The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II

The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II by David Nasaw

In my mind, American history went from the Great Depression to World War II to the 1950s. This misses out on an entire half-decade of history in the late 1940s. This was a time of transition from active combat to peacemaking and rebuilding abroad. Millions of troops also had to be returned home and reintegrated in society. Those at home had to rapidly adjust to the many changes. This was not an easy process. Just the logistics of getting troops home was a huge challenge. The troops also suffered from many physical and mental injuries. The mental part was barely understood and people were often expected to just get over the trauma. Southern black troops had to return from places where they were considered normal people to places were they were treated as sub-humans. Families had big adjustments as people that were gone for years are now back home. There were significant divorces and challenges adjusting to this new reality.

The book can get a little confusing as it pivots from discussing conditions as they were experienced at the time to reanalysis of conditions based on modern understanding. However, it did bring out some interesting points. Family life was starting to disintegrate. The seeds of the 1960's civil rights movement and counterculture appear to have been sewn during the war. The southerners still held significant influence as they tried to maintain their white supremacy. The many veterans benefits were actually a compromise. There was a desire to extend many of these programs to everyone, but this was quashed in part to appease the south. Black veterans supposedly had access to these programs. However, states controlled implementation leaving those in the south with little opportunity. Nearly a century after the civil war, the experience of slavery was still spreading its claws. 

The post war boom was also not something that was expected. Many expected a recession after the war. It was hard to find jobs for those returning. Most women returned to the home (often willingly), freeing up jobs for returning veterans. Veterans were supposed to be entitled to their previous job. They also received benefits such as tuition coverage and living allowance or unemployment benefits.  (These plans were slowly rolled out and changed over time. Initially, only those that were in school could get college help, but later it was expanded to everyone for 4 years of school.) There was post-war labor unrest that eventually calmed down and led to the post-war boom. There were huge shortages of housing after the war. It took a few tries before a boom in production took place. The divorce boom preceded the baby boom. The path from the end of hostilities to economic boom was far from foreordained, with many veterans suffering in both the short and long term.

Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution

Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood

This book explores the background under which the US constitution was created. The time was different from today (and what we think of back then.) Land was abundant. Concepts of "representation" were different from what we have today. Travel was difficult. The colonies were all fairly independent. The results that were created were only done after significant compromise. The discussions on slavery were especially interesting. Prior to the time, it was fairly common for people to "own" other people and have the ability to trade their contracts, whether they be short term or long term. Indentured servitude was a primary means that people used to come to America. Lifetime generational slavery was on its way out. It was even falling out of favor in places like Virginia. The writers of the constitution didn't even mention it. I wonder what would have happened if they did not use the 3/5 compromise to attract the south? Would they have simply stayed on their own?

A Nation Without Borders: The United States and Its World in an Age of Civil Wars, 1830-1910

A Nation Without Borders: The United States and Its World in an Age of Civil Wars, 1830-1910 by Steven Hahn

From 1830 to 1910, the United States underwent great changes. At the start it was mostly a small agglomeration of rural residents that valued their independence. After many conflicts, the Us emerged in the early 20th century as a unified country that was a significant player on the international stage.

This book is a focussed, yet broad history. There are many histories of small periods, such as the civil war. There are also many covering the entire history of the United States. This focus of an extended time of change is much more rare. There is probably a reason why. This book feels like it is telling a number of different stories without a strong theme tying things together. The author tries, but a theme of "change" is a little tough. In some ways it is a Civil War book, with clear context of the history leading to the war as well as the results after the war.

Ashes (Seeds of America Book 3)

Ashes (Seeds of America Book 3) by Laurie Halse Anderson

The historical fiction tale of the American Revolution continues with the battle of Yorktown. The former slaves all get together and set out from the south back to Rhode Island. It was not an easy task. The protagonist's sister, Ruth does not want to go with her. She does not admit to having a sister anymore. She feels she is in a good area and likes the people. We later learn that she had thought her sister pushed her away. Ruth also has a friend that is fighting on the British side.

They end up in Yorktown and participate in the end of the Revolutionary War first. The girls try to find employment, but can't do that. Later they find out that the protagonist's friend had said that she were his wife. Things are a bit awkward, but that does get them a chance to have a job.

The former slaves do have some challenging loyalty concerns. The rebels are fighting for freedom. Is this freedom for blacks too? Which side will help them the most? Rhode Island has promised freedom for those that enlist. However, in the south, people can make free papers disappear, resulting in them being enslaved again. The book ends on a happy note of freedom, but will it last? The book has historical aspects to it, but sometimes feels more "forrest gump" in that they happen to stumble in to key events.

May B.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

The author claimed this was influenced by the Little House on the Prairie books. May B. wants to be a teacher, but she has dyslexia and has trouble with reading and writing. She takes a job as a servant for a family that is moving out to the frontier (in the 1800s, this is Kansas). The family works on the house. The wife doesn't like it. She says she is going to go for a visit, but she leaves a note saying she is going to go find a way to take the train back home. Her husband goes out to find her. May B. is left alone. They don't come back. She survives on what remains and tries to live on her own. It is a short book that tells a story of the frontier and isolation.

Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness

Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness by W. Paul Reeve

Mormons today are viewed as being very "white". in the past they were viewed as being of an inferior race (even as they were "whiter" then than they are today.) This book explores the odd injection of "race" within non-genetic areas. It uses the cartoon of "Elder Berry" and his multi-racial offspring to explore the view of Mormons to the American public.

At first the religion was viewed as "different" than other mainline protestant religions. The different beliefs and practices resulted in a shunning. There were also economic and political implications as Mormons occupied land and tended to vote as a block. Later they adopted polygamy which gave people more ammunition for haring them. They were viewed as a degenerate people that had evolved backwards. They were lumped with blacks and other minorities as being "inferior".

The church dropped polygamy and Utah became a state. Then they moved to become more acceptable to "white America". The role of blacks in the priesthood was reduced, with the "seed of Cain" doctrine used to prevent blacks from holding the priesthood. The book explores much of the history of the arguments used. (There seemed to be a lot of hearsay and selective sources.) Eventually, the LDS church was seen as being very white. It finally achieved the goal of "whiteness" just as whiteness was going out of style in the civil rights era. Now the church has enabled everyone in leadership positions and is widespread throughout the world. It celebrates mixed marriages. Yet, it fights the perception that it is just a "white" church.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough

Much of the pioneers focuses on the early inhabitants of Marietta, Ohio. This was the first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territories. The people there were idealistic and hard working. They did not want to allow slaves in the area. This is compared to other areas south of the river that tended to be less desirable. The people founded a university nearby, and gave the town a name of Ohio. They had preferences for different areas. The book attempts to paint a wide picture by using a very narow focus.

Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map

Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map by Stephen Yafa

Cotton was a key player in the industrial revolution and the early history of the United States. The English liked cotton fabric more than the native wool. It came from India and took the country by storm. However, the Indians had the climate to grow it and the skill to transform it to cloth and clothing. Some enterprising Brits worked to learn some of the secrets. Then they worked to make them better. They were able to develop machinery to automate some of the processes. This machines made things much more efficient, but still required many workers. At first, the giant mills were set up by a water source. Later, coal-power allowed them to be anywhere. They helped usher in the industrial revolution. This also led to huge amounts of pollution as well as horrible labor conditions, with child and adult labor.

At first these mills would require cotton from India. However, the American south had a good climate for growing cotton. This had been going along, but was not able to compete well. Plantation slavery could have been on its way out. Then the cotton gin was invented, and things kicked off. Great plantations with many slaves could earn great money - as long as the conditions were right. At first all of this cotton was shipped off to England (via the north.) Then the New England mills were built up. These were built as more "enlightened towns" that treated their employees much better than the English factories. 

The northern factories would initially turn a blind eye towards the slavery in the south. However, as more atrocities became known, that became untenable, and even the mill owners turned into abolitionists. This led to the Civil War. The Cotton interests on both sides expected this to be a quick skirmish before returning to business as usual. The south also had hope that they could bypass the north and sell cotton directly to English. Alas, all sides were wrong. England was reluctant to publicly side with pro-slavery interests and the war went on for multiple years. It took cotton some time to recover.

After the war, cotton returned, but looked different. Textile mills migrated from the northeast to the south. Slave plantations were replaced by sharecroppers and hired labor. Then the boll weevil hit. This best decimated cotton fields. The attempts to eliminate decimated the environment. Cotton still consumes huge amounts of pesticides - even with cotton genetically engineered to be pest and herbicide resistant.

The book starts with a chronological narrative of cotton's history then breaks to explore some key areas of content. There is a discussion on the history of blue jeans and how they played a key role in clothing and culture. There is also discussion of pests, pesticides and organic. It felt we were going back in time to explore cotton from a different angle. The author does fill the book with sly insights and bits of humor. He also makes it personal, tying it to his experience in the early mill town, Lowell, Massachusetts and his buddy Paul Tsongas.

Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods

 Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods by Sarah Lohman

There are a lot of foods that are "endangered" because they are not being produced or consumed much anymore. This book covers a number of those foods in the USA. One case is a different breed of peanuts. It was popular, but has been all but taken over by the common one. There have been attempts to bring it back. However, in the early stages, it costs much more than regular peanuts, and thus has been slow to be adopted. Other stories are of animals and other foods that are "non-commercial" in nature and endangered.

American History Stories: 200 Elementary Stories of American History

American History Stories: 200 Elementary Stories of American History ​by Mara L. Pratt

This stories from the history of America were written over a century ago. It is quickly obvious with sentiments that differ from modern views. It starts with Columbus shown as the one person who thought the world was round, while others thought it was flat.

The Civil War was discussed with a balanced, yet modern approach. While the Confederate officers were treated with respect, they were lamented for supporting the "evil" cause of slavery. The book also made clear there were many people at the time that would have preferred not to have a war, and just let the south separate. The southerners were seen as being loyal primarily to their state, while the northerners were loyal first to their country. Even with those loyalties it was only through some subterfuge that some states were able to overcome popular opinion and secede.

Even with the anti-slavery slant, the black slaves, were seen as somewhat inferior. Though those was in part due to the prohibitions on education. Slave holders were not uniform. Some were kind and treated slaves as part of the household. (The author compared these slaves to household servants of the day.) Others were absolutely cruel. The different military leaders were also different in their view. Some might free slaves, while others might flog them for attempting to escape. The book also tells the story of a leader who did not believe the cruelty in Uncle Tom's Cabin, until he saw how things were in New Orleans. 

It is interesting to read the history as seen by people who more closely lived it.

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

American Nations postulates the history of the United States as explained by a group of 11 rival nations. Each nation has its distinct characteristics and origin.

The "Deep South" was started by immigrants from the Barbados who brought the slave culture. They tended to be people that liked to look down on others with a strong hierarchy. Tidewater was a more conservative nobelist culture. These were people that considered themselves elite. They had indentured servants and later adopted slavery. Appalachia was the much more independent group of "southerners". They occupied the most hostile territory. They wanted to be independent and left alone. These groups had very different outlooks, but become more aligned during the reconstruction era. 

El Norte is the region around the US/Mexican border. They are more aligned with their own region than with the US or Mexico. New France is another enclave of French, primarily in Quebec and Louisiana. New Netherlands was originally in the New York area. Despite the short Dutch occupation, the Dutch cultural values remain today. Yankeedom was dominated by Puritans, while the Midlands had Quaker influence. The First Nations were the people already on the continent before the Europeans. Finally there were the Far West and Left Coast which were primarily populated by other groups.

These different groups have spread out to other parts of the country. Populations have been moving about to other parts of the country. Many of the conflicts in the country can be traced to different worldviews among the different groups. The alliances among groups also shift, with groups aligning on different issues at idfferent times. 

Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood

Union is a book about slavery in the civil war, without focussing on slavery. The focus is instead on a few key "influencers" of the time. 

William Gilmore Simms was a popular southern novelist before the Civil War. He was very pro-slavery and pro-South Carolina. He was later "cancelled" because of these views.

George Bancroft was a historian that originated many of the "myths" we have of the early history of our country. He later served in the national government. He did not think much of Lincoln when he first met him.

Frederick Douglas was born into slavery, but learned to read. He became famous on the abolitionist circuit. He at times was stuck "doing the will" of others, but did manage to be "independent" and focus on his core ideals. He was even appointed to US government offices.

Woodrow Wilson is treated the most negatively. He was a southerner, and was often a traitor to the cause of the blacks that supported him. He led to Jim-Crowification of the national government. His League of Nations failed to be achieve its desired results in part because of the reluctance to treat all races as evil. His scholarship is criticised as being lazy and unoriginal. 

Frederick Jackson Turner supported the "frontier thesis". The frontier helped to mold the common American identity. The challenges involved helped to unify a diverse population. Alas, this could also explain the disunity. Without a western frontier, there is not the strong unifying force that had previously existed.

Thomas Dixon, Jr. wrote a novel glorifying the KKK. The organization had briefly lived after the Civil War. But had pretty much become extinct. D.W. Griffith would buy the book to make a movie, Birth of a Nation. The film was very controversial at the time. It glorified the south and the Klan. Southerners would use this as an example for the resurrection of the clan. The movie was one of the first "full length" motion pictures and had extremely high production values. 

There were various infighting at the time. Many states still had allegiance to their state first and foremost. (Somewhat similar to the EU of today.) There were desires to expand the US into all of North America. There were organizations advocating voting rights for all races as well as for women, with conflicts among the groups. The northerners wanted to "force" the south to do integrate, but that would require a wholesale change in the culture. With a wholesale change, some resorted to mob violence. There were also many northerners who behaved badly in trying to get the south to behave. 

The Nineties: A Book

In the 90s, the Internet made great headways in culture. Before the internet, it was normal to just not know things. You couldn't easily look something up, especially if it happened relatively recently. There could be a communal remembrance of the "wrong" fact. With the internet it became much easier to find obscure facts. 

Growth in technology also allowed for a move from a populist culture to more niches. Blockbuster and video rental stores allowed for even the most obscure foreign movies to be watched in small towns. Compact discs helped enable independent music to have a more widespread footprint. Online music stores made it easy to find almost any music. Then Napster came around and made it easy to get a desired song for free,

Decades don't necessarily fit into their chronological time period. The 90s pretty much started with Nirvana's Nevermind, and ended with the twin towers. Nevermind was not the most popular album (Many other albums by artists such as Shania Twain, Metallica and Backstreet Boys sold more copies.) However, it espoused the ethos of the 1990s. Being "real" was important. You could be famous as long as you didn't want to be famous. The pop culture mentality of the 90s took on personal responsibility for your condition but didn't do anything about it. The world is falling apart and you are miserable. Oh well. You will not do anything about it. Even the best-selling artist of the decade, Garth Brooks, expressed this "authenticity". He was himself and made music that he liked - it just happened to be very popular.

The books is a series of interrelated essays about the 90s and the "Generation-X" that inhabited them. (Included is a discussion of the book Generation-X and how it came to signify an entire group.) The generation is smaller than the one before and after it. There are many parts of the "mythos" of the 90s that don't match the lived experience. That is all part of how our "remembrance" of things in the past is colored by our future experiences.

John Adams

John Adams was the second president of United States. He also played a key role in the American revolution. His son would eventually become president. Yet, his accomplishments have been largely forgotten. Washington and Jefferson (the first and third presidents) both have memorials in Washington, D.C. Even Madison (#4) has a building. Adams does not.

He was more of an intellectual president than the others. He prized honesty and being true to his principles above political expediency. Sometimes, this would get him in trouble. He spent a long time arguing about titles, and is known for signing the "Alien and Sedition" act as part of the quasi-war with France. His behind-the-scenes accomplishments do not tend to get as much attention. He helped for the measured advocacy of the American revolution. He was for equality of opportunity for all men and did not own slaves. He served as a representative with France and the Netherlands helping to gain international support for the nascent state. He would later broker a peace with France (that helped enable to Louisiana Purchase.)

Adams left behind a huge volume of personal correspondence. He wrote regularly to his wife and to many friends. He sought to repair his relationship with Jefferson and they ended life on good terms (with both dying on the Fourth of July.) 

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

The French were feeling invincible after completing the Suez Canal. They thought they could complete the same success in Panama. Little did they know that the jungle is very different from the desert. The leader of the effort was strongly opinionated and forced the matter of a Panama canal regardless of the potential merits of Nicaragua. There was a strong desire by the general public to invest in the canal and the initial team probably sold themselves short in paying to drum up business and not taking in enough capital.

The French effort eventually failed. Yellow Fever and Malaria killed off many workers. (Mosquitos were not fully understood to be the carriers.) The terrain was much more difficult than anticipated. Progress was slow. The shenanigans to get funding also came back to light. The effort eventually went belly up.

The United States had initially been strongly in favor of a Nicaragua. After the French fiasco, there was little desire to restart work on a canal. Teddy Roosevelt changed that. This time Panama actually won on merit.  However, there was a (false) sense that Columbia was trying to extort the US. There had been a fomenting Panama secession movement. The US felt no problem supporting this (even as they and Columbia were allies.) The United States ended up with a fairly one-sided treaty with Panama. Columbia lost valuable territory. And Panama had its independence and a nice source of income.

The US picked up the French assets and resumed canal construction. Effort were made to eradicate disease carrying mosquitoes in order to preserve the health of workers. Workers, black and white were brought in from all over, with the type of jobs restricted. Health care was excellent for the times, though black workers died at a much higher rate than white ones. 

Construction included lots of digging. Locks were essentially horizontal skyscrapers. The Chagres River was dammed to create artificial lakes. It rains a lot in Panama and the ground was not always the most stable. Eventually the canal was finished and opened to traffic. The United States kept ownership of the canal zone for decades before finally transferring it Panama. 

Arkansas: A Bicentennial History (States and the Nation Series)

If you search for an Arkansas book, you are most likely to find an analysis of the Little Rock Central High integration. The federal troops game in after a defiant governor sought to prevent integration. Ironically, the governor had not shown much interest in integration issues and was able to parlay this into a successful reelection campaign.

Slavery and plantations have had a disproportionate role in the history of Arkansas, despite the lack of general importance to the population. Most residents did not have slaves. Only a small proportion of slaveholders worked on plantations. However, people were willing to fight for their rights. Arkansas was reluctant to succeed from the union. After the US government asked the state to send troops to help defend against the confederacy, the residents were reluctant to fight against their neighbors. Only one delegate voted against secession. (And this person would later become governor.) Later the government continued to support the idealistic needs of plantations, often at the expense of industrial development. (Even though the high plantation society was never really as predominant as other states.)

During the civil war, most residents fought on the confederate side. However, there was a significant amount (especially from the northern Ozarks) that fought for the Union. Alas, most of the hostilities in the state also took place in the north.

After reconstruction, Arkansas devolved to a one-party state. The state decided to follow the lead of Mississippi and adopt voting restrictions and Jim Crow regulations. Following Mississippi is never a recipe for progress and helped continue Arkansas's reputation as a backwater. The northern mountain part of the state was filled with rugged hillbillies, while there were other plantations along river valleys. Urban development took a while to take place, with the state retaining a primarily rural character longer than other states.

Arkansas had served as somewhat as a way station. It was the frontier beyond the edge of the Mississippi. It was also a gateway to Texas, Indian Territory  and further west. River transport was important, yet it never developed a St. Louis or New Orleans. At times the primary export was people.

The book is a brief history of the state written over 40 years ago. It does provide good coverage of the early history of the state into the mid twentieth century. The author came from a journalism background, thus the journalists are given significant say in the story. It is also interesting that though WalMart had existed for some time when the book was written, it didn't merit a mention in key Arkansas businesses.

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America

Killing Lincoln covers the history of the last few days of the civil war and the assassination of Lincoln. While it mostly sticks with the historical facts, the tone is far from that of a typical historical narrative. The author is a political commentator, and uses aspect of that style in the delivery. Much of the story is given as a countdown of Lincoln's time to live. The events in the life of Lincoln's assassin are covered in greater detail than the life of Lincoln. Various conspiracy theories are brought up. (Though they are generally acknowledged as unproven theories.) The end of the civil war is portrayed as a battle of wills. The Union had the rebels in a bind. However, the rebels somehow kept finding the will to fight. In one battle, the Union infantry failed to rise up for the killing blow. Because of that, they were all killed. In other cases, Union leadership failed to "finish the job", giving the rebels more time to fight. In the end, this let the Confederacy survive for a few more days. However, their cause was doomed.
Booth was an actor and a confederate die-hard. He had been part of plots to kidnap Lincoln. Eventually, he hatched on a plan to kill Lincoln and other leaders in order to cause chaos and give the south a chance to rise up. He carried out his part of the operation. However, his co-conspirators failed. One just got drunk rather than do his killing. Another managed to injure a bunch of people, but did not kill his target. Booth managed to elude capture for a few days, but eventually he was caught and killed. (Though the book mentions many men dying in the swamp search.) The other conspirators were hung. Ironically, Booth's action probably made things much worse for the south. The new president was more of a hardliner towards the south and less willing to follow the peaceful integration that Lincoln desired. Even the "pro-south" newspapers at the time heavily criticized the assassination.

Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World

Earning the Rockies is part travelogue, part history of the importance of geography in the growth of geography. History came alive through the experience with his father and the history of Bernard Devoto. He wrote the type of grand "American Exceptionalism" history that is not very popular these days. America was able to adopt a very individualistic culture because it was settled from the east. An individual could fairly easily farm land with their own effort. Even the big southern plantations were somewhat independent. This was compared to Utah which required the communal effort of the Mormon population in order to irrigate a difficult land.
He also explores the homestead of presidents. Buchanan was a "bad" president in part because he was willing to "appease" rather than make the bold moves that Lincoln made.
In the seocnd half of the book, he explores the United States. He notes that a lot of the "unique" parts of the country have become very homogenous. Rest stops used to have (whites only) table service and gourmet food. Now anybody can get unhealthy fast food at rest stops. The same chains are all over the united states. The author explores many of the small towns that are "dying". Wheeling West Virginia was a poster child for the small town decline. There were other cities in the midwest that experience similar population decline. The retail left the city for the exurban malls. The people live a homogenous "lower class" life, different than the "brewpub" life of those in small college towns and big cities. This did have the advantage of giving the local hotel and restaurants a feel that was "different" from the sameness of the hotels and meals throughout the trip.

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

The author acknowledges that there are very few biographies of George Washington written by women - and that these often focus on "female issues". Many of the biographies are big thick tomes written by men that go through all the details of Washington's life. There are also others that try to rip apart the "myth" of Washington. She has attempted to provide something different - a short, balanced history of his life. She goes through his entire life. However, the focus is primarily on his "public" life - as a military man and president. She provides context on some easy-to-shatter myths. (Wooden teeth would just not be practical; however, he did have really bad teeth.) Washington had no biological children, thus helping prevent dynastic succession. He was quite wealthy (in part through a familial pattern of marrying in to money.) However, his wealth was primarily tied up into land. He was a slave-holder. However, he advocated abolition of slavery in a "gradual" fashion. A sudden loss of property would devastate the economy. However, a slow freeing seemed feasible. (Personally, he didn't think he could afford to free his slaves during his life. He did grant slaves freedom in his will.)
As a military man, Washington was a rather poor leader at first. Though he gained experience as a British military leader. This probably helped him as he would eventually lead the rebels. As a president, he had wide-spread support among the people and founding fathers. However, his presidency would eventually strain his relations with many of the other founding fathers. And speaking of fathers, he is not known to have fathered any children. Perhaps this was an impact of the many times that he had been sick in his life.

Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Lakota America narrates the history of the Lokata people from early 15th century until today, with a strong emphasis on the century from the birth of the US in 1776 until the battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. The terminology can get confusing, in part because people were confused in how they identified each other. They were part of the Sioux, but they were also their own. They reinvented themselves to thrive in remote lands as buffalo hunters. They were a fairly strong nation, and may have had their own country if not for the hunger of white America to settle the lands and build the railroads. They defended their rights both with word and dead. Custer's Last Stand was both their crowning achievement and the end of the line. After their grand victory, the government could now use them as the "evil" to fight against. They ended up confined to a reservation like other native groups. Could the colonist have peacefully coexisted with the native groups? Or was the land grab just too appealing. Perhaps things would have been different if disease and guns didn't have such a strong impact. (Ironically, disease actually helped the Lakota as they would often have greater immunity than other tribes.) What allowed the tribes we have today to survive as long as they did?