Comparison Of Native Resistance Towards US Government And Settlers

Native Resistance Towards U.S. Government and Settlers

Tecumseh was a Shawnee leader who believed that the Native American way of life should continue to thrive and flourish. The Cherokee are a Native American tribe that was subjected to assimilation of American culture by Christian missionaries and the dwindling of their claimed land. Both tribes had land that was encroached upon by United States government and settlers, but each tribe reacted to this encroachment in different ways. Certain strategies of each tribe were effective while others caused great losses for the Native Americans. Tecumseh and the Shawnee tribe desired unity between all tribes because a united front would be stronger when battling against the U.S. for “the land which

advancements using methods of war and battles. The land owned by the Shawnee tribe was seized by the United States government in the 1790s after the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greeneville. Millions of acres of their land was also taken by General William Henry Harrison under the Treaty of Fort Wayne. Many battles were fought between the U.S. and Tecumseh’s army of sorts including the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Battle of Tippecanoe, and the Battle of Thames (in which Tecumseh suffered an untimely death). The battles, while courageous and inspirational, did not bring the Native American tribes victory. After Tecumseh’s death, his body was mutilated and served as a trophy for the United States’ success. Tecumseh’s vision of Native American unity and preservation of their land and culture sadly died with him. The overall outcome of their resistance is technically a failure, but will always be remembered as persistent and

Major Ridge, a prominent Cherokee leader, believed in partial assimilation specifically involving education so the Cherokee could gain leverage when using the American legal system. Sequoyah, another protuberant Cherokee, developed a written version of the Cherokee language which allowed them to translate important texts such as the Bible and U.S. Constitution. This gave the Cherokee a more thorough understanding of the United States government. The advancements of having a translatable language and mixed blood/educationally assimilated Cherokee with knowledge of how the U.S. government functioned proved to be quite beneficial when defending their ownership of property. The attempted to write their own Constitution and claim they were a sovereign nation, but were quickly overruled by Georgia state laws. The Indian Removal Bill, supported by President Andrew Jackson, was cordially challenged by the Cherokee in what became a Supreme Court case. The Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee and declared that the state laws of Georgia had no jurisdiction of the Cherokee. However, the Treaty of New Echota signed by Major Ridge (not the Cherokee leader at the time-John Ross was) which led to the eventual eviction of the Cherokee. Their battle was one of formality and progressiveness yet was not ultimately