Compare And Contrast American History Vs Movie Avatar

652 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: American Settlers Versus Native Americans

Even though at first glance comparing American History to the movie Avatar may seem impossible there are actually many similarities. Although having Native Americans move to the Indian Territory was not a pretty site, it did happen and it is important to be educated on the topic so that as a country we never let it happen again. Also just because Avatar is a fictional work doesn’t mean that it cannot help us better understand our American history. When discussing the two together it is quite evident that there are many similarities and differences. First the reasons for our government wanting to take the land in both stories is very similar. In our history the reason that we took the land away from Natives was simply because gold was found …show more content…

When comparing these you must first look to their leaders. Andrew Jackson and the Colonel from Avatar are both willing to do almost anything in order to get what they want. This method included many of the native people being killed in both situations. Another way that it was very similar was the fact that the Natives in both cases had much less technology than our armies. When the naval forces had guns explosives, the native people were stuck with bows and arrows made by hand with all their parts coming from nature. However the amount of time and kindness spent trying to take over the land was extremely different. In Avatar once they had all of the intel on the Na'vi people they made little attempt to safely relocate them. Instead naval forces attacked and didn’t care about the natives’ well being. In the events in our American history however we made multiple attempts to try and talk the people out of their homes before taking them by …show more content…

This didn’t happen very easily, or without them fighting back. Native Americans made many attempts to resist moving to the new Indian Territory. The Seminole tribe tried moving to the Florida territory and would hide in the swamps there and would attack as soon as the Naval forces got near. This did not work however and they ended up in Oklahoma with all of the other tribes. The Na'vi people would try and shoot the enemy planes with bows and arrows when they invaded their land. Their arrows were immediately deflected by the aircrafts and so the Na’vi were forced to flee. However how some American Indian tribes tried a similar tactic by trying to shoot the naval forces as they came in. This didn’t work in any of the cases as the naval forces were far superior in power, and just made it worse for the Native

Show More
Related

  • In defense of the Indians by Las Casas and On the Cannibals by Montaigne

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...lar views to on another. They both have similar reliable facts about the situations as well, they both believe that the true barbarians are the Europeans. Thus, it was up to the Europeans to submit to the way of life of the Natives, instead of critiquing them on their religion and culture and forcing the Natives to change.

    Read More

  • A Different Mirror

    346 Words  | 1 Pages

    In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.

    Read More

  • How Did The Environment Affect The Native American Indians With Particular Reference To The Woodlan

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Indians thought of land very differently to the white man. The land was sacred, there was no ownership, and it was created by the great spirit. They could not sell their land to others, whereas the white people could fence off the land which belonged to them, and sell it freely to whoever they wanted. The Europeans didn't think that the Indians were using the land properly, so in their eyes, they were doing a good favour to the earth. To the Indians, the land was more valuable than the money that the white man had brought with him, even though it didn't belong to them.

    Read More

  • Beyond 1492-Native Reactions to Invasion

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    “ [They] spent most of the conquest and colonial periods reacting and responding to the European strangers and invaders” (99). Both sides were different in many ways; Their communication, transportation, culture, and the way they survived differentiate the Europeans from the Native Americans. They both acted as wisely as they could when this encounters began after the discovery. “[Tribes] worked mightily and often cleverly to maximize their political sovereignty, cultural autonomy, territorial integrity, power of self identification, and physical nobility” (100). The Europeans were stronger, had better technology, better weapons, and had plenty of experience fighting people like the Native Americans. They could have easily conquer them , but they had a problem of resources, reinforcements and survival. Native American were many but they lacked the knowledge and experience of war and evolution. Europeans were technologically evolved and were experienced at fighting wars, but they ...

    Read More

  • Taking a Look at the Sioux Uprising

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Dakota Nation didn’t just wake up one day and decide to attack the settlers. They had been insulted, oppressed and cheated for years. Eventually, the Sioux decided to stand up and take back their land. The Sioux were hunters, not farmers. When the US decided to buy the Sioux’s hunting grounds and give them farmland, they should have thought about the consequences. The Sioux missed their sacred hunting land and struggled to make their farmland prosperous. Not only that, but the Sioux believe that they belong in Minnesota. Some say Israel is the land of the Jews. Well, Minnesota is the land of the Sioux. Of course, the US didn’t exactly steal the Sioux’s hunting land. Technically, the US bought the Sioux out, however that would imply that the Sioux had a choice about selling or were even aware of what was taking place.

    Read More

  • Differences Between Native American And Europeans

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, There were so many differences between Native Americans cultures And the Europeans. Some of the examples are, the ideas of the lands owner, religion, and the gender. Their differences are more than the similarities. The impact of their cultures it still remains in today’s society. The cultural differences and the religions differences led to a bloody was that remains for 500 hundreds

    Read More

  • The Impact of Westward Expansion on The Cherokee Nation

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...

    Read More

  • Native Americans, Bradbury and the Scorn of the FBI

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the twenty-first century, schools all over the country teach that Native Americans were here before what are now considered “Americans.” These new Americans arrived by boats, bringing with them disease and manifest destiny, conquering the land that was once called home by thousands of tribes. Nevertheless, through extortionist deals, mass murder and small pox, the land was evetually vacated, leaving the new Americans to take their place and flourish. While schools teach the same basic story of the first thanksgiving and Squanto, what is not remembered is any semblance of the culture. Feather headdresses, bows and arrows, and war calls while playing a game of “Cowboys and Indians” are the images many Americans associate with of what once had dominance over the entirety of the North American continent for centuries (if not millenia). In his collection of short stories The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury expressed unheard of sympathy towards Native American and Communists alike with a radical position that in which he used an fictitious species as an allegory for the struggles of millions. Even though he contradicts himself in the delivery of parts of his core message, Bradbury’s radical viewpoints and pessimistic views of the future serve as both an apology and a warning for the extermination of civilizations. Written and published in the 1950s, the book radically discredited American expansionist tendencies in post war America when such sympathies and opinions were not tolerated. As a warning for the future, Ray Bradbury possessed foresight as conquest of cultures plagues American foreign policy even today.

    Read More

  • White Settlers and Native Americans

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Shawnee also claimed these lands but, of course, were never consulted. With the Iroquois selling the Shawnee lands north of the Ohio, and the Cherokee selling the Shawnee lands south, where could they go? Not surprisingly, the Shawnee stayed and fought the Americans for 40 years. Both the Cherokee and Iroquois were fully aware of the problem they were creating. After he had signed, a Cherokee chief reputedly took Daniel Boone aside to say, "We have sold you much fine land, but I am afraid you will have trouble if you try to live there."

    Read More

  • Parallels of Imperialism and Opression in Avatar

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    Set on the planet Pandora, Avatar is a science-fiction story of a money-hungry corporation’s attempt to conquer and excavate the land of humanoids known as Na’Vi. Jake Sully is a paraplegic, who is sent to space to complete his deceased brother’s mission because they share the same genome, which is necessary to navigate the expensive avatar that had already been cloned. We learn that the avatar is basically a mind-transporter used to be a part of and learn about the Na’Vi community. During his first expedition in the land of the Na’Vi, Jake gets lost and encounters one of the main female members of the tribe who ends up taking him under her wing and teaches him the ways of a Omaticaya. From here, the movie continues to tell the story of Jake’s dilemma between the mission he started with his people and the allegiance he slowly pledged to the Omaticaya clan. After watching Avatar the day it came out in theaters, I easily decided that it was one of the most extraordinary movies I had ever seen. My opinion may seem invalid coming from an uncultured fourteen-year-old, but even after having recently re-watched the film, I feel this movie and its social commentary are remarkable. There were many aspects to this movie, some controversial, that made the movie exceptional: its new-aged cinematography, disputable portrayal of the indigenous peoples, oddly familiar plotline, and mostly its critique on colonization and civilization. After having watched Avatar for the sixth time, I have come to the conclusion that this film much more intricate than its critics and supporters acknowledge. There are multiple parallels between imperialism and...

    Read More

  • Native American Voices Know the Definition of Native American

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many school children celebrate a cliché Thanksgiving tradition in class where they play Indians and Pilgrims, and some children engage in the play of Cowboys vs. Indians. It is known that some died when colonization occurred, that some fought the United States government, and that they can be boiled down to just another school mascot. This is what many people understand of the original inhabitants of America. Historical knowledge of these people has been shallow and stereotyped. The past 150 years has given birth to a literate people now able to record their past, present, and future. Native American literature, as it evolves, defines the Native American culture and its status in the world, as an evolving people, more so than any historical account can.

    Read More

  • Unobtainium Vs Avatar

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a world where money is large part of everyone's lives. It gets harder and harder to define what methods are right in order to make money and weather preserving the environment is more important than maintaining our country's economy. One controversial area that usually brought up in these conversations is the Alberta oil sands. The Alberta oil sands is an industry where it involves bringing up oil sands (mixture of sand, water, clay and bitumen) through drilling or mining and getting crude oil to us in a variety items/ products. It is one of the largest industries in Canada and large part of what maintains our economy. The 2009 movie Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all-time. The movie itself revolves around humans coming to a planet

    Read More

  • Comparing Avatar 'And Call Me Joe'

    380 Words  | 1 Pages

    1. Avatar took place in Pandora, a fictional planet, while “Call Me Joe” took place on Jupiter, a real planet.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Essay On Avatar

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie Avatar, The Na’vi world Pandoran world and our planet Earth are remarkably similar. Both worlds are abused by man, for the sole purpose of betterment for human existence. The world Pandoran share many similarities with that of Earth, both worlds have a large array of many different organisms from both the plantae and the animilia kingdoms. Many of the plants look similar to those of earth. The animals on Pandoran, resemble those of earth they have birds and huge mammals. The best way to describe Pandoran is to compare it to the earth millions of years ago where dinosaurs and many other huge mammals roamed and ruled the earth. The major difference between todays man and the Na’vi is the treatment of their world, the Na’vi treat their world with high respect not wanting to kill anything that they do not need for immediate survival. Todays man is focused on expanding and becoming more and more civilized.

    Read More

  • Essay On Avatar

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    In many ways, James Cameron’s Avatar closely resembles the common, safe “top-echelon” blockbuster described by David A. Cook in “Formative Industry Trends” (347). The film is definitely high concept; the plot is simple and easy to describe, is multi-genre, and relies on spectacle. It also featured saturation marketing, as was described by Jesse Algeron Rhines in “Blockbusters and Independents: 1975 to the Present” (414). There are Avatar books, video games, action figures, postage stamps, and even a future theme park (Cody). Marketing helped Avatar do exceedingly well in the box office, which is one requirement of a blockbuster according to Thomas Schatz in “The New Hollywood” (371).

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast American History Vs Movie Avatar

Open Document