US expansion · 1851-1890

The Plains wars and Little Bighorn

Treaties promised the Lakota the Black Hills. Then gold was found. Students follow the struggle for the Great Plains from Fort Laramie to Little Bighorn, see what the end of the bison meant, and ask how the story looks from the Plains nations' side.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1876 to AD 1890
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Treaties promised the Lakota the Black Hills. Then gold was found. Students follow the struggle for the Great Plains from Fort Laramie to Little Bighorn, see what the end of the bison meant, and ask how the story looks from the Plains nations' side.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain the Fort Laramie treaties and why they were broken.
  • Describe the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) and its leaders.
  • Explain how the destruction of the bison and the Dawes Act changed life for the Plains nations.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1876

The Great Plains

Open the map in 1876 and zoom in on the middle of the United States. Find the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. The plains between them were home to the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche and many others.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1876

The Black Hills

Type "Where are the Black Hills?" in Ask the atlas and zoom in. Why would a range of hills in the middle of the plains be both sacred and valuable?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1890

Wounded Knee, 1890

Zoom in on Pine Ridge, south-east of the Black Hills. On 29 December 1890 US soldiers killed about 250 or more Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek. How should such a place be remembered?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The 1868 treaty said the Black Hills belonged to the Lakota. Why did the US government break it?
  2. Little Bighorn was a great victory for the Plains nations. Why did it not save their lands?
  3. Bison gave food, clothing, tools and shelter. What happens to a people when its main source of life disappears?
  4. The Dawes Act gave families small plots and sold the rest. Why did that hurt nations that held land in common?
  5. In 1980 the US Supreme Court said the Black Hills were taken illegally. The Lakota have refused the money. Why?
4

Game round

10 min

No Plains leader is in Rule History. Play Abraham Lincoln, the closest ruler in time, then discuss: the presidents after him sent armies west and signed and broke treaties. What would a fair decision about the Black Hills have looked like in 1876?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.