Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 15, 16 and 17. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.
1
Give the year of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)
2
Name the US army officer whose force was defeated at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)
3
Name three Plains Indian leaders present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876).
(Total for Question 3 is 3 marks)
4
State one reason why a combined force of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated Custer's force at the Little Bighorn (1876).
(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)
5
State one way in which the US government responded to the defeat at the Little Bighorn (1876).
(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)
6
Give the year of the Dawes Act (the General Allotment Act).
(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)
7
State one main term of the Dawes Act (1887).
(Total for Question 7 is 2 marks)
8
State one aim behind the Dawes Act (1887) and government policies such as boarding schools in this period.
(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)
9
Name the religious movement, begun by the Paiute prophet Wovoka and spreading among Plains nations including the Lakota from 1889-90, which promised renewal through ritual dance.
(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)
10
State one reason why the spread of the Ghost Dance movement alarmed US government and army officials in 1890.
(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)
11
Give the month and year in which the Lakota leader Sitting Bull was killed during an attempted arrest at Standing Rock.
(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)
12
Give the date, in December 1890, of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
(Total for Question 12 is 1 mark)
13
Explain two reasons why the US government tightened control over Plains Indian nations in the years after the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876).
(Total for Question 13 is 4 marks)
14
Describe two ways in which conditions on reservations in the late 1880s contributed to the spread of the Ghost Dance movement.
(Total for Question 14 is 4 marks)
15
Explain two consequences of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876).
(Total for Question 15 is 8 marks)
16
Write a narrative account analysing how the position of the Lakota changed between the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) and the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890).
You may use the following information in your answer: - the US military campaign and surrenders that followed the Little Bighorn in 1876-77 - the Dawes Act (1887) and the spread of the Ghost Dance movement (1889-90)
You should also use information of your own.
(Total for Question 16 is 8 marks)
17
Explain two of the following: (a) the importance of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) for US government policy towards the Plains Indians (b) the importance of the Dawes Act (1887) for the Plains Indians' way of life (c) the importance of the Ghost Dance movement for the events at Wounded Knee (1890)
You must answer on TWO parts.
(Total for Question 17 is 16 marks)
Mark scheme · EDX.ASU6 The American West, c1835-c1895: Conflicts and Conquest of the Later Period, 1876-1895
Question 1
B1 1876
Answer: 1876
Question 2
B1 Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer
Answer: Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer
Question 3
B1 Sitting Bull
B1 Crazy Horse
B1 Gall (accept also other named leaders present, such as Two Moons)
Answer: E.g. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Gall.
Question 4
B1 identifies a reason, e.g. the Plains Indian force gathered was unusually large, drawn from several nations camped together
B1 supporting detail, e.g. Custer divided his own smaller force and attacked without accurate knowledge of how many warriors he faced, leaving his detachment heavily outnumbered
Answer: An unusually large combined force of several nations was camped together, while Custer divided his smaller force and attacked without knowing how many warriors he faced.
Question 5
B1 identifies a response, e.g. the US army launched a much larger military campaign against the Lakota and their allies
B1 supporting detail, e.g. this sustained pressure led most remaining Lakota and Cheyenne bands, including Crazy Horse's band in 1877, to surrender or move onto reservations within about a year
Answer: The US army launched a larger campaign that forced most remaining Lakota and Cheyenne bands, including Crazy Horse's, to surrender within about a year.
Question 6
B1 1887
Answer: 1887
Question 7
B1 identifies a term, e.g. reservation land was divided into individual allotments, typically 160 acres, given to the head of each family
B1 supporting detail, e.g. land on a reservation not allotted to individuals in this way, considered 'surplus', could then be sold off, mostly to white settlers
Answer: Reservation land was divided into individual allotments (typically 160 acres per family), and remaining 'surplus' land could be sold off, mostly to white settlers.
Question 8
B1 identifies an aim, e.g. to encourage Plains Indians to adopt individual farming and land ownership like white settlers
B1 supporting detail, e.g. this was part of a wider assimilation policy intended to replace Plains Indian traditions, languages and communal landholding with white American customs
Answer: To encourage individual farming/land ownership as part of a wider policy of assimilation into white American customs.
Question 9
B1 the Ghost Dance movement
Answer: The Ghost Dance movement
Question 10
B1 identifies a reason, e.g. officials feared the movement's rapid spread and large gatherings could lead to renewed armed resistance
B1 supporting detail, e.g. this alarm led to an increased military presence on Lakota reservations and to attempts to arrest or control leaders associated with the movement
Answer: Officials feared large Ghost Dance gatherings could lead to renewed resistance, prompting increased military presence and attempts to control associated leaders.
Question 11
B1 December 1890
Answer: December 1890
Question 12
B1 29 December 1890
Answer: 29 December 1890
Question 13
B2 the scale of the defeat at the Little Bighorn was a serious blow to US military prestige, prompting a much larger and sustained military campaign intended to prevent any similar defeat and to force remaining free bands onto reservations
B2 once most Lakota and Cheyenne bands had surrendered by 1877, the US government pursued policies, such as the later Dawes Act (1887) and boarding schools, aimed at breaking up communal reservation life and encouraging individual farming and assimilation into white American customs
Answer: The military response to restore control after the Little Bighorn defeat, and later assimilation policies such as the Dawes Act and boarding schools, both tightened US control over Plains Indian nations.
Question 14
B2 by the late 1880s many Lakota families faced hunger and hardship on reservations, since the buffalo were gone and government rations were often reduced or unreliable, creating widespread despair
B2 the Ghost Dance, taught by the Paiute prophet Wovoka, offered a message of spiritual renewal and hope, including the promise of a restored way of life, which appealed strongly to communities experiencing severe loss and hardship, and it spread rapidly among Lakota bands from 1889-90
Answer: Hunger and hardship on reservations, caused by the loss of the buffalo and unreliable rations, created conditions in which the Ghost Dance's message of renewal and hope spread rapidly.
Question 15
Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two general consequences of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one consequence, supported by accurate detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two consequences of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two consequences in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the consequences connect.
Indicative content:
The scale of Custer's defeat shocked US public opinion and the US government, which responded by sending a much larger military force to the northern Plains, determined to prevent a similar defeat happening again.
The sustained military campaign that followed forced most remaining free Lakota and Cheyenne bands to surrender within about a year; Crazy Horse's band surrendered in May 1877, though Sitting Bull and some followers instead crossed into Canada for a time before eventually returning and surrendering in 1881.
The battle hardened US government policy towards the Plains Indians more generally, contributing to a harder line in later negotiations and to pressure that, within a few years, saw parts of the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, taken from Lakota control.
Even though it was a major Plains Indian victory at the time, the Little Bighorn came to mark, in the longer term, the beginning of the end of large-scale, organised Plains Indian military resistance to the US government.
Question 16
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, generalised statements, with little organisation or sense of change over time.
Level 2 (3-4): Some accurate knowledge is deployed, with limited organisation into a sequence; the account may be more a list of events than a developed narrative.
Level 3 (5-6): The account is organised and mostly coherent, and shows some analysis of how the situation changed, with accurate supporting detail.
Level 4 (7-8): The answer demonstrates a coherent, well-organised narrative that analyses connections between events across the period, showing clearly how the situation changed, fully supported by precise and accurate detail.
Indicative content:
In June 1876, a combined Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho force defeated Custer's 7th Cavalry detachment at the Little Bighorn, a major victory that provoked a much larger US military response.
Through the sustained campaign that followed, most remaining free Lakota and Cheyenne bands surrendered within about a year, including Crazy Horse's band in May 1877, ending large-scale organised Lakota military resistance and placing most Lakota on reservations under closer US government control.
In 1887 the Dawes Act began dividing reservation land into individual allotments and allowed 'surplus' land to be sold, mostly to white settlers, further reducing Lakota-held land and pursuing a wider policy of assimilation alongside institutions such as boarding schools.
By the late 1880s, hunger and hardship on reservations, worsened by the loss of the buffalo and unreliable government rations, created conditions in which the Ghost Dance movement, promising spiritual renewal, spread rapidly among Lakota bands from 1889-90, alarming US officials.
This growing alarm led to an increased military presence, the killing of Sitting Bull during an attempted arrest in December 1890, and, days later, the Wounded Knee Massacre, showing how far the Lakota's position had changed from a major military victory in 1876 to a position of severe hardship and loss of land and life by the end of 1890.
Question 17
Level 1 (1-4): For each part answered: identifies a general point of importance, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (5-8): For each part answered: begins to explain importance, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (9-12): For each part answered: explains importance clearly, supported by accurate and relevant detail, with some analysis of consequences.
Level 4 (13-16): For each part answered: explains importance in a well-developed, analytical way, fully supported by precise and accurate detail, showing clearly why the event or development mattered for the outcome named.
Indicative content:
(a) The Battle of the Little Bighorn was important because the scale of Custer's defeat provoked a much larger and more determined US military campaign, which within about a year forced the surrender of most remaining free Lakota and Cheyenne bands, marking a decisive turn towards US government control of the northern Plains.
(b) The Dawes Act was important because it broke up communal reservation landholding into individual allotments and allowed 'surplus' land to be sold off, significantly reducing the total land held by Plains Indian nations over time and pursuing an assimilation policy that undermined traditional social and economic structures.
(c) The Ghost Dance movement was important because its rapid spread among Lakota bands in 1889-90, offering a message of renewal in response to severe reservation hardship, alarmed US officials into increasing their military presence, a build-up of tension that led directly to the killing of Sitting Bull and, days later, to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
A strong answer on any two parts explains a clear causal chain from the event or policy named to its stated importance, using precise dates and detail, and presents the events as a matter of historical cause and consequence rather than as a justification for what occurred.