called their home left a persisting sense of hatred among the ill begotten Indian tribes.

            The biggest discrepancy between American political parties is the power of the state over its citizens. Under the Jeffersonian philosophy, the states and the citizens had the power to control their own lives with minimal interference from the central government. This idea was expanded by Jackson when he acknowledged that the central government needed to be the dominant source of power, but he did maintain that the people would be in charge of the policy governing the nation. These principles, according to many historians, were the founding values on which William Jennings Bryan conducted his political ideals. Believing strongly in the importance of the people, Bryan represented the expanding West and had strong support in the South. However, the difference between his political successes were large and innumerable, as he never saw the White House from the seat of the President, despite repeated attempts.

            From the perspective of Hamilton, the central government is the predominant force in the American political scene. And more importantly, the primary function of the government was to aid business. In providing a more sound economic state, the nation would be better politically. McKinley, under the advice of Hanna, was a firm believer in the idea that the central government was the predominant force governing the nation. But his idea that the assistance to business should rest on the shoulders of the governing body was very reminiscent of the Hamiltonian ideals. These appeals gave McKinley an edge in the election of 1896 over Bryan. Riding the success of the McKinley tariff six years earlier, the road to the White House went directly through the heart of Bryan. The differences in political styles between Bryan and McKinley revealed the conflicting policies that would erupt in great debates among the respectful parties.

After the Civil War, the Great West was about 1,000 miles long on each side.  It was the home of Indians, buffalos, wild horses, and of prairie dogs.  However by 1890 the Great West was turned into different states and into four territories, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, or the “Indian territory.”  In the 1850’s the federal government made treaties with the Indian “tribes” even though there actually was no system of tribes in the Indian nations.  These treaties were signed to restrict Indians to a certain amount of land, which was the beginning of the reservation system.  During the 1860’s the federal government pushed the Indians into an even smaller amount of land. 

            The whites were able to overcome the plains Indians because of the power of the whites and because of their greed for more.  Whites treated the Indians very poorly.  They forced them onto extremely small pieces of land because the Indians knew that if they didn’t, they would most likely have been attacked.  Many whites would shoot random peaceful Indians to make sure they wouldn’t behave badly.  Also large amounts of the Indian populations died because of fighting between the nations for land.  “The Sioux… were aggressively expanding at the expense of the Crows, Kiowas, and Pawnees when whites began arriving in force in the 1850’s.  ‘These lands one belonged to the Kiowas and Crows,’ explained a Sioux spokesman, ‘but we whipped those nations out of them and in this we did what the white men do when they want the lands of the Indians.’” (599).  The whites also took away much of the food of the Indians and only provided them with poor food supplies.  

            The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was created in order to try to give aid to the Indians.  This act forced many tribes to break apart and took away tribal ownership.  Instead they allowed individual Indian family heads to have land.  They were given 160 free acres.  Also they would be given citizenship in 25 years if they would behave themselves.  In 1879 and in the 1890’s Native American schools and boarding schools were created to help Native American children.  This Dawes act was created to destroy the Native American culture and to turn Indians into American citizens.  However the Dawes Act did cause the Native American population to grow.   

            The whites during this time took away almost all of the land that originally belonged to the Native Americans.  They were then given small reservations, and later individual amounts of land.  When the Americans took away the land from the Indians, the plains Indians lost their culture, which was based on large amounts of land.  Americans then tried to help Indians by turning them into citizens.  This did allow their populations to increase, but the Indians lost their cultures during this process.

Chapter 26 Part2  

            William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley were the presidential candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties during the election of 1896.  Some historians consider Bryan to be the “political heir” of Jackson and Jefferson, however it does not appear to be so.  McKinley, similar to Bryan, was considered to be the political heir to Hamilton and the Whigs, which also seems to be a false statement.  McKinley was really no political mastermind; Hanna, his financial and biggest supporter, created all platform and campaign. 

            William McKinley was the Republican presidential candidate during the election of 1896.  McKinley was an ex-congressman of Ohio at the time of the election.  During the Civil War he was a major. Some historians see McKinley as being the political heir of Hamilton and of the Whig party.  This could seem to be correct since he was campaigning for many of the aspects of politics that were favored by Hamilton and the Whigs.  However McKinley was not actually the one who truly believed in or decided to use these ideas.  Marcus Alonzo Hanna, a businessman who made a fortune in iron business, in a way created McKinley as a presidential candidate.  Hanna was very fond of McKinley and even once declared his love for him.  He helped McKinley when he was in trouble, as seen when Hanna once paid enough money to get McKinley out of filing for bankruptcy.  Hanna was considered to be “a wholehearted Hamiltonian.”  He believed that the government’s primary duty was to help businesses.  Hanna also thought that prosperity would trickle down to the laborer.  Many criticized this idea.  Hanna was the man who prepared the pre-convention campaign of McKinley, and Hanna also was the man who nominated McKinley in 1896.  One part of McKinley’s campaign that proved he was not part of its creation was what it had to say about gold.  “It declared for the gold standard, even though McKinley’s voting record in Congress had been embarrassingly friendly to silver.”  (633).  Many historians believed McKinley to be the political heir to Hamilton and the Whigs, however the credits should be passed to Hanna instead.

            William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska was supposed to be the Democratic candidate that would save them from Cleveland, who was not very popular at the time.  He was young, only thirty-six, and was a very good campaigner.  Some historians considered him to be the political heir of Jefferson and Jackson.  This seems to be a false statement.  His campaign appears to only be based on silver and helping the nation financially.  In a way, he seems to be more like Hamilton with his promises of bringing the nation out of debt.    

            Most great political leaders of the past cannot really have a successor since most political leaders have different beliefs on the different events of their time.  However there can be other political leaders that can share parts of the past leaders beliefs.  McKinley does not seem to be one of these people.  Bryan might be a man who shared the beliefs of Jefferson and Jackson, but he was not their political heir.        

Part 1: How did the whites finally overcome the plains Indians? What happened to the Indians?
            Whites finally overcame the plains Indians by overpowering them, forcing them onto reservations and forcing them to give up their traditional culture.
Part2. Some historians see Bryan was the political heir of Jefferson and Jackson; while they see McKinley as the political heir of Hamilton and the Whigs. Explain what you think of these ideas.