Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer

Information. The Indians knew the 7thCavalry were coming allowing Sitting Bull to mass his forces. Custer had no idea of the size, location, or weapons prior to the actual conflict. Had he known these factors he wouldn’t have split his forces leaving him spread thin at Custer hill and he would have taken a different approach to attacking the Native Americans.

When the precious mineral gold was discovered in Indian Territory, the US government had a new perspective about the Native Americans. Even before the US government leaders had discussed about the Indian Removal Act, which became even more tempting after the gold was discovered.

Westward expansion effected the Native Americans because the Indians lived in these areas. First, the pioneers started to kill the bison, the Indian’s main food source, which lessened the amount of bison in the area causing hunger in Native American tribes ("Buffalo Hunters in the Old West." Buffalo Hunters in the Old West, 2015). Next, they moved into the Native’s lands to build houses and farms. Searching for gold was another problem, because the gold miners would search in their sacred hills, disturbing peace between the two. ("America Indians and Western Expansion,”

With the rapid expansion of the United States, many citizens in the southern states wanted to expand their territory westward and to the south. This desire created conflicts with Indians as people attempted to settle west onto native lands. The Indian Removal Act was also enacted after the discovery of gold in Cherokee territory in Georgia. This discovery caused a rush of people wanting to settle the Cherokee’s land. These people also attempted to get territorial and gold rights to the Cherokees land.

The 7th Cavalry Regiment's destruction at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876 is the subject of over a century of debate. LTC George A. Custer failed to exercise four key responsibilities that were expected of him as the regiment’s commander. He failed to understand the problem and environment, visualize a feasible solution, clearly describe it to his subordinates, and effectively direct his forces. These four aspects of mission command are integral to the operations process and help Soldiers understand and execute their commander's intent. Custer's failure to properly fulfill his role in the operations process resulted in his death and a strategic defeat for the nation.

The Native Americans kept losing men and the U.S. kept on pushing forward. Every reservation that was set up for the Indians sooner or later was destroyed and taken over by the U.S. The U.S. did not want the Indians to continue believing in their gods and religions. The Indians culture was a huge threat to the U.S. who wanted to try and Americanize the Indians. In 1887 the Dawes act was put into action, which was an attempt to eliminate tribal ownership of land and give individual “families” 160 acres of land to live on. The U.S. was hoping this would make the Indians live the American way and give up there Indian culture. This was very hard on the Indians and they did not let this be the way they made peace with the U.S. people. Then in 1924 the Snyder act was granted which gave the Indians their citizenship so that they could believe in their culture and own land. Blacks were not as open about there culture because it was passed on threw songs and stories. Most of them were all slaves so they had no understanding of there culture. It was passed on from the older slaves from Africa through many hours or stories and songs. The blacks were slaves and that meant they were considered property so they could not be as nearly open and free-spoken about the culture that they knew of.

People being forced off their land for gold and riches was very cruel and was the basis for the creation of the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act was created on May 28, 1830, by president Jackson. It stated that all southern Indian tribes were to be moved to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. Even though some Indians left peacefully some tribes had to leave with force. The Act of 1830 had a huge impact on all Indians. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South in order to gain access to lands inhabited by the five Indian tribes. On the other hand, the Indians weren’t very fond of this act and started to not like the Americans. The U.S government thought that the movement

During the Georgia Gold Rush, the land in Georgia was taken from the Cherokees. This meant the Indians would have to leave. In 1838, the infamous Trail of Tears took place to get rid of the Indians. They forced all of the Indians to get their stuff and leave. They were forced to march further west into America. Many Indians lost their lives on the Trail of Tears. All the land they were forced off of was distributed to the whites through a lottery.

As the population of the West soared and the prospects of statehood for western territories appeared clearer and clearer, the nation battled over the future of slavery in the West. This battle was one reason for the Civil War, which slowed the acceleration of expansion. However, the last three decades of the nineteenth century saw the return of accelerating expansion due to the successful struggle to contain the Plains Indians in reservations, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. By the

George Washington and Henry Knox decided that the only way the Indians would survive was for them to become civilized instead of savages. They made a treaty where the Indians could live on land purchased

At this time, General William Sherman ordered the capture of the Indians who were responsible. Force was met with force, leading to the start of wars between the United States and the Comanche

Not only was the railroad disturbing to hunting but this also made it much easier and cheaper bring out the military troops, their food and supplies. The troops were hired be the government to search out the Indians and get them to move off and sign over their land. One main land that the government and the Indians feuded over was the Black Hills. They were over run with new settlers because of the rumor of gold. The Indians went to the government to complain about the unwanted guest, but even though the treaty of 1868 had granted the Black Hills as Indian

Another key reason why Custer was defeated in the battle was that Custer had ignored warning from Indians scouts, who had told him not to attack, as the Indian tribe was bigger and more powerful. Custer ignored this information,

made everything able to travel. The Indians also used every single thing they could of

I watched this movie with my grandpa, who served in the Air Force for over 20 years. He didn’t fight in World War II, but he did see action in Vietnam. In one of the early scenes of the film, when Patton begins wearing his three star general stripes before his promotion is official, my grandfather remarked “Patton was one arrogant S.O.B.” He knows more about the man than I do, and he thinks it is an accurate portrayal and a good film. In this case, I agree with my grandpa.