The Lewis and Clark narrative is the story of two white men who travel into the unmarked plains of what is now known as America. Their journey undeniably progressed America forward through education, but while this statement is valid, there’s a twist to the tale. Lewis and Clark, though they voyaged to educate themselves, they went into their expedition blindly and consequently blindfolded the nation through their ignorance. (Look at package on how to make a thesis to strengthen this.) Because of Jefferson both Lewis and Clark went on the expedition with gaining wealth and power as their top priority. To achieve this goal they used manipulative tactics that severely affected the Native Americans. Lewis and Clark not only used these destructive
Lewis and Clark weren’t very kind towards all the Native American’s he met. Lewis and Clark stole, killed, and addressed Indians as “children” to tribes. Lewis and Clark also did some nice things such as take a child in and hand out medicine. The good doesn’t outweigh the bad things they’ve done. Lewis and Clark weren’t very kind or respectful people to the Native
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting three inspirational people and their experiences on reading and writing. Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Sandra Cisneros all had different opinions about it. All of them overcame struggles that were different but similar in some way. What really intrigued me was that they followed their hearts in what they wanted to do even though people told them they couldn't.
Despite the general ideas that Europeans and Indians lived and shared harmoniously and the Indians simply had a drastic drop in numbers, (this is the history regarding the matter I learned in grade school.), or the idea that the Europeans came over and exterminated all of the Indians, (This idea was more popularly taught in high schools or by extreme activist in the 60’s.), it shows that the devastation to the Native American culture was much more complicated than most of us realize. I think that Axtell did a great job on portraying the real struggle, challenges and temptation of the Native Americans. It gives me the idea that even if disease not been an obstacle that the Native Americans had to face and their population had still remained strong and large, I am now under the impression that Native Americans would have still have lost their culture. There was the immediate attraction to guns and horses which did help them but it also came at a price. Once natives discovered the convenience of these goods and how simpler hunting and traveling became, it was hard to go back. In addition, these goods cost money. It ultimately caused a dependence which many of us do not think about when you inquire about the relations between the European and the Native American. The rapid rate of settlers relocating to America from all of Europe also would have eventually caused tribes to either fight or to join the masses and adapt to
Columbus and de las Casas were both explorers of the new world. They both encountered Native Americans and their treatment of them was both similar and different. Columbus viewed the Native American as subhumans. He did not have much respect for the people of the land and treated them as such. In his letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus says how he took possession of the native’s highnesses by proclamation. He also discloses how no one fought back which then made native Americans seem weak. He also states how he already took Indians aboard with him.At one instance Columbus had a dispute with Spainards and decided to give up Indians as a peace offering. Which he states in the letter to that tey were not his to give
It really made me sympathize with what the natives went through. I gained an appreciation for President George Washington and the sectary of war Henry Knox when they wanted peace with the Indians and to buy the land from the natives that settlers illegally settled in. I was disappointed to read that Knox and many others thought of the natives as uncivilized and wanted to civilize them so that they would integrate into society so the settlers could take their land. I think it was wrong to see the natives as uncivilized and want to civilize them to take their land. I was disturbed that Andrew Jackson approved and signed the Indian Removal Act because I consider the Act immoral. I think it is unjust for a group to consider themselves superior to another group, like the settlers did, and force the inferior group to
Many Americans know the journey of Christopher Columbus and Daniel Boone, but a smaller percentage of the population knows about other journeys their fellow Americans have taken. Our job at PBS is to “create content that educates, informs, and inspires (PBS mission statement).” By including different or lesser known journeys for our new series, we can inform and ignite a curiosity for American history that is not often talked about. Two journeys that should be included in this project is the plight of the Native Americans during the 19th century. These forced migrations are not frequently talked about for various different reasons, such as the history behind them or their controversy, but it is our job to present these without biases to inform our viewers.
The Native Americans were the earliest and only settlers in the North American continents for more than thousands of years. Like their European counterparts, the English colonists justified the taking of their territories was because the natives were not entitled to the land because they lacked a work ethic in which shows that the colonists did not understand the Native Americans system of work and ownership of property. They believed the “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized” (Takaki, Pg. 33). Because the settlers were living far away from civilizations, to ensure that they were civilized people, the settlers had negative images of the Native Americans so that they would not be influenced and live like the how the natives do, ensuring that these groups are savages who are uncivilized. Many began to believe this was God’s plans for them to civilize the country in which many would push westward and drive the Indians out to promote civilization and progress. While the United States was still in its early stages of development,
They further saw the Indians as lazy people since they would not settle down at a place and develop the land they inhabited, there by missing out on profit opportunities and life improvement. On the other way round, the setllers cherished the natural resources because of the market value it possessed and not because of it immediate need. This made the settlers depict the Indians as poor and incompetent to maximize the transformation of these natural resources into economic gains and wealth.
People know about the conflict between the Indian's cultures and the settler's cultures during the westward expansion. Many people know the fierce battles and melees between the Indians and the settlers that were born from this cultural conflict. In spite of this, many people may not know about the systematic and deliberate means employed by the U.S. government to permanently rid their new land of the Indians who had lived their own lives peacefully for many years. There are many strong and chilling reasons and causes as to why the settlers started all of this perplexity in the first place. There was also a very strong and threatening impact on the Native Americans through the schooling that stained the past and futures of Native Americans not only with blood but also with emotion. It was all a slow and painful plan of the "white man" to hopefully get rid of the Indian culture, forever. The Native American schools were created in an attempt to destroy the Native American way of life, their culture, beliefs and tradi...
On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on unknown territory, however, in his perspective of Earth he thought he made a new route to Asia. He travels throughout the lands, soon, he discovers new forms of inhabitant plants, as well as, indigenous people that were native to those lands. Years later he soon unravels that it was all unaccustomed terrain. The monarchy of Spain also discovers Columbus’s new discoveries, then, they send more explorers to conquer the lands. In 1520, Hernan Cortes goes with the order from Spanish royalty to go to the newly discovered lands to conquer them, also, help expand the Spanish empire. Overall, Columbus and Cortes both reported the new lands they recently discovered back to Spain, however, their descriptions
The ways in which the author could strengthen the book, in my opinion, is instead all the descriptive, to me meaningless points as how they were coloring themselves, the author should have put a little bit more facts in there to make it more documentary. Anyhow, overall the book has strength in letting the reader understand the history from both sides, whites and Indians. Many people have different views on the persecution of Native Americans, some think that it was all Indians’ fault and that they caused their own suffering, which I think is absolutely ridiculous, because they were not the ones who invaded. And Native Americans had every right to stand up for the land that was theirs.
... shaped the United States than what many were originally told. The documents show that Native Americans were treated unfairly and horribly and this pertained to the timing of the situation, many of the things that caused some of the situations, and the introduction of key historical people.
...y advances to conquer the West. Through shear physical force, the U.S. Army defeated and suppressed the Native American population, gaining a tremendous amount of land and securing the ability for an easy western migration. Many atrocities, such as the mass murder of entire tribes, were committed to secure the land. The suppression of the natives allowed the migrants to settle in the newly acquired land. The economic investment of Eastern companies into the new agricultural and cattle industry allowed the eastern markets to control production in the West, easily making or breaking the farmers. It comes to question, was the conquering of the West a tragedy or a triumph? It is clear that, although the conquering of the West was beneficial to the larger part of American history, it is a tragedy that it was done through physical suppression and outside economical control.
Allies of the Native Americans advocated to “kill the Indian and save the man (Smith 36).” It was far more cost effective to commit “cultural rather than physical genocide (Smith 37).” Native Americans were denied the right to their culture, children were forced to attend boarding schools that would rid them of their cultural practices and “civilize them.” Native Americans were to be civilized in theses boarding schools and taught American culture, with the supposed goal to assimilate to mainstream society but “because of racism in the U.S., Native Peoples could never really assimilate into the dominant society (Smith 37).” Native Americans were dispossessed from their own culture, one door being closed without the other door ever being opened.