Many Americans opposed the removal of the Native Americans and argued that they too had been civilized and should be allowed to remain on the homelands, specifically Davey Crocket. This was a valid point of debate for the Native Americans, although at this point the strength in numbers for the government were overwhelming compared to that of the Native Americans living on their homeland. On the other hand, some of the natives thought strategically about agreeing with the treaty because this would alleviate “white harassment”(Indian Removal, PBS). This shows the debate amongst the natives themselves, over the removal act, leaving some tribes divided and again assisting with the destruction of their
This led to conflicts and therefore partially led to the destruction of the Native American way of life. The white Americans quickly claimed land and would move the Plains Indians around as they saw fit, usually affected by where gold had recently been discovered. This culminated in putting the Native Americans on reservations. In many of the agreements and treaties signed over land the settlers would claim never to go back on their promises “as long as grass grew” and “the mountains stood”. Breaking the promises would have shown the Native Americans that the settlers thought little of their intelligence, and also would instil a lack of trust in the settlers, as now every apparently solemn vow to not attack certain areas or to treat the Plains Indians better etc.
Is there any hope left for Native American traditions? During the 19th century the Native Americans struggled to regain control over the lands they had lost to the Westerners. The Americans wanted to eliminate the traditional values, forcing the Native Americans to adapt to western cultures. They had hoped to protect their traditional cultures against the influence of white society. In "The Red Convertible," Louise Erdrich depicts a tale of two brothers whose strong bond is ruined when Henry, the elder of two, comes back from the Vietnam War.
Continued expansion at the time was coined as the key to success, and that obtaining the Indian lands was in fact the only means to achieving this, settlers in turn viewed Indians as obstacles blocking the path of American progress. Then with greed, racism, and politics colonists pressured leaders and the government to acquire the lands.
The Removal Act stated that the United States Government had the right to forcefully move the Native Americans to different lands as long as they compensated them for the land that they had to give up in the east. The US Government did not give the Native Americans any say regarding their move. Once the Removal Act signed into place they had to follow it. The move negatively impacted on the tribes’ health, their population and their way of living. Out of about 15,000 Cherokee that were forcefully moved to the West, about 4,000 died on the road there.
The economic, social and political issues that occurred were not taken lightly by the Indians and sometimes the way they acted was diverse and disruptive. In today’s time, neither federal government nor the Native American tribes have come to a conclusion as to what identity or status the North American continent should be. In the nineteenth century, times were devastating for the Native Americans. The United States signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the Sioux which was to keep non-Indians from hunting or settling on their reservation which had been recently established. At that time, they gave up rights to almost all the land they were occupying.
The lessons that McNamara teaches can be viewed all throughout the course of history and should be used as a guideline for the future. Lesson One: Empathize with your Enemy i. Columbus’ Treatment of the Native Americans: The Native American people were drastically different than the explorers of the New World. They believed that nobody owned the land; the idea of land ownership didn’t exist in their eyes. Instead of recognizing the Native American World View, Christopher Columbus and his men took advantage of the Indians by enslaving them and subduing them with violence in an effort to acquire land and riches. Clearly, Columbus should have empathized with the Native Americans by respecting their values and negotiating through fair trade rather than violence and deceit.
From these two videos, I have a better understand of American Indian history overview. Especially from video Pride 101, Dr. Duane Champagne mentions the removal policy of Native Indians, and because of the policy, the tribes have to move from Southeast to Oklahoma. These two videos show audiences a long history and policy about American Indians and how struggled they had been through in a native land. After I finished from these two videos, I can see many parallels between the struggles the Native American Tribes and my people encounter dealing with the U.S. Government “You can never be part of Indian. You are or you are not.
“It will be a place dense and civilized population now occupied with savage hunters” (Source C). Andrew Jackson Presented this statement to congress when he was trying to pass the Indian Removal Act. This is not entirely true the Indians were just doing what they had been doing for many, many years. The Indian removal Act is genocide and is looked over by so many people as not a big deal, but it is a huge deal. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is trying to get many sports teams to change from using Indians as they’re Mascot.
When they won the French and Indian War, England had to make a few reforms. King George III declared the Proclamation of 1763, which forbid American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort the stabilize relations with the Native Americans. However this angered many colonists who had land grants there and in turn, the Proclamation Line was ignored. This was the start of a series of disagreements between the two lands, as the American citizens began to gain a stronger taste for independence. Enlightenment writers such as John Locke, who patented the idea that it