Native Americans
- Fiche de cours
- Quiz
- Profs en ligne
- Videos
- Application mobile
Approfondir ses connaissances sur les Premières Nations.
- L'expansionnisme des colons blancs est à
l'origine de l'extermination d'une partie de la population
des Premières Nations. 3 phénomènes
précipitent le massacre de ces populations :
- la ruée vers l'or,
- la création de la ligne de chemin de fer transcontinental,
- la disparition du buffle.
- 100 000 Indiens Cherokees ont été déportés en 1839 afin d'accéder à l'or découvert sur leur territoire.
- Des chefs amérindiens comme Geronimo et Sitting Bull restent célèbres pour leur résistance face aux colons.
- Aujourd'hui la plupart des Amérindiens vivent dans des réserves. Mais leurs conditions de vie sont difficiles (chômage, pauvreté). Il est devenu très dur pour eux de préserver leurs traditions.
Native Americans were wrongly called "Indians" for hundreds of years. It was Christopher Columbus who called the people living in America "Indians" because he thought that he had discovered India. They must be referred to as Native Americans.
In 1656, the first reservation was set up in Virginia.
By 1840, more than 100,000 Native Americans had been deported West: when gold was discovered in Cherokee country (North Carolina), white settlers and the army invaded their territory and removed them to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-1839. Four thousand Cherokee Indians died of cold and exhaustion on the Trail of Tears.
After 1840,
three factors
speeded up the extermination of
the Native Americans:
- the Gold Rush to
California in
1848;
It attracted gold hunters. As they had to cross Indian
lands, the American army helped them reach the West
Coast killing Indians on their way.
- the transcontinental
railroad;
It was built from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- the end of the buffalo;
The buffalo was slaughtered. Since the Indians depended on its
meat, its skin to make clothes, thousands
of them died.
Native American chiefs like Geronimo and Sitting Bull fought against the white settlers.
![]() |
Doc. Geronimo |
Native Americans are US citizens and have the rights and responsibilities of any US citizen.
The Native Americans who live on reservations find it difficult to live the traditional life. Poverty is a serious problem. About 38 % of people who live on reservations are unemployed, compared with 6 % of the rest of the American society. Many tribes try to bring in money from outside.
Vous avez obtenu75%de bonnes réponses !