An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People

Introduction-Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (Introduction)

2. 3 million (Introduction)

3. Mesoamerica, the Andes, and eastern North America (Chapter 1)

4. Corn (Chapter 1)

Short Answer

1. Europeans traveled to the Western Hemisphere in search of freedom and a better life. This is known as the Doctrine of Discovery. (Introduction)

2. These cultural artifacts portray Indigenous people as dead or defeated, when in fact they are still a sizable population that continues to resist settler colonialism. (Introduction)

3. Early European peasants were encouraged by Pope Urban II and other leaders to go to war against Muslim nations, seeking power and gold as a symbol of wealth. These conditions led peasants to adopt a “culture of conquest,” having them seek out status by pillaging and plundering foreign lands. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 3-5

Reading Check

1. Cultists (Chapter 3)

2. 1630 (Chapter 3)

3. Irregular warfare (Chapter 4)

4. 1783 (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. The Ulster Scots are an ethnic group from the province of Ulster in Ireland, and much of the United States’ political and expansionist forces are traceable to the Ulster Scots who colonized Northern Ireland. (Chapter 3)

2. It was a decree by King George III that forbade settlers from expanding into Shawnee and other Indigenous lands. (Chapter 4)

3. George Washington was known as “Conotocarious” or “Town Destroyer,” because he encouraged merciless action against the inhabitants of the Ohio Valley. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 6-8

Reading Check

1. Roughly 828,000 square miles (Chapter 6)

2. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 (Chapter 6)

3. Spain (Chapter 7)

4. 1847 (Chapter 7)

5. Buffalo hunting (Chapter 8)

Short Answer

1. The Sauk Nation attempted to reclaim their homeland in present-day Illinois, but militias and federal troops forced them back into an Iowa reservation after four months of fighting. (Chapter 6)

2. They portrayed American conquest in a romantic light. They also upheld the Manifest Destiny and justified replacement of Indigenous populations. (Chapter 7)

3. The Black Hills were sacred land to the Great Sioux and therefore protected by federal treaties. When Custer found gold, it spurred an influx of treaty-breaking gold-hunters coming into the region. (Chapter 8)

Chapter 9-Conclusion

Reading Check

1. American exceptionalism (Chapter 9)

2. The Indian Civilization Act of 1819 (Chapter 9)

3. Belva Cottier (Chapter 10)

4. The Sacred Stone Camp (Conclusion)

Short Answer

1. The battle over the 1872 Yellowstone Park Act; the battle over the Pueblo Lands Act of 1924; the 1946 Indian Claims Court and Indian Claims Commission (Chapter 9)

2. Cell phones and social media allowed the Standing Rock group to document the situation and to disprove the narrative pushed by the Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), one of the operators of the pipeline. It also allowed them to gain a critical mass and rally support from individuals nationwide. (Conclusion)