Today during class we watched a VHS film about how western expansion affected the Indian Tribes already settled there.
To the Americans, the Indians were an obstacle to progress. Because of this, the Americans believed it to be in their best interests to get rid of the Indians completely to free up the much-needed land. Of course, this angered many of the Indian tribes. One Indian, Spotted Horse, had a vision that foresaw the coming of many white Americans to Indian lands. The settlers were described as ants; too many and never ending. Several white settlers attempted a peace treaty with the Lakota Tribe, known as the Laramie Treaty. In this treaty, the Lakota got a large territory near the Black Hills, which were very sacred to them, and the Americans would stay away. However, one American, General Sherman, warned the Lakota that this treaty was only temporary, and he urged them to adopt the white man's ways to avoid extermination.
This unfair treatment of Indians is one example of many throughout history that showcase the power of the majority. The white Americans believed in progress, so they used their overbearing resources to kick the Indians off their land. This pattern can be seen in several cases in history, which can make a person wonder what's next.
I agree that this is yet another example of dehumanizing the Indians. They had the land first and were promised through the treaty that they could be safe to keep it, however they were completely betrayed. I think you make a good point too about connecting this to today, because it is a very current issue now of minority groups being discriminated against. While it is not to the extent as it was then, it is definitely an issue that still exists.
ReplyDeleteGeneral Sherman was right when he said that the treaty was temporary. General Custer later went into the Black Hills with lots of men under the guise of being a scientific expedition. They were really just exploring the land and seeing what they could find. When they found gold, miners flooded to the area and took the land away from the Lakota.
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ReplyDeleteNow, I do agree that what the Americans and their government did to the Indians was immoral and inhumane, however I'm starting to question whether or not this was necessarily an illegal or unjustifiable thing to do at the time. When white settlers were flooding the great plains in search of opportunity, they genuinely believed in the ideas of Manifest Destiny and whether it was intentional or not, they ended up oppressing Native American culture by taking their land. And because it wasn't against the law to settle in the west after the government allowed individuals to do this (depending on where of course), I think that it was justifiable to an extent for them to do this. However, this wasn't completely justifiable as they did end up hurting an entire race of people, and even though most of the settlers involved weren't aware of the extent to which their actions were hurting others, this excuse doesn't really justify it, and there were still many who did see this just didn't care (due to a prevalent white superiority complex at the time). So to what extent can we blame the Americans for their expansion in the West? Also, to what extent can we attribute our nation's successes to this expansion, and indirectly to the oppression of the Native Americans?
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