Many Native Americans live on reservations that were established in 1851 under President Andrew Jackson. Life on a reservation is not glamorous. A majority of the stories are filled with alcohol, suffering, death, and sadness. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie details some of the experiences that that Native American culture faces. Arnold reflects on the treatment of Native Americans when he states “We Indians have lost everything… We only know how to lose and be lost”(Alexie 173).
The Act led to an array of legal and moral arguments for and against the need to relocate the Indians westward from the agriculturally productive lands of the Mississippi in Georgia and parts of Alabama. This paper compares and contrasts the major arguments for and against the
This was because most of his family had been lost in the War of 1812, where Natives were allies with Brittan. The Washington government in the 1790’s, policy in the United States was mainly used to give Indians their rights, this was violated by Jackson soon after he was elected president. Andrew Jackson, who was in favor of Western expansion, forced Indians to move from their homeland. From the beginning of the United States’ government, Indian tribes were given rights to be treated as nations, and their rights had to be respected by the Constitution. For example, Henry Knox, Secretary of War in 1789, wrote to President George Washington that, “The Indians being the prior occupants, possess the right of the soil.
This improves the reader's understanding of the Americans want for land and helps contextualize the arguments made by Wallace. Lastly, Wallace does a good job of not showing a bias towards or against Jackson. He explains Jackson’s personal reasons for putting the Indian Removal Act in motion, but also presents other points. He explains economic factors and factors from outside of the states that influenced the treatment of Natives. The facts presented in this article agree with the prior consensus of this
The government tried to force assimilation on Native Americans as well as an attempt to “kill the indian, save the man.” These ideas and policies are similar to those popular during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson developed a sense of ‘paternalism’ towards indians and believed he was saving them by forcing them to live out west of the Mississippi river away from white culture. The difference was that Jackson did not believe in assimilation of indians into white culture, he believed they should be kept separate. With the help of the Federal government removing indians from land west of the Mississippi, Americans were
From 1865 onward, Native American culture was greatly changed by the westward expansion of the united states. Government action effectively destroyed native culture. The US was not justified in its ruthless westward expansion because of the harm dealt to the native people and the change in the American economy. One reason that westward expansion was not justified was the damage done to the native people. When the US really started to settle the west in 1865, we would offer chiefs compensation to move their tribes farther west or on to reservations.
They were being taught the American culture. Assimilation was the main reason as to why Native Americans lost their culture. The U.S. expansion greatly affected Native Americans. They lost land, their culture, and many lives.
By 1900, Native Americans had lost half of the land that had been originally given to them. Meanwhile, the farming and assimilating of Native Americans was not successful. By many accounts, Indians were not adjusting to neither their new family dynamic nor farming. The Cheyennes had to learn how to plough, plant, and harvest their new aired properties. One Sioux recalled the struggle men especially had of being stripped of his previous purpose, hunting buffalo, and his tribe, with whom he hunted with.
With the arrival of Anglo-Americans, Native Americans lost much more than just their land. Tribes were forced onto reservations, stripped of their culture, wealth and place in society, with no hope of regaining what they owned unless by complete assimilation. For the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Anglo-Americans continually pushed for Native Americans to abandon their cultures and “savage” ways. However, despite the many attempts to force Natives into Anglo-American culture, many Native Americans found ways to negotiate with the demands of the Anglo-Americans through mainly social, economic and legal means.
Andrew Jackson is known for being a major advocate for the superfluous removal of the Native American tribes. Jackson was being oblivious when he decided that he should ignore the treaties signed with the natives. The president was exhibiting selfishness and naïveté by confiscating the lands of the natives, to which they rightfully owned. Jackson had forced the “five civilized tribes,” which were natives who had adopted their neighbor’s ideas. These tribes were forced to make a long and perilous journey to the west of the Mississippi River.
However, it had little to no effect on change Native Americans society, because “Kill the Indian, save the man” was an unjustified concept to begin with. Therefore, the real Americanization is to enlighten ourselves, instead of assimilation, be perceptive to accept different culture and its people. Let eagles be eagles and crows be crows, let’s not worry about lion becomes ox or ox becomes lion, because everything has its function in this
The main difference that we see between both racial ethnic groups is that white Americans believed that they could strip Native Americans from their culture and civilize them while “nurture could not improve the nature of blacks” (67). Although some Native Americans did try to live under the laws of white Americans, they were eventually betrayed and forced to leave the
Many tribes had cultural ties to the environment itself. When the Americans established the Indian Removal Act, the Native Americans were forced to leave these cultural grounds. Those who refused to leave their original homeland had to conform to the ways of colonial life instead
They were all taught to devalue their own people and traditions. The conditions were brutal as the children were beaten if they spoke their own language. They were not fed well, as many Native children died from malnutrition as well as disease and abuse (Hudson, Lecture 18). “Once I lost a dear classmate. I remember well how she used to mope along at my side, until one morning she could not raise her head from her pillow.
The treaty stated that the indians had to allow travelers into the lands, allow government to establish roads, pay for wrongdoings of their people, and avoid conflict with other tribes, while the US government offered protection from US citizens and annuities if treaty of followed. However, issues with the treaty arose as Indians didn’t have full translation of the terms, an example of the government’s sovereignty ruling over ethics. In 1868, the treaty commision met again to improve the terms of the treaty. The US government established the Great Sioux Reservation where the indians could preside.