American Indians of the American Frontier - Myth vs. Reality

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American Indians of the American Frontier Myths vs. Reality Suzanne Kendall HIST 204 American Indians of the American Frontier Myths vs. Reality Most Americans have learned about the history of the American Frontier from history books, documentaries, and movies. Very few Americans are able to distinguish the differences between the myths and reality of this history. The opening of the American Frontier gave rise to myriad and varied myths associated with people, places and events (Slatta, 2010). The Native American Indians is a prime example of myths and realities colliding together into blurred lines in the history books. Since the discovery of North America, the Indians have been depicted as a guarded race. Standing in the shadows and observing the settlers until they were confident they meant no harm. Once the Indians were comfortable with their friendship, they taught the settlers the ways of this new land. The Indians assisted the settlers in prospering through agriculture, hunting technics and trade. As Jennifer Roback has written, “Europeans generally acknowledged that the Indians retained possessory rights to their lands. More importantly, the English recognized the advantage of being on friendly terms with the Indians. Trade with the Indians, especially fur trade, was profitable. War was costly” (DiLorenzo, 2010). In the latter half of the nineteenth century the prospect of advancing the railroads to the west altered the attitude towards the Indians. The U.S. Government no longer wanted to make deals with the Indians for land; they wanted to take it with force. The conclusion of the Civil War gave the U.S. Government a standing army, as opposed to the militia. The result was that the white settlers and railroad corporations were able to socialize the cost of stealing Indian lands by using violence supplied by the U.S. Army (DiLorenzo, 2010).
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