Photos That Changed the World
Frozen Dead at Wounded Knee
U.S. Army gets revenge for Little Bighorn
The photo is a graphic depiction of the United States’ policy of Manifest Destiny in the late-19th Century.
Manifest Destiny was the “American exceptionalism” of its day. It stood for conquest, expansion, and exploitation.
On December 29, 1890, fearing a resurgence of the religious Ghost Dance among Sioux in South Dakota signaled a new rebellion, the army sent extra soldiers to the area.
When they tried to arrest famed Sioux leader Sitting Bull, soldiers “accidentally” killed him in a scuffle.
Tensions escalated at the nearby Wounded Knee reservation. On December 29, soldiers tried to disarm Sioux there, but another misunderstanding resulted in gunfire.
Soldiers generally opened fire on the camp, killing nearly 350 Sioux — most of them old men, women, and children. Troops even fired artillery at the Sioux.
The troops involved were part of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, the same unit that Sioux and Cheyenne had defeated at the Little Bighorn in 1876. It is easy to assume part of the Wounded Knee massacre as in retaliation for that loss.
