Read Chapter 9 And Answer Two Critical Thinking Questions ✓ Solved

Read Chapter 9 and answer two Critical Thinking Questions (1

Read Chapter 9 and answer two Critical Thinking Questions (14 and 18) with at least 150 words each, identifying the question numbers and writing responses in your own words that reflect the textbook content. Then watch The West: Fight No More Forever (7:30–50:20) and answer: identify key historical figures (George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse); describe the impact of gold in the Black Hills; explain the terms of the Treaty of 1868 and how Native Americans viewed treaties; describe how the U.S. tried to obtain the Black Hills; state the size and mission of the U.S. military in the west; explain who served in the army and what life was like for soldiers; and summarize Rosebud Creek, Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass, and the U.S. response to Little Bighorn.

Paper For Above Instructions

Introduction

This paper answers two Critical Thinking Questions (14 and 18) from Chapter 9 and summarizes the guided documentary viewing of The West: Fight No More Forever (7:30–50:20). Answers reflect textbook themes on industrialization, class values, and the post–Civil War American West, incorporating historical scholarship and documentary evidence (Howe, 2007; Licht, 1995; PBS, 1996).

Question 14: Industrialization in the Northeast — Benefits, Problems, and Who Benefitted or Suffered

Industrialization in the Northeast brought dramatic economic growth, technological innovation, and expanded production capacities that helped the United States develop a national market economy (Licht, 1995). Benefits included increased employment opportunities in factories, improved availability of consumer goods, advances in transportation (canals, railroads), and the growth of cities that became centers of commerce and culture (Howe, 2007). Capital owners, industrialists, merchants, and many skilled workers benefitted from rising profits, new enterprises, and expanded markets (Licht, 1995).

However, industrialization also produced major problems. Rapid urban growth created overcrowded tenements, inadequate sanitation, and public health crises in industrial cities (Howe, 2007). Labor conditions in many factories were harsh: long hours, low wages, unsafe machinery, and minimal legal protections produced workplace injury and exploitation, especially among unskilled workers, women, and children (Licht, 1995). Environmental degradation from industry and transportation increased pollution in urban and riverine areas. Social tensions rose as immigrants and rural migrants competed for low-wage jobs, and class divisions hardened between wealthy industrialists and a growing working class (Howe, 2007).

Who benefited and who suffered? Business owners, investors, and many middle-class professionals gained wealth and social influence, while factory laborers, recent immigrants, indigenous peoples displaced by expansion, and some small artisans and farmers often suffered economic insecurity or displacement (Licht, 1995). Whether benefits outweighed problems depends on perspective: economically, industrialization accelerated national growth and improved material standards for many; socially and morally, the exploitation and urban crises it created demanded reform (Howe, 2007). Historians generally conclude that industrialization produced net long-term gains for national development but required significant social and political adjustments—labor organizing, public health reforms, and regulatory changes—to address its profound human costs (Licht, 1995; Foner, 2014).

Question 18: Middle-Class Values and Contrasts with Other Socioeconomic Groups

The nineteenth-century middle class developed a set of values shaped by commerce, domestic ideology, and Protestant moral norms. Central middle-class values included thrift, hard work, self-improvement, respectability, family-centered domesticity, and an emphasis on education and moral behavior (Howe, 2007). Middle-class households often embraced separate spheres ideology: men engaged in public work and business, while women managed the moral and domestic life of the home. This domestic ideal reinforced consumer patterns and supported schools, churches, and civic institutions that reflected middle-class priorities (Cohen, 2003).

These values differed markedly from those above and below them. Wealthy elites emphasized status, display, and control of capital, often valuing leisure, large-scale investment, and elite social networks rather than the middle-class ethic of modest improvement (Zunz, 1990). Conversely, the working class and the poor prioritized immediate economic survival, solidarity in labor communities, and practical skill sets; their daily lives often made the middle-class emphasis on domestic refinement and leisure unattainable (Licht, 1995). Immigrants and wage laborers frequently maintained cultural traditions that conflicted with middle-class norms, and they sometimes viewed middle-class moral judgments as condescending (Foner, 2014).

In short, middle-class values promoted social stability and civic institutions supportive of industrial capitalism, but they also reinforced class distinctions and often failed to account for the lived realities of wage-dependent families and marginalized groups (Howe, 2007).

Documentary Viewing: The West — Key Figures and Events

Key Historical Figures

The documentary highlights figures central to Plains conflict: George Armstrong Custer, a U.S. cavalry commander known for aggressive frontier campaigns; Sitting Bull, Lakota leader and spiritual figure who resisted U.S. encroachment; and Crazy Horse, a prominent Oglala Lakota war leader who fought to defend his people and lands (PBS, 1996; Utley, 1963).

Impact of Gold in the Black Hills

The Black Hills gold discoveries intensified U.S. pressure on Sioux lands, sparking an influx of miners and settlers that violated treaty guarantees and undermined Native subsistence and sovereignty (Brown, 1970). Gold accelerated military intervention and treaty abrogation as economic demand trumped prior legal agreements (National Archives, 1868).

Treaty of 1868: Terms and Native Perspectives

The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) granted the Great Sioux Reservation and recognized Native control of the Black Hills while promising annuities and reservation provisions (National Archives, 1868). Native Americans often viewed treaties as solemn, sacred agreements tied to land stewardship and intergroup obligations; in contrast, U.S. negotiators and local authorities sometimes treated treaties as temporary solutions subject to revision when economic interests intervened (DeMallie, 2001).

U.S. Attempts to Obtain the Black Hills

The U.S. government sought to obtain the Black Hills through pressured treaties, negotiations for land cessions, and ultimately by refusing to enforce treaty protections as miners flooded the area. Attempts included offers of purchase, diplomatic pressure, and later forced removal when cession was not voluntary (Brown, 1970).

Size, Mission, Composition, and Life in the U.S. Military West

The U.S. military presence in the West expanded after the Civil War, with regiments tasked to protect settlers, escort supply lines, and enforce federal policy. Troops were a mix of regulars and volunteer units; soldiers often endured harsh frontier life—poor supplies, long marches, isolation, and sporadic conflict—factors that affected discipline and morale (Utley, 1963).

Rosebud Creek, Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass, and U.S. Response

At Rosebud Creek (June 1876), combined Lakota and Northern Cheyenne forces engaged U.S. troops in a battle that delayed military columns. Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass (June 25–26, 1876) was a decisive Native victory against Custer’s immediate command, resulting from tactical misjudgments by Custer and strong Native coalition resistance (Library of Congress; American Battlefield Trust). The U.S. response included intensified military campaigns, increased troop deployments, punitive expeditions, and policies aimed at forcing Native surrender and confinement to reservations—measures that ultimately reduced Native autonomy (PBS, 1996; Utley, 1963).

Conclusion

Industrialization reshaped nineteenth-century America, producing both prosperity and social dislocation that required reforms to address labor and urban crises. Middle-class values promoted stability but marked class distinctions. In the West, gold, broken treaties, and military pressure produced violent conflict as Native nations resisted dispossession; documentary and archival sources confirm how economic motives and military force converged to transform Plains life (Howe, 2007; Brown, 1970; PBS, 1996).

References

  • Brown, D. (1970). Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
  • Cohen, L. (2003). A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Vintage. (Context on middle-class consumption and values)
  • DeMallie, R. J. (2001). "The Lakota Sioux: History and Culture." In The Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press.
  • Foner, E. (2014). Give Me Liberty!: An American History. W.W. Norton & Company. (Labor and social history synthesis)
  • Howe, D. W. (2007). What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. Oxford University Press.
  • Library of Congress. (n.d.). "Battle of Little Bighorn / Custer's Last Stand" primary and secondary materials. https://www.loc.gov/
  • Licht, W. (1995). Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • National Archives. (1868). Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). https://www.archives.gov/
  • PBS. (1996). The West: "Fight No More Forever." Documentary (Ken Burns et al.). https://www.pbs.org/
  • Utley, R. M. (1963). The Last Days of the Sioux Nation. Yale University Press.

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