Research Paper On The Last Of The Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans was a movie directed by Michael Mann and produced Michael Mann with Hunt Lowry. This film was about the battle of Fort William Henry fought between the British and French armies and their allies the American Indians and the colonialist. The battle was fought during the French and Indian War, around 1757. The British and the French fought, so they could acquire land in the Americas and to provide wealth for their sovereign countries. The Indian tribe, the Huron’s, fought for the French Army. The colonialist fought for the British. The Mohicans’ tribe leader and his sons did not want to fight in the war but could not allow the innocent to be slaughtered, so they only attacked those hurting the innocent people. Each party

that fought in the battle had their own reasons for fighting or participating in the battle of Fort William Henry.

In The Last of the Mohicans, the two remaining members of the American Indian tribe are Chingachgook, his son Uncas, and his adopted white brother Hawkeye. The American tribe was mostly killed off by the British and French fighting for the lands, so Chingachgook and his sons had to adapt to life among the colonists. When Magua, an Indian from the Huron’s tribe, agrees to escort a small British troop and the daughters of a British Colonel to Fort William Henry, they are ambushed by the Huron tribe, who some are working as traitors for the French army. Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and Unca come upon the raid and rescue the daughters and Major Heyward and see them safely to Fort William Henry. When they arrive at the Fort, it is under heavy attack by the French army. The Mohicans alert the fighting colonists of the Huron’s raiding their homes and killing their people. The Colonialists then learning of the raids on their homes, want to be relieved to go home to protect their families, but Colonel Munroe refuses. Hawkeye, despite the wrath he may endure from Colonel Munroe, helps the men leave the fort, to return home to their families. The battle at the

fort continues and eventually the British fall to the French army. The French Colonel, Colonel Montcalm, agrees to allow the remaining British army, and the inhabitants to leave the fort unharmed. However, Magua attacks the British party outside the fort by permission of Colonel Montcalm, because Montcalm “does not wish to battle them again later on in the war” (Mann, Lowry, Mann, 1992). Magua wanted permission to attack the British army because he holds Colonel Monroe responsible for the death of his children, and wants to avenge the death of his children. He believes he can achieve this by killing Colonel Munroe daughters but only after ripping Colonel Munroe’s heart out and eating it. The Battle at Fort William Henry was a huge loss for the British against the French, it was also a turning point for the Huron Indian for achieving in killing Colonel Munroe.
The movie shows many comparisons with the chapter readings of the course textbook. In the movie, the battle at Fort William Henry was fought in 1757 (Mann, Lowry, Mann, 1992), during the French and Indian War. The French and Indian War, which lasted from 1756-1763 (Tignor et al., 2002), took place between the British and French Armies because each army wanted control of the American Continents lands. The battle for Fort William Henry, a British asset, was a significant battle between these two major powers. The battles that took place between these two armies would displace indigenous societies from their lands. In order to survive, these Indians’ would become allies of the British and French armies. The Indians usually became allies of the army that laid claims to the same territories they laid claims to (history .com)The Indians’ were a valuable asset to the British and the French. They taught them to live off the land, and they traded with them. The war over the land was very hard on the Indians’.
The Indians’ were displaced from their lands by the British in order to grow crops. Even though the land along the American coast and Northern America did not produce precious metals, the land did have rich soil, for growing crops. These crops consisted of sugarcane, cotton tobacco, indigo, and rice (Tignor, R., et al, (2002), pg. 479). As the popularity of the crops among the sovereign countries grew, trade for these commodities grew and population among the British grew, thus did the need for more farmland.
The British and the French in the Northern part of America became more dependent on the Indians’, for fur trade.

The beaver fur was the most popular and the Indians’ knew how to find them. The Indians’ would trade the furs for tools made of metal. The British and the French wanted the furs for commercial trade, the fur pelts were very popular in other parts of the world. The French’s commercial fur trade was completely dependent on the Indians’. Eventually, the goods exchanged by the French for the furs were guns. The British traded alcohol for the beaver furs, which the Indians’ took a great liking to (Tignor, R., et al, (2002), pg. 485). While the beaver trade was plentiful, it served well for the British, the French, and the Indians’ The Indians’ loss of land and trading with the British and the French eventually leads to a cultural and lifestyle change for the

Indians’.
The Last of the Mohicans was an enjoyable movie that keeps viewers captivated. The movie was an adaptation of a book by James Fenimore Cooper and made into a film in 1992 (Mann, Lowry, Mann, M. 1992). It is a timeless movie that could be watched many times over and be just as captivating. The Last of the Mohicans gives the viewers a glimpse into the social history of the lives of the American Indians and the struggles they had to endure in order to survive. In addition, it shows the political history between the British and French armies fighting for control of the American lands, for their sovereign countries.