Plate when he was president. The civil war. That dominated most of his attention. Underneath the surface of the civil war, some important events involving American Indians. Events that might make Abraham Lincoln a bit more of a problematic figure then he ordinarily is. Lets consider some major events that happened during his presidency. It was during his presidency dakota war of 1862 occurred. Conflict in the state of minnesota. Settlers and they faced the wrath. Culpritswn suspected trying and convicted. 303 men. Lincoln commuted the sentence on most of these individuals. Remains ing and what what remains americas largest mass execution. It was during the lincoln presidency that the navajo were made to endure the long walk. To a barren in new mexico. American soldiers burned crops, destroyed lifestyle, and sacked their homes. They suffered immensely from the lack of food, diseases and rate from other indians. It was during the lincoln presidency that one of the most atrocious episodes in u. S. Indian affairs occurred. That was the massacre of cheyenne at sand creek eastern colorado. On november 29, 1864, colorado volunteers burst upon a cheyenne village, killing over 270 natives, over two thirds of them women and children. Some terrible events indeed. Adhere to a buck stops here interpretation about lincoln that he has responsibility for these terrible events in American History . Or perhaps should we give him a pass. He had along his plate. Hes fighting the civil war, has a task defeating the confederacy. Perhaps some of these events out westward out of his control. Reflect onse events his stature . Lets wrestle with some of these questions in this class today. Growing up in the early 19th century, Abraham Lincoln must have formed impressions of American Indians. He lived in indiana and illinois shortly after the defeat. During a time in which numerous Indigenous People were facing increased pressure to give up their land and moved to the west. This happened during lincolns transformative years. Lincoln could not have been ignorant of these troubles. , lincolnbles erupted eagerly volunteered for military service. He was in fact elected captain of a militia unit. Military,rved in the he did not see much military action. He later recalled about his military career. It gave me more pleasure than i had ever have had since. Ive had a good many bloody struggles with mosquitoes. Did not see a live fighting indian. This was unlike lincolns grandfather, and the namesake, and suffered death from an indian attack after moving from virginia and kentucky virginia to kentucky in the early 1780s. Lincoln only mentioned this Family History in passing. It doesnt appear his willingness to engage in combat occurred due to a desire for revenge. Lincoln seems to have been driven by something more useful to him. A desire for perceived. After the black hawk war, he would use his perceived in the military to run for elected office, or state legislature in illinois. He lost. He would be involved in many other elections. Some he won, some he lost. The ultimate he won, the presidency. He was a member of the whig party. That was during the indian removals of the 1830s and 1840s. He seemed to say very little about indian removal. One thing he did say was a criticism of the democrats for being inefficient, or spending too much money on removals of groups like the cherokees and wars against the seminoles. Scott, theinfield military commander who oversaw the cherokee removal. Coming to his defense, Winfield Scott was actually a wig. He was ordered to oversee cherokee removal by president martin van buren. He came under scrutiny for his operations for being too lenient about the cherokees. He got criticized by the democrats. And abrahamuntered lincoln said of Winfield Scott that he was a noble hearted man and christian gentleman who did basically a good job and was no fool. There is very little in the documentary record to believe that Abraham Lincoln deviated much from widespread assumptions about American Indians and u. S. Indian removal policies. Policies of concentrating them on reservations, and insisting on their cultural transformation. Jumping ahead, when he is president , for example, he once told a visiting delegation of plains indians, this delegation that visited in march of 1863, Pay Attention to that date, march of 1863. He said to these native visitors, the paleface people are numerous and prosperous because they cultivate the earth, produce bread, and depend upon the products of the earth rather than wild game for a subsistence. This is the chief reason of the difference. But theres another. Although we are now engaged in a great war between one another. We are not as a race so much disposed to fight and kill one another as our red brother. I can only say that i can see no way in which your race is to become numerous and prosperous as the white race except living as they do by the cultivation of the earth. Of course this is in march of 1863. What is very ironic about the way he characterizes Indigenous Peoples . We were right on the cusp of the civil war and the expansion of slavery had numerous violent out bursts. Among white men. Prof. Kelton right. This is during the civil war. Tens of thousands of americans are dying in these horrendous battles and he is saying that indians are inherently warlike. So, left unsaid, in Abraham Lincolns words, is this idea that westward Development Must proceed. Lincoln is a proponent of manifest destiny, the great engine of destruction that bore down on native american people. Railroads, mines, he was all in favor of building railroads and bringing western resources into eastern markets, including the gold and silver of western minds that led to things like the genocide of california indians. And of course he was all in favor of white people being able to expand into the west and settle and carve up the land into forms. Into farms. In that degree he agreed with southerners that western devout and should that western development should continue. He disagreed with southerners is on the expansion of slavery. Lincoln of course believed as many northerners did that slavery should not be allowed to expand in the west. That it would be unfair competition from ordinary whites being able to make a living on western land area southerners as weve talked about before, they believed ardently in the expansion of slavery that if it did not expand it would die and their way of life would end. Southerners and northerners were part of this settler colonialist mentality that dominated america at the time. That western lane should become available, Indigenous People should be eliminated and the land should be developed by whites in the case of northerners with free labor. Or in the case of southerners, whites who owned africanamerican slaves employing slave labor. That is the root of the civil war. Who should get control of the western land . Slave owners or humble white folks . Indeed, much of the events that were going to talk about here, or very much part of the civil war. If the civil war was about furthering the expansion of slavery, or stopping the expansion of slavery. Onto whose land Indigenous People. These events are very much part of this larger american story of the civil war. The First Episode i want to talk about that lincoln played a direct role in is the dakota war of 1862. As i have talked about, the dakota belong to this larger group of people that outsiders call the sioux. This is due called themselves either dakota, the dakota, or dakota, depending on the dialects, which means the people. Sioux dide socalled move out onto the Western Plains and became fulltime buffalo hunters living in tepees and searching for buffalo in the west. A group remained in minnesota called themselves the dakota. They traded. First with the french, then the british, and the americans. Relations arede going on, when Indigenous People are giving items, beaver heights, buffalo hides, deer skins, to these newcomers, and the newcomers are giving them manufacturing goods, its not just about an economic transaction, what is that about . What is being built . Tension. Believe they have tense relations with these newcomers. By the 1840s, these relations began to break down. Dakotas ares, the tradeg in wild game to the traders. There falling into debt. This is all to the joy of us policymakers because its part of us policy which weve talked about, to purposely force Indigenous Peoples into that so they would have nothing left to sell but, everyone can see this, land. So the dakota signed a few treaties, including one in 1851 that gave up a large chunk of what is today the state of minnesota, leaving them a small sliver of land along the minnesota river. These treaties, as many of the treaties were, rife with problems. The dakota would be paid in annuities, yearly payments, but these annuities often would never reach the dakotas. They would go straight into the pockets of traders who claimed the dakota owed them for past debts. One episcopal bishop that became aware of these problems and this fraud going on declared that a nation that selling robbery would reap a harvest of blood. And of course he cannot be any more correct. Tensions got very intense in the summer of 1862. The dakotas who had adapted to euroamerican ways, some including going to church or becoming farmers, more full time farmers instead of hunting gathering and farming, wearing euroamerican clothing, and learning to speak english. But others had not of course. As i mentioned, the summer of 1862, the circumstances had grown very tense. They had grown tense because many dakotas were very hungry. Crops had not been as abundant as they had. The lack of land meant they lost access to traditional resources that would make up. They depended on these annuities to buy food. The federal government had not sent money to minnesota to pay the dakotas. Money they could have used to buy food. There was plenty of food and it was stored in a warehouse near the agency. When the dakotas approached the agent and asked for food, they were denied. One trader declared to the dakotas who didnt have money to pay for the food, declared to them, let them eat grass. Well, many dakotas had had enough. One of those individuals was the leader, little crow. Little crow had accommodated euroamerican and u. S. Civilization policy to a degree. He believed that the dakotas must change in order to survive on their land in minnesota, on their land. He had trouble becoming a farmer, becoming a christian, so he did not fully buy into the Civilization Program. He was looked upon as a brave leader and was approached by Young Warriors who had had enough and appealed to his valor that they must attack to drive the settlers out of their traditional hunting ground. And little crow reluctantly agreed. He agreed to lead the dakotas into war against the settlers. And indeed they attacked minnesota settler. Killed hundreds. Captured many others, and put minnesota citizens in a state of panic. The minnesota militia came in and counterattacked. The minnesota militia led by col. Henry sibley reached the dakota reservation and undertook the pursuit of little crow. The undertook the pursuit of little crow. Through the month of september, the forces chased the dakota northward. But the dakota could not mount much of a counter attack. It was mostly warriors who waged the war. The majority of the dakota did not want anything to do and tried to remain peaceful even surrendering to sibleys forces. In the end, little crow never had the unity that minnesotans believed he did. And he had few options, but to take the followers that remained and flee to the great plains. Friendly natives and most of the captives remain behind, as did a number of those who participated in the war but refused to go on to the baron plains. Sibleys forces surrounded the encampments. By october 3, sibley had 1200 dakotas under his control. Men were disarmed and tried by military commission. Warriors who simply admitted to being at one of the battles were determined guilty and even the death sentence. By november 4, 303 dakota men were sentenced to die. Think about it. 303 men were sentenced to die in one execution. Unlike military affairs in other places, lincoln played a more direct role in events in minnesota. He ordered general john pope to take command in the minnesota war and he indeed was willing to prosecute with brutal rigor. When he arrived in minnesota he informs sibley, it is my to exterminate the sioux if i have the power to do so and even if it requires a campaign lasting the whole of next year they are to be treated as maniacs or wild wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromises can be made. Harsh words indeed. Under folks orders, sibley, who had been elevated to the rank of record dear general, proved quite successful at bringing the dakota into submission. Pope expressed enthusiasm for the mass execution of those 303 men sentenced to die. Abraham lincoln thought otherwise. Upon receiving news of the upcoming executions, lincoln requested the transcript of the trials. He and his lawyers looked through these transcripts and he found that many of these men were sentenced on the flimsiest of evidence. And he pardoned or dismissed the executions of all but 39. But still, 39 were slated to die. The execution date was set for december 6. One more was pardoned and 38 were hung, marking the largest mass execution in us history. Now this marker is no longer there in minnesota to mark this event. You listen to a podcast you folks at home cannot see this but it says the little war on the prairie. It is the American Life podcast broadcast on november 23 of 2012. Can someone think about why minnesotans forgot about this . Thingse of the shopping for the people involved. They didnt even know this happened. Why . Opted out of history. [indiscernible] prof. Kelton ok. Logan makes a good point. Minnesota is still filling the sellers. Officials want people to come. You do not advertise and indian war to get able to come into his territory right . The recent history at the time would view this as a relatively heroic act given that they were seen as an enemy. It was a mode to preserve the manifest destiny reasoning at the time. Prof. Kelton ok. If it was talked about it all, it was talked about as a justified war. That time changes, and it seems not so complicated. People embracing the complexity and thinking about the complexity they simply chose to ignore. Very good. What about lincoln . Lincoln following the mass execution was still under great pressure from the minnesota congressional delegation and voters in minnesota. And theres an election coming up in 1864. Lincoln reduced the and theres an election coming up in 1864. He already angered the minnesotans. They wanted all 303 men to die. Lincoln had reduced the number. But lincoln did capitulate to the minnesotans by forcing even the friendly dakotas to be moved into the western planes. The dakotas were forced into the west. Not only the dakotas but also a group of people that had nothing to do with the war. The whole chumps, who lived in this southeastern corner of minnesota. Minnesotans wanted them gone as well. Lincoln has seen for the emancipation proclamation, he also signed the winnebago removal bill, the americans called the hochunks the winnebagos. This passed in february 1863 , stipulating in june 1863, the hochunk would be removed, and indeed they were in a grueling process where many died on their way or died arriving on their arriving on the desolate determination destination. Perhaps it could be said that lincoln was to the whole chunk is jackson was to the charities. What of little crow . He traveled about on the planes seeking allies that largely felt. At one point, tired and hungry he does come back into minnesota. Hes picking berries in a farmers field. The farmers son sees this man, didnt know who he was. Just knew he was a native person, and shot him. Killed him. Later, the farmer and the neighbors realized this was the infamous little crow. His body was mutilated and his remains would be put in the Minnesota Historical society where they would remain until 1971 until returned to a descendent. Heres a painting of the ho chunk. For them, lincoln is like jackson is to the cherokee. Another group forcibly removed from the homeland during lincolns administration were the did nate, the navajo. At the outset of the civil war, they were composed of many loosely allied bands and some are quite wealthy in terms of livestock. They raised sheep, they farmed, they grew corn and other did a considerable amount of rating. Raiding had been a considerable part of their economy. They , economy. They raided mexicans, livestock, for food, and rated into mexico as well. When the United States conquered and took half of mexico, now the united dates in harris what they saw as a problem, the raiding. They step up their actions to police Indigenous People during the civil war, particularly as the union depended on communication with california, a state. N state, a union particularly as gold was sent to the east to fund the civil war effort. Indian raids was the last thing the union army wanted so they sent in american soldiers to stop these rates. Here is the Navajo Nations homeland in the four Corners Region of southwestern United States. Kit carson was sent in to do something about the navajo raid s. What he did was order that the navajo must go to eastern new mexico to a place called Bosque Redondo hundreds of miles away. If they did not go they would be forced to go. Many did not want to go. So carson in 1863 and 1864 sent in troops to round up the navajo. He pursued scorched earth tactics, destroying what could be consumed so they would be starved into submission. Something he says very clearly in his own words. Indeed, they surrendered. Nearly 8000 and the best we can tell, the numbers vary. 8000 dineh were forced to march in an event they called the long walk. On the long walk of course, navajos died from exposure, diseases