Early life
The Sioux was one of the first Native American tribes that came to the Central Plains in the Midwest.
What was the name of the first tribe that made a living in the Midwestern Region?
The European settlers built forts along waterways to be able to trade with Native Americans.
Why did the European settlers build forts along the waterways?
Jacques Marquette and Louis Juliet discovered the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan in 1673.
Who discovered the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan?
A frontier are the lands beyond the settlement.
What is a frontier?
The United States bought a huge territory from France. It was known as the Louisiana Purchase.
What happened in 1803 that helped the United States double in size?
The Sioux and the Lakota tribes had to adapt from traveling on canoes to riding horses because they later moved towards life in the Great Plains where there were less rivers and lakes.
How did tribes in the Midwest have to make changes in how they travelled? Why?
The Ohio River, Mississippi River, and The Great Lakes formed the boundaries of the Northwest territory.
What bodies of water formed the Central Plains when it became part of the United States in 1783?
Sieur de la Salle traveled down the Mississippi River to its mouth to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682.
Who traveled down the Mississippi River to its mouth to the Gulf of Mexico?
The pioneers chopped down trees to build log cabins and make space for growing corn and other crops.
Why did pioneers chop down trees?
The Homestead Act was a law that gave land to any head of a family who was over 21 years old and who would live on the land for five years.
What was the Homestead Act?
No, the people of the Sioux tribe did not live in permanent villages because they moved with the herds of buffalo.
Did the Sioux establish permanent villages to live in? Why?
The Northwest territory is the northern area of the Central Plains that became part of the United States in 1783.
What is The Northwest Territory?
French fur traders found St. Louis as they traveled in 1764.
What state did French fur traders find as they explored and traveled?
Pioneers hunted rabbits and deer.
What were other common animals pioneers hunted in the forests?
The closest neighbors were far away so pioneer families had to be self-sufficient and do everything on their own.
Why were pioneer self-sufficient people?
The people of the tribes in the Midwest used buffalo skin to make tepees, blankets, and clothing. The used their horns and bones to make tools, needles, utensils, and arrowheads for hunting.
Why was it important for the Native American tribes in the Midwest to hunt buffalo?
The leaders in the United States sent out workers to survey the territory and measure the size of the area.
Why did leaders send out workers to survey the land of the Northwest Territory?
Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable found the first permanent settlement in Chicago in 1784.
When was the first settlement in Chicago found?
Chief Tecumseh lead his tribal people to believe that they can fight against the settlers.
Who is Tecumseh? What did he do?
Pioneers had to build their shelters using sod-wet soil- because trees were scarce. They burned corncobs, straw, and manure for fire, and grew potatoes, beans, and corn on farms.They made mattresses from corn husks and straw. They dug wells and built windmills to for water supply.
How did the pioneers show their self-sufficiency?How did they establish a lifestyle in the Midwest region?
Tribes in the Central Plains depended on lakes and rivers as natural resources to fish and farm and tribes in the Great Plains depended on hunting buffalo for meat and making other necessities for their living.
How was life in the Central Plains different from life in the Great Plains? What natural resources do each depend on?
The government divided the land and into townships and then into 36 smaller areas that settlers can sell. They passed an ordinance of laws in 1787 to explain how states can become part of the land and how the government works.
How did the leaders in the Midwest divide the land and rule the people?
A historical map is a map that shows information about a place at a certain time in history.
What is a historical map?
Many Native Americans left the Northwest territory and moved out of the region because they lost most of their land to settlers and treaties.
Why did many Native Americans move out of the region?
From animals, pioneers were able to get milk, eggs, meat, and make candles, soap, hides, and clothing.
What did they depend on animals for?