In the 1862, many Americans began the move westward in hopes of new beginnings. However, majority of this land was already being occupied by Native Americans. The Natives became infuriated that the Americans were overtaking and ruining their land. This created tension between Natives and Americans. The ghost dance became a new hope for Indians as they believed it would help “stop the White Men”. On December 29, 1890, Native Americans were practicing the ghost dance in Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This had frigtened the Americans and as a result they called for help from the government. When the troops came, they attempted to disarm a Lakota man which led to shots being fired. This led to 150 of Lakotas being murdered in what's called the Wounded Knee Massacre. Natives were living in …show more content…
With this it was clear, Americans had taken over the Natives land. We had soon explored, claimed, and settled in all the land possible.
We had aquired all the land possible westward, which lead to the need for an expansion abroad. Frederick Jackson Turner was a strong believer that our fate laid in the phyical growth of our country. Turner believed that, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of settlement westward explained American development” (Roark 463). He believed that the biggest element of being a powerful country is having a large amount of land. This very idea intertwines into imperialism, the policy of extending the power of a nation by taking control of other territories. The Spanish American War had various causes, mainly to free cubans from spains control. However, as a result of the war we actually took control of Guam,