Real American Indians

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1 A GLIMPSE AT THE REAL AMERICAN INDIANS A Glimpse at the Real American Indians 2 The Wampanoags and Cherokee suffered a great deal and forcefully sacrificed their country to what now is America today. As Americans we need to understand this unnecessary pain and suffering to the American Indians. The King Philips War was the bloodiest conflict in American history. I truly believe this war proves just how sick and tired the American Indians were of the Europeans and the way they were being treated by them. There had already been so much war and fighting between the American Indians and Europeans. Europeans were treating the American Indians like…show more content…
Thousands died on the journey west. In the book, The Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Journey From Home by Brill, Marlene Targ, it states "The death toll continued to climb after Cherokees reached Indian Territory. The strain from cold, hunger, and grief weakened the weary exiles. One in four Cherokees died because of the 1,000-mile march. Every Cherokee family had reason to weep from the Trail of Tears." This is why the movement west was called the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is important because it shows us how the American Indians faced prejudice and mistreatment even up until now. The nineteenth century was not that long ago and the American Indians faced mistreatment way past that. It also shows how mans greed could surpass a human life. One of the reasons this started was because of the gold that was discovered on Cherokee land. The Trail of Tears killed thousands of American Indians. Americanizing the American Indian: Removing Children from the Tribe. Education is important and in 1877 Congress gave funds for Indian children to go to school. The education is good but the governments intentions were different. The government preferred that American Indians go to off…show more content…
Attendance was mandatory and it forced Indian children to go to the schools appointed for them. Annuities and rations were withheld from parents who refused to send their children to school. The schools were not only made to educate the Indian children but to transform them or Americanize them. They tried to give them the skills to be citizens instead of tribal members. The schools had very strict discipline and monitored the students activities. When Indian children arrived to school they were given new Anglo-American names. The boys had to cut their hair and the children had to wear uniforms instead of their native clothing. The boarding schools strongly discouraged and sometimes prohibited them from returning home. Trachoma and tuberculosis was among disease that killed children in the boarding schools, some even committed suicide from not being able to adapt and from being so lonely. The government tried so hard to Americanize the American Indians. They went as low as taking children from their families to try to force American ways into them at an early age. In a sense it was kind
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