Essay On Wounded Knee Massacre

What would it be like to have everything common and normal in life taken away within a moments notice? The film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee explores this question through the historical events that took place during the Indian removal era. Furthermore, the film reveals the motives of the U.S. government through the many scenes in which they attempt to negotiate for land with the Sioux Indians. The Sioux refuse to sell their land, so the United States forces the Sioux to pay for the western expansion with life, land, and freedom.

Mark Twain once said, “History does not repeat itself but it does rhyme”. When looking at the past one may see exactly what Mark Twain is speaking of. One major “rhyme” in history is the Trail of Tears in 1830-1836 and the Bataan Death March in 1942. These two events have major similarities that occurred between them and yet multiple differences. When comparing the two one has to look at the fact that individuals were upset about what happened to the United States soldiers during the Bataan Death March even though years prior the United States put the Native Americans in an identical situation during the Trail of Tears of 1838. The United State caused the death of Several Native Americans with no sympathy but willingly executed a man for doing the exact thing that their government allowed. When comparing these two major events, the Trail of Tears and the Bataan Death March, one

The colonists of Early Jamestown did not know what they were going to experience in the New World, and they were not prepared. This took place from 1607-1611. The colonists arrived in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. They had hopes to find new land. Sadly, out of the 500 colonists that arrived in Jamestown, 80% died.Just between 1609 and 1610, 110 settlers died from famine and disease. In 1607, there was only one surgeon for hundreds of men. Colonists died in early Jamestown because of three main problems. These problems were Starvation, Native American Relations, and Disease. Listen to how almost 350 settlers died in these five years full of hardships.

The Trail of Tears was ignominy in the history of United States. After President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States Military forced many Native American Tribes off their land. About 15,000 Cherokees were forced to leave from their land and this journey became to be known as “The Trail of Tears”. The Cherokees were forced because the greedy Americans wanted the land for agriculture and to grow cotton which would earn them a lot of money. The tribes were forced to moved westward from their ancestral land and settle in Oklahoma Territory. Roughly 1 out of 4 Cherokees died of cold or disease and also because the guards did not let them rest for a break. This was morally wrong because it symbolized that the U.S. government

Native Americans were greatly affected by the expansion of the United States during the 1800s. As the U.S. moved west, they stole large amounts of Native American land by settling the land and killing the Natives who once lived there. Also during this time, their culture was being taken from them due to assimilation. While United States citizens were expanding into the west, many Native American lives were lost. They were also responsible for destroying a major food and supply source for Native Americans.

During the period 1860-1890, western expansion negatively impacted the lives of Native Americans, by turning their lives upside-down under the order of the orders of the federal government. I say this because The Americans massacred the friendly Indians, Disrespected the culture and beliefs by slaughtering the buffalo, and Forcing Indians to assimilate to American culture.

Once European men stepped foot onto what is now known as North America, the lives of the Native Americans were forever changed. The Indians suffered centuries of torment and ridicule from the settlers in America. Despite the reservations made for the Natives, there are still cultural issues occurring within America. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the tragic lives of Native Americans in modern society are depicted in a collection of short stories taking place in the Spokane Reservation in Washington state. Throughout the collection, a prominent and reoccurring melancholic theme of racism against Native Americans and their struggle to cope with such behavior from their counterpart in this modern day and age is shown.

Events leading up to this even started when the United States Government began to forcefully relocate the Native Americans tribes onto reservations. Some of the Native Americans were beginning to adopt the Ghost Dance religion. The Ghost Dance was a spiritual movement that started by a man named Wovoka who told everyone that he was a visionary and for the Native Americans he was seen as a Messiah. He claimed that a spirit came to him and showed him certain movements and songs Wovoka preached non-violence. Many Native Americans also abandoned their war like ways and followed this non-violence way in preparation for future happiness.

The name of the Trail of Tears came from a Cherokee phrase that meant “the place where they cried.”

Research Question: What were the reasons behind the gold rush in Colorado in the 19th century and the war atrocities committed by United States Government towards the culmination of the Sand Creek Massacre?

During this time period, Native Americans were being treated so poorly. They were very misunderstood, and white men didn 't even try to understand them. All they cared about was forcing the Indians off of "their" land. This is unfair in so many ways. One being that the Natives were actually there first. An example of their mistreatment would be the "Ghost Dance". This was a dancing ritual that promised the Indians a new world "free from whites", where they could truly be free. However, this innoccent dance was very wronly interpreted. The white men thought that it was a war threat. So, they hunted down the Indian man who created it, and killed him. This sparked up something deep inside the Native Americans, and a battle was started at Wounded

In the late 1800’s the Americas began to move westward. Along with moving westward there came struggles and hardships. There were multiple reasons for starting the westward expansion, such as the gold rush and the government bribes of land. While people moved, the ideals of Manifest Destiny occurred. ADD MORE INFORMATION ON THE GOLD RUSH!!!!

In the 1850’s the United States faced one of the most important issues which was the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion was the movement of easterners to the West.

This site is related to what were are talking because the Ghost Dance movement basically led to the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Wounded Knee Massacre was a battle between the Sioux Indians and the whites. The battle was the last major massacre between the Native Americans and the United States Army. The showdown killed over 100 Native Americans, declaring the U.S. as “victorious”.

The difference in the two accounts is the prelude to the battle. According to Lakota Chief Red Horse, he with many Sioux Indians were only moving across the land in attempts to find a place to settle. When they did settle next to the Little Bighorn River, there were many Native Americans with them ten different tribes and eleven including themselves. The account from the military standpoint was the Sioux, and Cheyenne were hostile over the Black Hills and was corresponding with Sitting Bull. From the event of the Sioux Nation on the move, the U.S. Calvary dispatched three units to attack.