Lesson 1: Treaties and Civil War Context

This lesson will situate the Sand Creek Massacre within the broader context of Native American history and the Civil War. This lesson will describe important events and treaties leading up to the Sand Creek Massacre. By showing how the Civil War and Sand Creek Massacre are not simply simultaneous events, but part of an intertwined process of westward expansion, this lesson will demonstrate how Native American history is U.S. history, and students will be able to understand the context and importance of the following lesson plans on the Massacre and its consequences for U.S.- Indian relations. As historian Ari Kelman says, "We remember the Civil War as a war of liberation that freed four million slaves. But it also became a war of conquest to destroy and dispossess Native Americans.” Sand Creek, he adds, “is a bloody and mostly forgotten link” between the Civil War and the Plains Indian Wars that continued for 25 years after Appomattox." Included in this lesson are the Fort Laramie (link to the digital copy in Lesson Sources) and Fort Wise treaties, which can be used for analysis if students and teacher are already familiar with treaties. However, they are not essential to this lesson plan, but are included for your convenience.