In the third grade, I was asked to draw a picture related to Thanksgiving for a drawing contest to win a Toys R Us coupon. I remember the only knowledge I had of Thanksgiving was what my grade school teachers had taught me: the Pilgrims, people who wore tall, black hats shared a joyous meal with Indians, who were known as wild people who wore togas around their waist and feathers on their heads. Being a ignorant little boy, I drew what I thought Indians had to do to catch the turkeys as my picture; I drew an Indian man with a bow shooting an arrow right through the body of a turkey. With that picture, I won the contest. This thought of Indians in togas stayed with me until 9th grade when my world history teacher taught the class about the effects
Primary sources are evidence written by people who witnessed or experienced the events that happened. Primary sources can be government documents, oral histories, memoirs, biological evidence, and paintings. They were created at the period when the events were occurring. The most useful primary sources are the ones that were created the most recently to the time period that the historian is reaching. Histories should assess their validity carefully because not all primary sources are true. Historians do not know if Captain John Smith was telling the true about “Pocahontas”. Historians should ask themselves questions before they believe in the primary sources. Historians should assess their validity by asking questions like did the writer of
Theda Perdue`s Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835, is a book that greatly depicts what life had been like for many Native Americans as they were under European Conquering. This book was published in 1998, Perdue was influenced by a Cherokee Stomp Dance in northeastern Oklahoma. She had admired the Cherokee society construction of gender which she used as the subject of this book. Though the title Cherokee Women infers that the book focuses on the lives of only Cherokee women, Perdue actually shines light upon the way women 's roles affected the Native cultures and Cherokee-American relations. In the book, there is a focus on the way that gender roles affected the way different tribes were run in the 1700 and 1800`s. Native
The book I read this month was titled Voices from the Civil War by Milton Meltzer. When the United States defeated Mexico we gained California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado(Pg.1). In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Law came to power. It stated that all slave found in the North where to be returned to there owner. Many found the law to be unjust and refused to obey it(pg.11-13). Abraham Lincoln stated "A House Divided Against Itself Will Not Stand." 1855 Stephen Douglas won the senate seat against Abraham Lincoln(pg.16-20). On October 16, 1859 JOHN Brown with 21 men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia. He was going to try to arm as many slaves as he could. Two of Johns ' sons where killed with eight other men. John and the rest off the men where taken prisoner. Brown was sentenced to death(pg.20-21). The news of the raid made cities of the Southern states call for troops for fear for slave uprisings. Lincoln won his ele for president and the South seceded from the Union. The South the Elected Jefferson Davis as there President(pg. 25-26). Five weeks after Lincoln took the oath of office, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. The Civil War had begun(pg. 33). The
Petalesharo’s writing reflected the treatment of Native Americans during the 1800s. Being a Native American himself, Petalesharo was able to give perspective on a point in history typically viewed from a white man’s opinion. The excerpt “Petalesharo” explains how the Native American was able “to prevent young women captured by other tribes from being sacrificed”, making Petalesharo well liked by the Americans (588). Petalesharo gave the “Speech of the Pawnee Chief” infront of Americans to convey the differences between Native Americans and Americans through emotion, logic, and credibility, which showed how the two groups will never be the same, but still can coexist in the world together.
The Indian Removal Act was signed in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson to remove the Cherokee Indians from their homes and force them to settle west of the Mississippi River. The act was passed in hopes to gain agrarian land that would replenish the cotton industry which had plummeted after the Panic of 1819. Andrew Jackson believed that effectively forcing the Cherokees to become more civilized and to christianize them would be beneficial to them. Therefore, he thought the journey westward was necessary. In late 1838, the Cherokees were removed from their homes and forced into a brutal journey westward in the bitter cold. The hardships of the sufferable journey can be observed by three separate accounts form a Cherokee woman, a Cherokee slave,
Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.
Pocahontas did not save John Smith’s life. Based on the evidence in Paul Lewis’s biography about John Smith, it appears that he was trying to lie to get publicity for “introducing Pocahontas to English language and the Bible”. The suggestion I made about John Smith’s first document before Pocahontas was famous was that John Smith doesn’t mention Pocahontas at all and it says nothing about John Smith being in danger. Then in J.A. Leo Lemay’s exert he says “John Smith had no reason to lie.” Therefore it shows that John might have lied to get famous over something that really didn’t
Most likely, one has heard about the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. However, John Smith was not as loving and kind as he was portrayed. In the letter Address to Captain Smith, the speaker, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’ father, takes a condescending tone and addresses to the English settlers, especially John Smith, how the chief’s generous hospitality has not been appreciated. Literary devices such as rhetorical questions, antithesis, and repetition, diction, and pathos and ethos are exercised by Chief Powhatan to address his purpose and produce it as impactful as fully possible.
One of the most predominant themes in “The Woman Warrior” is finding ones voice. Throughout the book, voice is referenced many times and most often as a disability of the women in Kingston’s memoirs. Being voiceless is not always a defect that one is born with but can also be due to societal pressures and expectations. The women that appeared as voiceless in the book were most often the ones that did not have an identity of their own. They simply led their lives following someone with a voice hoping that they would be able to live under the shelter of other’s voices. Kingston gave voice to women in this book that were not able to speak for themselves and to deny the accusations and taunts of society. She expresses in the beginning of her book how
Many situations in life make your mind set stronger in difficult challenges. Having hope for the better can make a person stronger to achieve for the best. Showing bravery , hope and courage had helped Amari get freedom that she desired. Expressing the history in the book shows challenges that people had gone through in the past.
Mary Rowlandson and Harriet Jacobs narration of their hard experience during captivity and slavery played a very significant role in revealing much about the conditions of women during that time. As most of the critics believe that telling a story from the point view of an oppressed group as women in a male dominant society, will guarantee a new framework of resistance and will break the typical image of women as being submissive and Marginalized. Moreover, these two writers, through their narration were able to endure all the difficulties and the hardships as loosing freedom and the sexual abuse, to seek the rights of all other women, and to fight for the elimination of both slavery and captivity. Harriet Jacobs in her narration of “Incidents in the life of a slave girl written by herself” decided to take the risk and to narrate her own experience as being slave and oppressed by the white system abuse. Although she is not the only one who wrote about slavery and its condition, but as William Andrews said “"Many of the ugly truths of the black woman's condition in slavery had been widely publicized
Showing courage is taking risks, knowing the outcome might not be what you want. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, courage is displayed by many characters. The importance of showing courage is letting the audience of the book know anyone can have courage. For example, Atticus was able to defend a black man, not knowing what people would to him. While Scout stands up for herself, having no idea how Aunt Alexandra will react.
Harriet Jacobs’s tone on her work was forthright. By this I mean that she was direct in other words that she was frank and that she did not hesitate when she shared all of the tragedies that she went through. Jacob’s tone can also be described as reflective, and by this I mean that she illustrated all of her inner thoughts or her personal thoughts and mainly all of her personal emotions.
Tiya Miles’ book, Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, takes an in-depth look into a families struggle in the late 18th and early 19th century. The family made up of a Cherokee warrior; Shoe Boots, an African woman; Doll, and their mixed children William, Polly, Lewis, Elizabeth, and John ShoeBoots. The Shoeboots family faces off with issues of race, and society, often threatening their very family. By presenting numerous historical documents and notes, Miles uses the family’s history to show a larger picture, thousands of others facing the same difficulties as the ShoeBoots. Miles’ novel reflects an abnormal look at the 18 century, “…Cherokee history has often been