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Essay on Sand Creek massacre
Critical Essay Outline of sand creek massacre
Critical Essay Outline of sand creek massacre
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Battle or Massacre Although the tragedy of Sand Creek is most commonly recognized as a massacre there are those critics and even some books that acknowledge this traumatic event as a battle. This is a part of our history that no one wants to take responsibility for and admit their wrong, instead decided to call it a battle in order to try and justify their actions. Another example is an event that happened just shortly after the Sand Creek Massacre to the Cheyenne tribe was the Battle of Washita River, which also has some controversy on how this should be recognized. What actually determines what a battle is and should these events be recognized as a battle or a massacre? The Sand Creek Massacre was a devastating and unnecessary tragedy …show more content…
Soldiers on horseback came stampeding in, recklessly shooting hundreds of innocent men, women, and children. At the sound of gunfire and screams the Cheyenne began to flee in all directions, men began desperately but unsuccessfully trying to fight back as woman and children ran into the river and down the river banks. Here at the river, as quoted in The Sand Creek Massacre “the Indians frantically began digging in the loose sand with their hands to make holes in which to hide”. Soldiers on horseback rode downstream “pot shooting” the unarmed women and children that were hiding in the holes. The Calvary burned teepees, killed over five hundred horses, and two hundred Cheyenne with only a small percentage of those being warriors. This horrifying and cowardly pursuit by the soldiers finally came to a halt by three o’clock that afternoon, “and the soldiers began straggling back into the village”. After the soldiers had left, the surviving Cheyenne had headed south towards Kansas and Oklahoma only to endure another tragic event four years …show more content…
Yet again a troop of soldiers, this time being Lieutenant Colonel George Custer’s seventh Calvary, marched in on the Cheyenne village and began slaughtering them to the tune of “Garry Owen”. Custer being quote “unpopular with a poor record” located a large village of Cheyenne encamped near the Washita River and without even attempting to identify which group of Cheyenne was in the village he sought blood. If Custer’s arrogance hadn’t consumed him, he would have discovered that they were peaceful people and that their village was on reservation soil, where the commander of Fort Cobb had assured them safety. A white flag was even seen flying from a large lodge pole symbolling peace and “that the tribe was actively avoiding conflict”. Custer had his troops surround the peaceful Cheyenne village the night before and once again soldiers charged into a sleeping village. With the village being asleep, caught off guard, and outnumbered the seventh Calvary was able to kill dozens of Cheyenne just in the first few minutes of this so called “battle”. Only a few of the warriors were able to run to the tree line for cover and return fire on the Calvary. However, within just a few hours Custer and his Calvary had managed to completely destroy an entire village killing over a hundred Cheyenne, most were women and
The Battle of the Little Bighorn is a tragic military battle where a commander’s overconfidence, refusal to listen to advisors, and lack of foresight, led to the sacrifice of over 265 Soldiers. Many leaders within the regiment and Soldiers underneath LTC Custer were not convinced of his leadership and often time doubted his decision-making abilities. Yet despite a blatant outburst that saw him temporarily removed as regimental commander by President Grant, LTC Custer moved forward to command the regiment and ultimately met his demise at the Battle of Little Big Horn. LTC Custer routinely showed a careless disregard for the operations process and his recklessness led to his downfall.
In 1858, warriors from the Spokane, Palouse, and Coeur d’Alene tribes routed an expeditionary force commanded by Colonel Edward Steptoe. The running battle resulted in seven soldiers dead, two soldiers missing, two howitzer cannons buried, the complete loss of the pack train, and three interpreters killed. Colonel Steptoe and his command escaped in the middle of the night nearly out of ammunition and in desperate condition. The mounted infantry known as Dragoons rode through the next day covering approximately seventy miles to the relative safety of the Snake River.
During the Colorado Coal Strike from 1913 to 1914, one of the largest losses of life was the Ludlow Massacre, or sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ludlow, on April 20, 1914. Colorado was the epicenter for mine-related violence in the West. From 1913 to 1918, the United Mine Workers of America launched a full-scale unionization campaign by sending forty-two organizers to the Trinidad coal mine located in Ludlow, Colorado. Ludlow was the largest tent colony in Colorado and a major source of tension during the Colorado Coal Strike. Strikers were asking for better wages and pay for “dead work” (unpaid work necessary for maintaining workable conditions), an eight-hour workday, the right to elect their own checkweighmen, the right to choose what resources they buy and use, and the enforcement of the Colorado Mining Laws. Consequently, hundreds of mine
The journey of exploration to the western territories brought the white man many great things, but they did face some opposition. The US government made plans to explore the Black Hills, after hearing of the gold it contained. This was not an easy task. The Sioux, with strong force, were not giving up their sacred land easily. The only way to gain the territory of the Black Hills was to wage war against the Sioux. The Battle of the Little Big Horn was one battle that the US will never forget. General George Custer led an army of men to take out the Sioux, one of the battalions was completely wiped out including Custer. The Sioux were very strong, but US had a lot more power and technology. Why did we get massacred? This question has been a mystery to many people throughout the years. Sergeant Windolph, of Benteen’s cavalry, and John F. Finerty, from General Crooks cavalry, bring us some personal accounts and memories of this tragedy.
On the 29th o April, 1977 Captain Cook, commander of a British fleet, landed on the eastern shore of Australia, in an attempt to claim the land under the name of Britain. The land was to be claimed by Britain as a land where the British government could send convicts; in an attempt to ease the struggle in the over flowing prisons. Upon Cooks arrival, he was ordered to follow three rules of claiming a foreign land. They were;
...ons with each other. I have an eyewitness account from Captain Smith stating that he saw the armed Indians in the Conestoga village; and I am sure that the Captain was not the only one to see this. Lt. Governor Robert Morris's Proclamation of War clearly states what is to be done to those who collaborate with the enemy. The Paxton Boys mere carried out the orders contained in the Proclamation of War. Hence, in the eyes of this man, I will forever be indebted to them for their brave service of justice to his Majesty.
The West's most famous battle pitted glory seeking Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry against 3,000 warriors under the leadership of Chief Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull had been told to report to the Sioux reservation by the end of January 1876. when he chose to stay on his land that had earlier been promised to him and his people in a treaty, the government, or mostly the War Department declared Sitting Bull and his people hostile and planned a large scale military advance.
I wonder if the waters at the Little Bighorn River was as red as the hillsides in Montana after one of the most tragic events in American history took place. How could a bunch of savages defeat a highly trained and highly mobile cavalry officer and his command? On June 25, 1876, Col. George A. Custer and the 7th cavalry disobeyed orders and attacked Chiefs Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull and his Indian warriors. Was it Col. Custer’s larger than life attitude that lead him and his men to their deaths? Was it a heroic last stand? What do we know about the troopers of the 7th Cavalry? Were they the crack troopers of legend? Did it even happen the way the history books tell us? The Grandfather of Joe Medicine Crow said that there were panic
The Wounded Knee Massacre was final result of the growing problems between the Lakota Sioux and the American Government. After the Civil War tension began to escalate and ended on December 29, 1890. When the government took over most of the Lakota land and forced them into reservations the Indian way of life was destroyed and the large bison herds were hunted until they were endangered. The life in reservations was also difficult since many of the promises made by the government remained unfulfilled: “Promises to increase rations, made by U.S. officials in 1889 in order to secure signatures to reduce Sioux treaty lands by half, and to create six separate reservations, had proved false. Instead, rations had been cut precipitously, and the people were nearly starving.” (Robertson 1). Treaties which were signed to protect the reservations from outsiders were also ignored by the government. There were also other factors which led to the killing such as the Ghost Dance, Murder of Chief Sitting Bull, and the struggle with evolved into a massacre.
There were many battles in the American-Indian War. The Sand Creek Massacre, Fetterman Massacre, The Red River War, The Battle of Little Bighorn, and the Battle of Wounded Knee were all a part of the Plains Indian Wars. These battles stretched from Northern Texas to Southern South Dakota. The five battles were fought for similar reasons. The U.S. continued to move West, and ignored traditional Native American heritage. The Native Americans became frustrated and attempted to reclaim their land. The Sand Creek Massacre and Fetterman Massacre showed the military power of the United States, and the Native American Tribes. The massacres are clear representations of how brutal the U.S. and Native Americans are during war. The Battle of
on top of it all, murdering those who seemed a threat to his church or
The Natives faced challenges, and the themes differ with each other in many different ways.Two of the conflicts are Man vs Society and Man vs Nature. Man vs Society is when you are fighting against society and no one is listening. Man vs Nature is when you are fighting against nature and no one is listening. Man vs Society starts with soldiers. Not a soldier was left alive. This was the fight the men called the Fetterman Massacre. The Indians called it the Battle Of the Hundred Slain. Spotted Tail sent for Red Cloud, but the Oglala Chief again declined sending Man-Afraid-Of-His-Horses to represent him. Someone shouted a command and then Private William Gentles a soldier guard following behind them thrust his bayonet deep into Crazy Horse’s abdomen. There were multiple deaths in Saga of the Sioux. Some were of the Sioux and some were of the enemies. Crazy Horse died that night, September 5, 1877, at the age of 35. At dawn the next day, the soldiers presented the dead chief to his father and mother.
On June 25, 1876, The Battle of Little Bighorn took place near the Black Hills in Montana. This was one of the most controversial battles of the 20th century and the line between good guys and bad guys was grey at best. Gen. George Armstrong Custer (reduced to LTC after the civil war) had 366 men of the 7thU.S. Cavalry under his command that day. Sitting Bull (A Medicine Man) led 2000 braves of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes (Klos, 2013). At the conclusion of the battle, the stories of the Indians savagery were used to demonize their culture and there were no survivors from the 7thcavalry to tell what really happened.
The Jonestown Massacre is among the most brutal cult slayings in the history of America. However, what exactly occurred at Jonestown is ambiguous. Did the members of the People’s Temple unanimously agree to commit suicide by cyanide poisoning or were they forced with guns to give up their lives by drinking poison and receiving lethal injections? “The Black Hole of Guyana- The Untold Story of the Jonestown Massacre” by researcher, John Judge, and A Thousand Lives by journalist and nonfiction writer, Julia Scheeres, both thoroughly discuss the events of Jonestown using empirical evidence. Evidence shows that the Jonestown Massacre was not a mass suicide, like it was portrayed by the United States government, but a diabolical plan to murder its
The Chief was tied to a tree and beaten to death by the miners. This wasn’t the first of these kind of situations to take place. Throughout the West Americans were constantly breaking their treaty with the Apache, which led to them revolting. The Apache mainly did kidnappings, cattle killings, and raids against the U.S military. Fighting mainly took place in the Midwest. The war resulted in a victory for the United States, the Chiricahua losing their leader and increased hostilities between the U.S and the Apache. There were other major wars related to the “Apache Wars” which was the Texas Indian Wars.