"A People's History of the United States" Ch. 7 Reflection

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A People’s History of the United States: Reflection Chapter 7 As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs This chapter focused mainly on the Native Americans and the white settlers’ treatment of them. It starts out quite profoundly: “In women, of all the subordinate groups in a society dominated by rich white males, were closest to home...the most interior, then the Indians were the most foreign, the most exterior,” (Zinn 125). Zinn explains that during the Revolutionary War, almost every Indian nation fought alongside the British. So even after the war, they continued fighting. At first, politics kept the settlers from moving into Indian territory, but soon, pressure from the settlers urged the government to push westward for more land. “Indian removal was necessary for the opening of the vast American lands to agriculture, to commerce, to markets, to money, to the development of the modern capitalist economy. Land was indispensable for all this,” (Zinn 126). Here is my reaction: I realize this is perhaps the first time in American history where wealth in land became the clear, obvious, powerful concept. This is where the Louisiana Purchase spurred several more of its type and where it was acknowledged that land was absolutely necessary for American advancement. Unfortunately, this affected the Native Americans already living on the land, and they were slaughtered and relocated in the most inhumane of ways. This changed my thinking in that it brought more awareness to me of the terrible injustices that were done to the Native American population. Zinn points out some significant numbers that show how low the Indian population dropped after the settlers got their sights set on their land. However, while I can inwardly mourn the loss of a historic culture and people, I am grateful that the country now has the land and assets that make it a superpower. Still,

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