American Revolution Dbq

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

PBS, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. This article starts off by stating the problem for the early American settlers, which are the Native Americans, and then states how Andrew Jackson, the American President at the time, handled the Native Americans. The next couple of paragraphs talk about Jackson’s agreement treaties with the Native Americans and their movement westward. To try to avoid these movement plans, the Natives thought of non-violent rebellion strategies such as farming and creating a constitution. The next couple paragraphs explains President Jackson’s Indian Removal Act and explains the reactions of the American colonists. Many Indian tribes try to refuse to sign any treaties as long as possible, but eventually forced to by the American military; The Trail Of Tears among this forceful

By 1940, Native Americans had experienced many changes and counter-changes in their legal status in the United States. Over the course of the nineteenth century, most tribes lost part or all of their ancestral lands and were forced to live on reservations. Following the American Civil War, the federal government abrogated most of the tribes’ remaining sovereignty and required communal lands to be allotted to individuals. The twentieth century also saw great changes for Native Americans, such as the Citizenship Act and the Indian New Deal. Alison R. Bernstein examines how the Second World War affected the status and lives of Native Americans in American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs. Bernstein argues

It can be said that the ruin of the Native Americans started as far back as when the first settlers landed in North America. The main progression of their forced emigration, however, was due to the War of 1812. A professor of history, David Koch states, “There is no question, the alliance with the English destroyed any slim chance the natives might have had to retain any lands in the east.” (Bulletin, n.p). The War of 1812 is seen as a step in the United States’

Unfortunately, for Native Americans their experience since initial contact with White Europeans has been a constant struggle. The very existence of Native American’s culture, religion, language, and land, and their form of political organizations have been threatened since the White Europeans began colonization in the regions indigenous to the Native Americans. Evidently, the White European’s misunderstanding of the American Indian has been a motivating factor in the poor treatment administered towards them. Not to mention, the various tribes had warfare amongst themselves, which perhaps gave the Europeans a reason to believe they were violent people and ignore any feeling of guilt for partaking in warfare with them as well. Upon arrival,

At the start of the Revolution in 1776 many of the patriots view towards the Indians was that of Thomas Jefferson’s, the paternalistic view. That the Indians were “noble savages, “uncivilized in their present state but if they would adapt to ways of the white society they could be redeemed. While others felt that they should be treated as conquered people because some of the tribes helped the British in the War, one of which was the Mohawks. That was one the main reason why most of the tribes choose to stay out of the war. At this point in time the patriots felt that they were merely trying to provide for their families and start a new life in the new world. But to the Indians they felt that the patriots were trying to push them off their lands, threatening their families and their way of life. And over time these views towards each other change with each push westward on the part of the patriots and each conflict of resistance on the part of the Indians. As the new nation grew the need for more land became evident, as a way of trying to bring resolve the government signed treaties with the tribes. The treaties promised them protection of the lands they had held if they ceded certain lands. But when it came right down to it treaty after treaty was broken, which lead to more and more distrust by the Indians. As time passed the views of Indians changed, in the early 1800’s whites viewed Indians as “savages” that should be removed from the valuable land that the

The intrinsic relationships that American Indians had to their lands was a non-negotiable doctrine for many tribes. Violating these terms proved to promote resistive responses that frequently involved violence and war. In addition, many early U.S. policies in the 1850’s commonly disregarded sovereign

To better understand the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, one must closely examine the state of Europe’s economy at the time. Europe struggled with difficult conditions. This included poverty, violence and diseases like typhus, smallpox, influenza and measles. There were widespread famines which caused the prices of products to vary and made life very difficult in Europe. Street crimes and violence were prevalent in cities: “Other eruption of bizarre torture, murder, and ritual cannibalism were not uncommon”.2 Europeans

As American settlers had continued to populate the expansive land the United States of America which had lay before them, the Native Americans, who had resided there for hundreds of years prior to the Revolutionary War, had become increasingly troubled with every passing moment. Soon, they realized, they would be overtaken entirely by the settlers of the newfound nation. As such, in 1830, the Congress of the United States had passed the Indian Removal Act, which had forced all Native American tribes into specially-designated reservations, where their underlying spiritual bonds had effectively been permanently separated. Indeed, the Indian Removal Act had been extremely powerful, but not in ways that had been beneficial to either party. Hence, its passing and subsequent institution, manifested as the infamous Trail of Tears, had been an error on the part of the United States Congress, in all basic aspects of morality, politics, the Constitution, and practicality of survival and thriving. Specifically, moral aspects included concerns relating to driving Native Americans from their long-time homeland without their consent, alongside the breaking of their spiritual statuses. Political perspectives against the Indian Removal Act had revolved around the notions of value, progress, and improvement, paired with the ramifications and intentions of treaties passed by Congress. Constitutional viewpoints had protested against the Act in that they had insisted the lack of reasoned

The first attempt at dealing with Native American tribes can be seen through the acts of George Washington as he attempted to eradicate all indigenous people bypassing any attempt at a peaceful interaction. Washington insisted on developing a professional army which developed into a group of “vicious killers” (Dunbar-Oritz, 82). He was so set on Native removal that the Second Amendment was developed for the purpose of arming colonizers to murder Native people. From this moment on the United States government set out on a path to attempt to destroy Native people, their culture, and their history. This was done in various ways by various leaders throughout the nation’s developing years and into the present.

The Native Indian history of violence and corruption changed their views and self image as well. This change later affects how they adapt to American culture and education after being pushed away from embracing their own for so long. The violence and indifference shown towards the Native Americans during the “Trail of Tears” may have contributed to this change. In this dreadful journey, Natives of all kinds were forced off their land and into a thousand mile trek during which about 4000 Cherokee Indians died (The Trail of Tears). Similarly the Natives were done yet another great disservice with the Dawes Act or General Allotment Act in 1887 which encouraged the separation of tribes and advocated assimilation. Whites controlled the land allotted to Indians, and the Indians received very little compensation for it (The Dawes Act: 1887). In fact it is

Consequently, the indigenous nations were able to retain political autonomy during the period of competition between various European colonial powers. However, the new American government implemented a series of laws and regulations that established hegemony over Native Americans. Without alliances with foreign powers, the major Indian nations had no choice but to “recognize American political supremacy in the region” after the War of 1812 (Champagne 1992:88). Despite reluctance by Native Americans towards political differentiation and social change, the U.S. government planned to regulate trade between the Indian tribes and European countries and institute a program that was designed to assimilate and civilize the Native peoples. However, these attempts did not prevail until 1828, as evidenced by the absence of large-scale migration of southeastern Indians.

The Native American chronicle is one of treachery and death. These Indians lived lives of concord and prosperity for centuries. However, their reign terminated with the arrival of European settlers in the 15th century. The arising onslaught of foreign colonists is considered by some to be the initiation of the “American Holocaust” (Native American Genocide). The immigrants did not share customs or spiritual views with the Native people, so they attempted to annihilate the Native American populace. The transcontinental population robbed the Native Americans of their land, resources, culture, and pride. Numerous events had to occur in order for the United States of America to obtain its current culture and diversity. Native Americans, and

native American’s have been swept other than their lands, pushed lower back throughout the notable divide and into the lands of different tribes with the aid of the colonialization of yank expansionism. After a few of the tribes who as soon as lived harmoniously with these early colonist joined super Britain throughout the yank Revolution, the attitudes of many American’s changed closer to their native American brethren. immediately after and until the 1830s, the various tribes were pushed off their lands and sent west across the Mississippi into the Plains and Oklahoma territories.