Minorities in the West: Chinese Exclusion Act, American Indians, and Latinos Topic 6.2 and 6.3 (Comparison) (jan 1, 1821 – 8h 20min, jun 6, 2026 y)

Description:

Chinese Exclusion Act:
- This banned all Chinese people from moving to the United States.
- This act was not lifted until 1965.

American Indians:
- In the 1830s, Andrew Jackson believed that the west of the Mississippi river was Native American land.
- In 1851, negotiations at Fort Laramie (Wyoming) and Fort Atkinson (Wisconsin) caused the federal government to put Native Americans on reservations.
- Most tribes refused to follow what the government said and continued to follow the buffalo.
- In the late 1800s, American Indians began to fight against the white settlers which led to the Indian Wars. The U.S. Army was responsible for several massacres.
- The tables turned during the Sioux War where Sioux fighters wiped out an entire army under the command of Captain William Fetterman.
- There was another round of treaties that tried to put Indians on more reservations promising no white people would settle on their land, but gold miners refused to stay off their land if gold was found there.
- The Indian Appropriation Act of 1871 ended the recognition of tribes as independent nations by the federal government.
- There were many battles between the Indians and the U.S. Army. The government violated treaties and they slaughtered the buffalo which ruined the way of life for Native Americans
- The Indians would resist control by starting the Ghost Dance Movement, but the U.S. government killed 200 American Indians in the Massacre of the Wounded Knee.
- Assimlationalists were inspired by the book, A Century of Dishonor (1881), by Helen Hunt Jackson (originally meant to create sympathy for Native Americans). Assimilationists advocated for formal education, job training, conversion to Christianity, and boarding schools where Native Americans were whitewashed.
- The Dawe's Act of 1887 was created which tribes were broken up, and Native Americans had to live the American Life and become "civilized" to get up to 160 acres of land

Latinos:
- Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Their trade and cultural exchange increased with the U.S.
- Mexican landowners in the Southwest and California were promised that they could keep their property rights and they were granted citizenship after the Mexican-American War.
- As more white people settled west, the land the Mexicans owned was sold or lost to the new settlers.
- Mexicans were then pushed into areas where everyone spoke Spanish
- Mexicans then moved throughout the west to find work. Many found jobs in Sugar beet fields, the mines of Colorado, and building the railroads.

Similarities:
- The U.S. government broke promises and treaties to both the Indians and the Latinos saying they would get their land, but then it would be sold off to white settlers.
- The white settlers, Native Americans, and Latinos were all fighting for the land in the west.
- The Chinese were treated horribly by the U.S. as well.

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