(42 total)

Sort By | Title | Date | Recently Added
A massive labor strike in 1877 shook the very foundations of American politics and society. Starting with a spontaneous railroad strike in West Virginia, the “Great Uprising” spread rapidly across the country. In many cities, entire working populations went out on strike. When state and federal troops fired on workers in several cities,…

Tags: , , ,
Item Type: Cartoon
Date: 1878

Edward Curtis was a professional photographer of the American West. In 1906, the wealthy banker and art collector J.P. Morgan hired Curtis to produce a multi-volume series on Native Americans that would include essays, sound recordings, and 1500 photographs. The goal of the series was not simply to photograph Indians, but to document "one of the…

Tags: ,
Item Type: Photograph
Date: Circa 1927

The U.S. Army and the Apache tribe (who called themselves N’ne, meaning “the people”) engaged in armed conflict in the U.S. Southwest from 1851 through 1886. On September 4, 1886, the famed Apache leader Geronimo (or Goyahkla) surrendered to U.S. Army forces on September 4, 1886 at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. This photo shows Geronimo and his…

Tags: ,
Item Type: Photograph
Date: 1886

This essay discusses the impact of the transcontinental railroad on Native American life. It focuses on the role of buffalo hunters in the federal government's policy of Indian removal. This essay, and the related Iron Horse vs. the Buffalo activity, can be used as a companion to the 1877: The Grand Army of Starvationdocumentary.

Tags: , , ,
Item Type: Article/Essay
Date: 2005

Entrepreneur George A. Croffut published several tourist guides and manuals encouraging Americans to visit and settle in the West. His guides prominently featured the expanding railroad network as the best way to explore the vast territory beyond the Mississippi River. This text accompanied the original printing of the 1872 print "American…

Tags: , ,
Item Type: Article/Essay
Date: 1873

In this activity, students read a series of primary source documents, including the 1872 print "American Progress," that depict the social, political and cultural conflicts between settlers and Native Americans during the 19th century. Then, working in small groups, students will consider the events from the perspective of Native Americans, and…

Tags: , , , ,
Item Type: Teaching Activity
Date: 2011

This photograph of a Native American child apprentice was taken near Red Bluff, Tehama County, California. The boy, about ten years old, would be “bound” to a master until he was 25, as California law apprenticed boys under 14 until their 25th birthdays and women under 14 until either their 21st or 25th birthdays. (Boys over 14 were…

Tags: ,
Item Type: Photograph
Date: Circa 1850

California passed two laws that established a system of Indian apprenticeship. The laws made it easy for any white person to claim young Indian laborers by taking a list of names to a judge and getting the judge’s signature. Sympathetic onlookers called apprenticeship “Indian slavery.” Historians estimate as many as 10,000 Native…

Tags: ,
Item Type: Quantitative Data
Date: 1861

White Californians complained that the new American government, which took over California after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in May 1848, was not doing enough to control and regulate Indian labor. In the chaos of the Mexican War, many Indian laborers had abandoned the farms and ranches where they worked as low-paid or unpaid…

Tags: , , ,
Item Type: Book (excerpt)
Date: 1984

White Californians complained that the new American government, which took over California after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in May 1848, was not doing enough to control and regulate Indian labor. In the chaos of the Mexican War, many Indian laborers had abandoned the farms and ranches where they worked as low-paid or unpaid…

Tags: , ,
Item Type: Book (excerpt)
Date: 1984