Reference no: EM133534801

Case: In 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau announced the closure of the frontier. This Census Bureau defined the frontier as a point beyond which the population density was less than two persons per square mile. What this really meant is that the American expansion westward was complete.

As new territories and states were organized, American settlers continued to come into conflict with Native Americans. Desperate to maintain a hold on their past, as well as their future, the Plains tribes were attracted to a religious movement known as the Ghost Dance. The following clip is from Stephen Ives documentary, The West: Ghost Dance, which explains the Ghost Dance:

Wounded Knee was reported to the American public as a battle won by heroic American soldiers. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, wrote an editorial Download editorialfor a South Dakota newspaper that called for the annihilation of the Native Americans. The following is an image of Fedrick Remington's "The Opening of the Fight at Wounded Knee" that was used in many of the newspaper reports of the event.

In 1891, the U.S. Army awarded twenty soldiers the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest honor. The massacre left an estimated 300 Lakota men, women, and children dead. Twenty-five soldiers were killed and thirty-nine wounded - most likely from friendly fire.

The testimony of a survivor named Turning Hawk was recorded in the Annual Report of the Commission of Indian Affairs, 18911

What is the underlying issue that led to the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Should the US government rescind the Medals of Honor that were awarded in 1891?
Should historians revisit events to revise their interpretation of events? What role do primary sources, like the ones above, play?