Summary

Chapter 8, “Indian Country,” begins in 1860. By this time, six of the U.S. Army’s seven departments were stationed west of the Mississippi River and were largely employed in killing/displacing Natives. As President, Abraham Lincoln proposed further expansion into western lands, called ‘Indian Territory.’. Displaced Native nations had rebuilt their societies in these lands after being forcibly displaced there, and so several Native nations supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. However, during the war, many Native soldiers fighting for the Confederacy became disillusioned, and they defected to the Union. Also, a fighting force of Natives, freed African-American slaves, and some Anglo-Americans fought against the Confederacy in Oklahoma and Kansas. However, during the Civil War, the U.S. continued its campaign of violent aggression against Natives communities in the west. Meanwhile, U.S. civilians and businesses continued to expand into these newly stolen...