Character Narrative - Adsila “Blossom” Age: 35 The Civil War was a tragic event, that caused trouble for everyone in the States, but it was us, Native Americans, who paid the ultimate price. Many of our tribes were split up due to the war and were forced to move West. Although a few families, such as mine, stayed here. Coming from the Catawba nation in the South, my husband, Gawonii (“he is speaking”) and my son, Wohali (“eagle”) were passionate about the war. I tried to convince them to stay home, to be safe and not put their lives in danger. But no, they were being stubborn “powerful” Native men, and decided to go anyway. And not only did my husband and son leave me by myself in our house, they went against each other on separate sides of the war. My husband was loyal to the Confederates in the South but my son didn’t want to follow the norms of our tribe, and went on to fight with the Union soldiers up North. I was devasted to see the men in my life leave me and not only that go on separate sides against each other. In our tradition we never divide, we are supposed to be one family with …show more content…
The federal government treated all Indians, regardless of their loyalty or disloyalty, the same. We lost so much land base as a result of the war, and it didn't matter whether we stayed loyal to the Union or went with the Confederacy. It was a good excuse to take our land, and that's exactly what they did. So as of right now, I am simply trying to find a living for myself. I don’t simply want to be a homemaker or caretaker like I used to be. I want to help in the efforts of abolishign slavery. I want to finally do what I believe is right, that’s why I have my dreamcatcher; to represent all the places I will go and all the dreams I will accomplish. A lot of people think that we women are not leaders, but we are the heart of the nation, we are the center of our home, and it is us who decide how it will
Hunt Jackson was one of the very few whites to sympathize with the mistreatment of the indians. felt strongly had very contrasting approach. Stated in the excerpt, “... among these three hundred bands of indians one which has not suffered cruelly at the hands either of the government or of white settlers.” Simply put, the lives of all indians had been affected due to the lies and broken promises made by the government. In order for the lives of Indians to change, cheating, robbing, and breaking promises must cease. Hunt Jackson differentes the argument compared to Chief Jackson when it comes to the prescription of what needs to happen to the Indians. It was supported that not all Indians at the same time should be given freedom. Owing to the fact that almost all Indians were a “barrier to civilization”, for Western civilization was unknown as a daily practice. In addition, there is much distrust that can be viewed and sights of possible danger toward the whites. All in all, Chief Joseph and Helen Hunt Jackson shared common beliefs toward the fact that Indians deserve equal treatment, and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, while Helen hunt Jackson opposes the idea of full citizenship to all indians, Chief Joseph finds it a necessity to be at peace and
The American Civil War is one of the biggest turning points in American history. It marks a point of major separation in beliefs from the North and the South and yet somehow ends in a major unification that is now called the United States of America. It still to date remains the bloodiest war in American History. The book “This Republic of Suffering, death and the American Civil War” by Drew Gilpin Faust better explains the change in thought from the American people that developed from the unexpected mass loss in soldiers that devastated the American people. Throughout this review the reader will better understand the methods and theory of this book, the sources used, the main argument of the book, the major supporting arguments, and what the
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
The cries from Americans did not stop President Van Buren from giving General Winfield Scott orders to remove the Cherokees. The Cherokees, despite their grossly horrific predicament, still were proud. They were once a great people, and they maintained that they would remain that way.
Lakota Woman Essay In Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog argues that in the 1970’s, the American Indian Movement used protests and militancy to improve their visibility in mainstream Anglo American society in an effort to secure sovereignty for all "full blood" American Indians in spite of generational gender, power, and financial conflicts on the reservations. When reading this book, one can see that this is indeed the case. The struggles these people underwent in their daily lives on the reservation eventually became too much, and the American Indian Movement was born. AIM, as we will see through several examples, made their case known to the people of the United States, and militancy ultimately became necessary in order to do so.
His family connection to the Civil War gave him a sense of pride. Modern Americans should remember and memorialize the Civil War by knowing that the event determined what kind of nation the United States would be. The Civil War is the most significant conflict in American history; it had a revolutionary, social, and political impact that continues to be felt today. We were taught the civil war was primarily fought because of slavery but in truth “there were many causes of the civil war, including differences between northern and southern states on the idea of slavery, as well as trade, tariffs, and states rights.”
The Indian removal was so important to Jackson that he went back to Tennessee to have the first negotiations in person. He gave the Indians a couple simple alternatives. Alternatives like to submit to state authority, or migrate beyond the Mississippi. Jackson Offered generous aid on one hand and while holding the threat of subjugation in the other. The Chickasaws and Choctaws submitted quickly. The only tribe that resisted until the end was the Cherokees. President Jackson’s presidency was tarnished by the way the U.S. government handled the Native Americans. Although financially, and economically Jackson truly was a good leader, some people view him in a negative way because of the “Indian Removal Act.”
The American Indians were promised change with the American Indian policy, but as time went on no change was seen. “Indian reform” was easy to promise, but it was not an easy promise to keep as many white people were threatened by Indians being given these rights. The Indian people wanted freedom and it was not being given to them. Arthur C. Parker even went as far as to indict the government for its actions. He brought the charges of: robbing a race of men of their intellectual life, of social organization, of native freedom, of economic independence, of moral standards and racial ideals, of his good name, and of definite civic status (Hoxie 97). These are essentially what the American peoples did to the natives, their whole lives and way of life was taken away,
The American Civil War was all a blur for many american soldiers. Shots were fired, lives were lost, and battles were won. The only ground that John Dunbar had was the Sioux tribe. They lived to protect, sacrifice, and fight for what they had. But little did Dunbar know what he was getting into. It was all guns and whistles from there on.
In this article Robert H. Clancy stated: “My family put 1 men and boys into the Revolutionary War, and I am sure they and their women and children did not suffer so bitterly and sacrifice until it hurt to establish the autocracy of bigotry and intolerance which exists in many quarters to-day in this country.”(pg 3 p 2)and he described how some men in the Revolutionary War risked their lives for equality and their wives and children didn’t endure the amount of pain they encountered. He also states: “ My mother’s father fought in the Civil War, leaving six small children in Detroit when he marched away to the southern battlefields to fight against racial distinctions and protect his country.” This explains how his grandfather fought in the
In the essay, “The Trail of Tears” by author Dee Brown explains that the Cherokees isn’t Native Americans that evaporate effectively from their tribal land, but the enormous measure of sympathy supported on their side that was abnormal. The Cherokees process towards culture also the treachery of both states and incorporated governments of the declaration and promises that contrived to the Cherokee nation. Dee Brown wraps up that the Cherokees had lost Kentucky and Tennessee, but a man who once consider their buddy named Andrew Jackson had begged the Cherokees to move to Mississippi but the bad part is the Indians and white settlers never get along together even if the government wanted to take care of them from harassment it shall be incapable to do that. The Cherokee families moved to the West, but the tribes were together and denied to give up more land but Jackson was running for President if the Georgians elects him as President he agreed that he should give his own support to open up the Cherokee lands for establishment.
Unconcerned about the legitimacy of their actions, European colonisers took lands unjustifiably from indigenous people and put original inhabitants who had lived on the land for centuries in misery. The United States also shared similarities in dealing with native people like its distant friends in Europe. Besides the cession of vast lands, the federal government of the United States showed no pity, nor repentance for the poor Cherokee people. Theda Perdue, the author of “Cherokee Women and Trail of Tears,” unfolds the scroll of history of Cherokee nation’s resistance against the United States by analyzing the character of women in the society, criticizes that American government traumatized Cherokee nation and devastated the social order of
The American Civil war is considered to be one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader prospect of unifying the states and hence leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic”, the author Tony Horwitz gives an account of his year long exploration through the places where the U.S. Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling around the South in search of Civil War relics, battle fields, and most importantly stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War carries two meanings in Tony Horwitz’s thoughtful and entertaining exploration of the role of the American Civil War in the modern world of the South. The first meaning alludes to Horwitz’s personal interest in the war. As the grandson of a Russian Jew, Horwitz was raised in the North but early in his childhood developed a fascination with the South’s myth and history. He tells readers that as a child he wrote about the war and even constructed a mural of significant battles in the attic of his own home. The second meaning refers to regional memory, the importance or lack thereof yet attached to this momentous national event. As Horwitz visits the sites throughout the South, he encounters unreconstructed rebels who still hold to outdated beliefs. He also meets groups of “re-enactors,” devotees who attempt to relive the experience of the soldier’s life and death. One of his most disheartening and yet unsurprising realizations is that attitudes towards the war divide along racial lines. Too many whites wrap the memory in nostalgia, refusing...
I found the author and guest speaker David C. Reavis’ presentation interesting and look forward to reading more about his Confederate heritage from my own copy of “Upon These Steps”. I also felt a sense of pride watching as new members, especially the young man and his father, were initiate in to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Pride and respect for family lineage and history can be a significant shared human experience.