US.

Dakota War
How were the perspectives of the Settlers and the Native Americans different
before the war?
Author: Jeremy Welling
Overview: In this lesson, students will analyze sources to determine the differing perspectives of the
Dakota Natives and the White Settlers. They will then contrast the views in a written essay.
Grade Level: 6th Grade
Time: 1-2 class periods
Materials:
Anticipatory set- Native American propaganda
Document A- Manifest Destiny
Document B- The Fifth Annual Message
Document C- Minnesota Treaties
Document D- Big Eagle
Guiding Questions
Essay Rubric
Objectives
Students will read the documents and determine the differing perspectives of the Settlers and
Native Americans.
Students will use his information to construct an evidence based Essay contrasting the two
perspectives.
Minnesota Social Studies Benchmarks
MN Benchmark (6.4.4.19.3) - Explain reasons for the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862; compare and contrast
the perspectives of settlers and Dakota people before, during and after the war.
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1-
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2-
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source, provide
an accurate summary of
the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6-
Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or
similar topics, including which
details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards
D2.His.1.9--12.
Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique
circumstances of time and place
as well as broader historical contexts.
D2.His.5.9--12.
Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape peoples perspectives.
D2.His.11.9--12.
Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on
their maker, date, place
of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
D2.His.14.9--12.
Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
D2.His.16.9--12
Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into
a reasoned argument
about the past.

 D4.2.9--12.
Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or non--
linear), examples, and details
with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the
strengths and weaknesses of the
explanation given its purpose
Plan of Instruction
1. Show the anticipatory set images to the class and then have them get in groups of two.
Have them discuss questions like, how do these images portray Native Americans? After
that have them come back together as a large group and discuss what they came up
with. Make a list of their responses on the board.
a. Give students some background on the war talk about some of the causes of the
war like Americans not willing to pay money for the land we basically had taken
from the Natives. Also make sure to mention some of the anti- Indian policies we
had, like the Indian Removal Act which lead to the Native Americans being forced
to live on certain pieces of land so that there was room for white settlers to move
in.
2. Tell students that they are going to be analyzing the documents that you will hand out in
a specific way. Their job is to look at these documents and decide what they say about
the differing point of views of Native Americans and Settlers. Also address how the
documents might have made either party feel and how they depict the other side, be
sure to include that they need to use evidence from the text. Also introduce the central
question of, How were the perspectives of the Settlers and the Native Americans
different before the war?
3. Inform the students that they must read and analyze four documents and that they will
be writing an essay on the central question.
4. Distribute the documents and guiding questions.
5. Have the students get in groups of 3-4 and have them read and discuss documents A-D
and fill out the guiding questions that go along with them.
6. Come back together as one big group and discuss student answers to guiding question.
Review them with the class to make sure they have an understanding of what they read.
7. Reintroduce the central question How were the perspectives of the Settlers and the
Native Americans different before the war? State responses that might add to their
argument like the white people thought the Indians were savages and that the Indians at
first didnt view the white men as a threat and had even saved the lives of a few white
men. Note that they might have to take a different viewpoint to see both sides.
Evaluation
Students will write an essay attempting to answer the central question with a thesis and text based
evidence that supports that thesis to answer the central question. Use essay rubric found at the end to
assess the essays.
Bibliography:
Us History.org. "Manifest Destiny." U. S. History Online Texbook. Us History.org, 2008. Web.
12 Mar. 2016. http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp
Andrew Jackson: "Fifth Annual Message," December 3, 1833. Online by Gerhard Peters and
John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?
pid=29475.
Kaplan, Anne R., and Marilyn Ziebarth. Making Minnesota Territory, 1849-1858. St. Paul:
Minnesota Historical Society, 1999.
http://usdakotawar.org/history/treaties/minnesota-treaties
Linder, Douglass. "Big Eagle." The Dakota Conflict Trials of 1862. UMKC School of Law, 1999.
Web. 12 Mar. 2016. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/dakota/dakota.html

Anticipatory Set/Attention Grabber

Documents:

Document A: Manifest Destiny

Note: Manifest Destiny was a term coined by John OSulavan in 1806 to give a name to the excitement of westward expansion and
to drive Americans even further into thinking it was a great idea.

Many settlers believed that God himself blessed the growth of the American
nation. The Native Americans were considered heathens. By Christianizing the
tribes, American missionaries believed they could save souls and they became
among the first to cross the Mississippi River. Economic motives were paramount
for others. The fur trade had been dominated by European trading companies
since colonial times. German immigrant John Jacob Astor was one of the first
American entrepreneurs to challenge the Europeans. He became a millionaire in
the process. The desire for more land brought aspiring homesteaders to the
frontier. When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the number of migrants
increased even more.
At the heart of manifest destiny was the pervasive belief in American cultural and
racial superiority. Native Americans had long been perceived as inferior, and
efforts to "civilize" them had been widespread since the days of John Smith.
Vocabulary:

Hethan- a person who does not belong to a widely held religion. (Christianity, Judaism, Islam)

Document B: Fifth Annual Message

Note: This document was published long before the Dakota conflict, but it represents how some American settlers got their
viewpoint. This message is from President Andrew Jackson who harbored a large hatred for native Americans.

Our relations with the various Indian tribes have been undisturbed since the
termination of the difficulties growing out of the hostile aggressions of the Sac
and Fox Indians. Several treaties have been formed for the relinquishment of
territory to the United States and for the migration of the occupants of the region
assigned for their residence West of the Mississippi. Should these treaties be
ratified by the Senate, provision will have been made for the removal of almost
all the tribes remaining East of that river and for the termination of many difficult
and embarrassing questions arising out of their political condition.
It is to be hoped that those portions of two of the Southern tribes, which in that
event will present the only remaining difficulties, will realize the necessity of
emigration, and will speedily resort to it. My original convictions upon this
subject have been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and
experience is every day adding to their strength. That those tribes cannot exist
surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is
certain. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the
desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their
condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without

appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must
necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.
Vocabulary:
Emmigration- When someone leaves a country to settle in another one.

Document C: Treaties of 1851

Note: These treaties were designed to be fair at first, but the big wigs of American decided to not follow through on their bargain.
This lead to many other treaties not being fulfilled and eventually the start of the war.

1851: Minnesota became a territory in 1849. White settlers were eager to

establish homesteads on the fertile frontier. Pressured by traders and threatened
with military force, the Dakota were forced to cede nearly all their land in
Minnesota and eastern Dakota in the 1851 treaties of Traverse des
Sioux and Mendota. At Traverse des Sioux, the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of
the Dakota ceded 21 million acres for $1,665,000, or about 7.5 cents an acre. Of
that amount, $275,000 was set aside to pay debts claimed by traders and to
relocate the Dakota. Another $30,000 was allocated to establish schools and to
prepare the new reservation for the Dakota.
The U.S. government kept more than 80 percent of the money ($1,360,000), with
only the interest on the amount--at 5 percent for 50 years--paid to the Dakota. The
terms of the Mendota treaty with the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands of the
Dakota were similar, except that those payments were even smaller. The treaties
of 1851 also called for setting up reservations on both the north and south sides of
the Minnesota River. But the U.S. Senate changed the treaties by eliminating the
reservations and leaving the Dakota with no place to live. Congress required the
Dakota to approve this change before appropriating desperately needed cash and

goods. President Millard Fillmore agreed that the Dakota could live on the land
previously set aside for reservations, but only until it was needed for white
settlement.
Vocabulary:
Cede- To give up property or power.

Document D: Big Eagle

Note: This personal account is from Big Eagle a couple days into the war. That said, it sums up how most Dakota had felt they had
been cheated and disrespected by white settlers.

At this time my village was up on Crow creek, near Little Crow's. I did not have a very
large band -- not more than thirty or forty fighting men. Most of them were not for the war at
first, but nearly all got into it at last. A great many members of the other bands were like my
men; they took no par in the first movements, but afterward did. The next morning, when the
force started down to attack the agency, I went along. I did not lead my band, and I took no
part in the killing. I went to save the lives of two particular friends if I could. I think others
went for the same reason, for nearly every Indian had a friend that he did not want killed; of
course he did not care about anybody's elses friend. Little Crow was on the ground directing
operations. The day before, he had attended church there and listened closely to the sermon
and had shaken hands with everybody. So many Indians have lied about their saving the
lives of white people that I dislike to speak of what I did. But I did save the life of George H.
Spencer at the time of the massacre. I know that his friend, Chaska, has always had the credit
of that, but Spencer would have been a dead man in spite of Chaska if it had not been for me.
I asked Spencer about this once, but he said he was wounded at the time and so excited that
he could not remember what I did. The killing was nearly all done when I got there. Little
Crow was on the ground directing operations. The day before, he had attended church there
and listened closely to the sermon and had shaken hands with everybody. I was never present
when the white people were willfully murdered. I saw all the dead bodies at the agency. Mr.

Andrew Myrick, a trader, with an Indian wife, had refused some hungry Indians credit a short
time before when they asked him for provisions. He said to them; "Go and eat grass." Now
he was lying on the ground dead, with his mouth stuffed full of grass, and the Indians were
saying tauntingly: "Myrick is eating grass himself."
When I returned to my village that day I found that many of my band had
changed their minds about the war, and wanted to go into it. All the other
villagers were the same way. I was still of the belief that it was not best, but
I thought I must go with my band and my nation, and I said to my men that I
would lead them into the war, and we would all act like brave Dakotas and
do the best we could.

Graphic Organizer for Document Analysis

Document

Document
A

Document
B

Why was this source

published?

According to this source,

What does it say about
the Native American
Viewpoint, what does it
sat about the White
Settler Viewpoint?

What evidence
can
you find in
this source
to
support
this

claim?

Document
C

Document
D

Document
E

According to your investigation, what was the viewpoint of the Native Americans, what was
the viewpoint of the White Settlers.
1.

2.

Evaluation Essay Rubric

4=A
o Introductory paragraph has background information, a thesis and a roadmap that
introduces the
analytical categories to be developed.
o Body paragraphs are clearly organized and arranged in the order of the thesis
roadmap
o Body paragraphs contain topic sentences, transitional sentences and conclusion
sentences
o Uses information from ALL of the sources reviewed in class
o Includes citations when using evidence from sources
o Evidence and analysis are used in each body paragraph that supports the thesis.
o Demonstrates an analysis of close detail, synthesis and contextualization
o Essay is well written with few or no errors in sentence structure, spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization
3
Essay=B
o Same as 4, EXCEPT
o Essay uses a majority of the sources, but is unable to use ALL
o Central argument or analysis is missing from one of the body paragraphs
o Essay does not have the in--depth analysis required for a 4; some nuances, details,
contexts or syntheses were left unexplored in the argument.
o Is well written but includes some errors in grammar and spelling
2
Essay=C

o Addresses the question but lacks some focus

o Introductory paragraph is functional. Thesis statement is recognizable
o Main ideas are divided into body paragraphs
o References some of the documents, but there could easily be more
o Does not clearly explain how evidence answers the question
o Is generally written with complete sentences, but contains too many errors in verb
tense,
agreement, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization
1
Essay=D
o Unable to address the question
o Lacks a clear thesis
o Organization is unclear. Body paragraphs are not organized around a set of main
ideas.
o Makes references to few documents. Documents are often misunderstood
o Contains serious errors in sentences structure andmechanics
Adapted from: Brady, Chip and Roden, Phil. Mini--Qs in American History, Volume 1.
The
DBQ Project, 2009.