Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers

During the civil war, the slaves of america were freed. After hundreds of years of captivity, they were finally free and able to do whatever they pleased; or at least that's what they thought. A series of black codes and other restrictions were passed by many southern states. This means that they could only do certain things for work, like sharecropping or tenant farming. Many of these freemen opted out of these options and chose to be buffalo soldiers for the US army. These were regiments for the US army that usually fought the Native Americans in the west. In the west, land was becoming more and more precious. The United States were looking to expand, and the west was the best option for them. The only thing in their ways was the Native Americans. There were many battles that took place during this war, and the Buffalo Soldiers ultimately won. But the Americans claimed they were doing a good thing for the Native Americans, because they thought their ways were inferior to theirs. In the end. What the Americans did to take Native American land was an act of war, and not an attempt to actually make their lives better. 

The americans moved west after the civil war. They needed the land for various things such as natural products, gold, and crops. They used these newly freed slaves to fight the native americans who occupied the land. In the 1840’s-1860’s the Nez Perce moved to smaller reservations. Life as a Native American wouldn’t be the same ever again. In 1860, gold was discovered in the west. This caused an influx of easterners to move west as a way to make money. In the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Native Americans were able to fight of the Americans, surround them, and then won the battle. This was one of the only battles that they won. The Americans flooded the region with troops and defeated the Native Americans. Next came the Long March of the Nez Perce. During this march, half of the 400 Native Americans died. There was nothing they could do about it because the Americans over power the Native Americans. In 1887 the Dawes Act was passed, allotting certain parts of Native American land to the Native Americans. The things that America did were not good for the Native Americans at all. They fought them in more than 100 battles, made them move off their land, and killed countless numbers of their people. This was, in no way, trying to help the Native Americans. This was solely a way for them to take their land and utilize the gold and land that the Native Americans had. 

Carnegie and Rockefeller

After the civil war, industry boomed. The country that was once in shambles needed to turn around and become a powerful nation once again. There were businesses being created all the time, and the market was being flooded. Thus came Survival of the Fittest, in a business sense. The companies that didn't have the funds, the brains, and the power to stay alive and sell product during this time were eliminated. Along with this, the government took the Laissez Faire, which was the policy that they would leave the businesses alone. Corporations flourished because the companies needed money and the people wanted shares in these new, big, companies. Two men at the forefront of this movement were Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller. Some argued that they were robber-barons, a person that was unsportsmanlike. They bought out and destroyed rival companies, bribed government officials, created giant monopolies, and more. Others would say they were Captains of Industry, who were business leaders in the country. Carnegie and Rockefeller were Captains of Industry because they advanced the quality of business and product for American citizens.


Carnegie is a Captain of Industry for many reasons. First, he revolutionized the steel industry in America. He used the strategy of vertical integration, which means that he owned all aspects of the supply chain. This means that he can control the business from top to bottom, and this maximizes his profits. His steel industry in America eventually passed that of Britain. He also wrote the book Wealth, which was about the upper class Americans of the time. It was about proper etiquette, and more importantly what you should do with your wealth. He said that if you were wealthy, you should give back, to improve the quality of the community as a whole. This was important for him because he came from a very poor childhood, and he knew that giving back would help kids like he was when he was young. He gave millions to the advancing of education, the creation of public libraries, and promoting world peace. Because of the way he was able to get large amounts of steel for such a cheap price through his connections in England, he shut down most of the other steel manufacturers in America. In the end, Carnegie is a Captain of Industry because he created one of the largest businesses in America and he was able to give much of his profits back to charity as well.

Rockefeller was also a business leader in America. He started the Standard Oil Company, which became the biggest oil company in America at the time. He did this by buying up his rival companies and destroying them, giving himself a monopoly on the oil industry. Because he did this, he was able to make the price of oil much cheaper, (as there were no competitors) which was beneficial for the people of America. Many people were opposed to Rockefeller's ways of business. First, many people lost jobs when their companies were destroyed by Standard Oil Company. Also, it was frowned upon to use these tactics in business. With his great wealth, Rockefeller gave money for the advancements of education, medicine, and science. While many of Rockefeller's business tactics may seem like that of a robber baron, Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry because he grew into a business leader of America whose successful model of business gave Americans to have a cheaper source of oil.


Carnegie and Rockefeller

Freedom from Above or Below

In class we talked about the freeing of slaves. But how the slaves were freed, and who freed them is still not 100% credible to one person or a group person. Our question in this unit was "who really freed the slaves?" There are two sides to this. One is the higher power, the few people at the top of the social pyramid who have the power and ability to abolish slavery. But the other side is the numerous people at the bottom of the social pyramid, the slaves, or the lower class citizens. In class, we went over 4 documents that Lincoln wrote regarding slavery, including the Gettysburg address and the Emancipation Proclamation. More information on these can be found in the 2nd paragraph. We also watched some video clips about these documents and how they affected the nation. We looked at some pictures, such as the one below, that helped us understand the issue.



Freedom From Above
Abraham Lincoln is a great example of someone who shows his ability to help the anti slavery cause and help with freedom from above. The first example is the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln says "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Lincoln is telling the nation that he knew all along that the purpose for the war was to eliminate slavery. Even though it may not have seemed like it at first, it was the overall goal the entire time. Also, in the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln says "the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free..." Using his power, Lincoln is able to officially free the slaves. They can no longer be slaves, and have all of the rights that the white men have. Freedom from above is usually caused by a person of high power using his or her power to help the lower class citizens. In this case, Lincoln uses his executive power as president to free the slaves.

Freedom From Below
The slaves of the south wanted freedom, and they will take action to do so. In Document X, it says talks about a town that had been abandoned by the people living in it when Union soldiers came through it, but now there were freemen rummaging through the remains. Later during the war, another group of Union soldiers come through the town to find all of these freemen, and they were forced to take them along. Similarly, in Document Y, a large group of freemen come to a resting group of Union soldiers, and force themselves on the union soldiers. In both of these situations the slaves force themselves on the Union soldiers. While this may not have been best for the Union soldiers at the time, they were okay with it because it was their goal in the war to free the slaves and help the freemen.


My Opinion
I think, that in the end, freedom comes from below. While this may not always be the case, I think that it is this way most of the time. For example, in Baltimore, there were riots for weeks and weeks following police brutality. While this is still an ongoing issue, it made leaps and bounds towards a lessening of excessive police force in America. And this is because the people of Baltimore decided to do something about it. Instead of waiting for someone with power to come in and say something, the people did something to make change. I think it is this way most of the time because the few people at the top are often more worried about other matters, but when large issues are brought to their attention, they will usually act.