The Sioux Uprising Of 1862

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The Sioux Uprising of 1862

“The Dakota Indians” also known as the Sioux gathered in small groups and used

temporary reservation as their homes in southwestern Minnesota. For almost two decades the

federal government, settlers, and traders treated this group poorly. Their land was whittled down

and the government was unable to fulfill provision promises. The worst is that they were

surrounded by white settlers. Life was difficult for the Sioux in the summer of 1862 after

cutworms hard destroyed their crops. Despite the efforts Sioux leaders made to convince traders

to help in ending the suffering by extending credit was rejected (Niderost)

. Sioux hunters

engaged a white settle in a fightafter stealing his eggs which led to killing of five family

members by this group. The aim of this paper is to cover the history of “The Sioux Uprising of

1862, talk about why the uprising occurred, and the impacts of the uprising.

The reason for the uprising can be linked with the series of “ill-advised treaties” that the

Indians had previously took part in around 1850s. The Sioux group surrendered almost twenty-

four million acres of their agricultural land that was later occupied by white settlers after a period

of three years. In exchange, the Sioux were to be given comparatively insubstantial money as

Niderost, E.The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862, 2016.

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well as annuities. The Sioux group was left with a portion that was still enough for them and the

“federal government” later established administrative Agency on the portion they had acquired

from the Sioux. White settlers began to pressure the federal government to allow settlement in

Dakota area. This led to Little Crow and an Indian agent to travel to Washington in order to

agree on some series of treaties. Santee settlement was further reduced after the signing of the

treaties. Little Crown was however hard in casting the treaty from a favorable light (Lass, pg. 46-

49)

White traders also played a big role in the Sioux uprising. They were the main source of

controversy and conflict in the period resulting to the uprising. In the beginning of 1851 traders

had raised a claim based on the essential portion money that belonged to Indian annuities.

Traders even went further to demand that they should directly be given the annuity money. Their

argument was that through this money they could take what the Indians owed them and distribute

the remaining amount. But, in reality the traders came up with vague claims the left little or no

cash for the Sioux settlers. The delay of paying annuity worsened the war between the

Confederacy and the Union, thus causing the great “Sioux Uprising of 1862” (Henig and Gelad,

pg. 107)

. Hungry Sioux men in desperate of food forced their way into a storehouse belonging

to a government agency to take food related staffs and some Sioux men had attacked and killed

white settlers in Robinson Jones home.The fear that white settlers will react to the killing

contributed to the formation of an arming as a way to protect their lives, thus leading to war.

Lass, W.E. Histories of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862, 2014.

Henig, G.T. & Gerald, S.H.A Neglected Cause of the Sioux Uprising, Vol. 45(3), 2018.

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Also the massacre that occurred at Redwood post contributed to the uprising of Sioux. Therefore,

financial pressure, hunger, and Redwood Post massacre contributed to the Sioux uprising.

The Sioux uprising brought terror especially to white settlers who had not prepared for

the war. The Sioux stroke suddenly and begun to kill white settlers at Redwood Post which

resulted to lose of life among white settlers. The Sioux warriors also known as Dakota separated

to different groups and begun to shoot any white settler they encountered. The uprising brought

pain to many white settlers because of the torture from this group. For instance, Myrick was

tortured before being killed by the Sioux members. Also, it led to destruction of property. The

Sioux burnt down some houses that belonged to white settlers after looting the building. Shading

of blood continued throughout the countryside as Sioux warriors wiped out many homesteads

that belonged to white settlers. The Sioux warriors used either bullets or hatchets to conduct

killing. Economic activities and business that were owned by white settlers collapsed as the

community was no longer safer for any of these activities. Many white settlers fled for their lives

ignoring the land that had been initially been occupied by them. However, this group was finally

stopped as Sioux warriors were given a death sentence. Dakota warriors were later sentenced at

Mankato Minnesota, thus becoming the largest mass sentence in the history of America

(Martinez, pg. 2-5)

In conclusion, the Sioux uprising was influenced by various factors and led to killing,

property destruction, and the economy was affected too. The Sioux did not like the fact they

Martinez, D. Remembering the Third-Eight: Abraham Lincoln, the Dakota and the U.S. War on

Barbarism, Vol. 28(2), 2013.

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were being mistreated and denied access to what they believed they owned. White settlers made

money from their resources and yet did not honor them. Instead they made life difficult for them

leaving them to hunger when their crops were attacked by cutworms. For almost two decades the

federal government, settlers, and traders treated the group poorly. Their land was whittled down

and the government was unable to fulfill provision promises. The worst is they were surrounded

by white settlers. All of these factors contributed to the Sioux uprising in 1862.

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Bibliography

Niderost, E.The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862, 2016.

Lass, W.E. Histories of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862, 2014.

Henig, G.T. &Gerald, S.H.A Neglected Cause of the Sioux Uprising, Vol. 45(3), 2018.

Martinez, D. Remembering the Third-Eight: Abraham Lincoln, the Dakota and the U.S. War on

Barbarism, Vol. 28(2), 2013.

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