Sand Creek Massacre

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A Horrific and Immoral Massacre The Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, constituted a brutal massacre in United States History. This massacre is the most notorious event throughout the Indian Wars and contributed toward the expansion of the U.S involvement in the West. The event occurred on November 29th, 1864, when a combination of volunteer and federal troops conducted a surprise attack on an Indian village along Sand Creek. In the 1860s, American expansion westward was escalating immensely. The only territory remaining were the American Indians located in Colorado. A major driving force that sparked this massacre was the gold and silver rush that attracted white settlers to this region. This created a considerable amount of anger toward the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Involvement of U.S settlers in their land produced violence between both parties, however, after the Civil war violence intensified even more. Throughout this historical era, a series of wars continued with U.S expansion for the rest of 19th century, however, the battle of Sand Creek illustrated a disturbing massacre by the United States that could have been avoided. The United States involvement in the west caused conflict between white settlers and Indians because the Indian Territory shrunk tremendously. Their territory went from occupying four different states to just a small patch of land in Eastern Colorado. This event in history proved that the Indians were simply confused. Their intentions were to settle territorial occupancy with the United States in a non-violent manner. Throughout this time period the attitude of the general public of American’s was that the Indians should be wiped off the planet. This attitude is universal for American’s because they saw a major economical advantage in this certain territory. The economical opportunity for Americans through the gold and silver rush
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