From the beginning of the United States’ government, Indian tribes were given rights to be treated as nations, and their rights be respected according to the Constitution. By this, the US government confirmed the authority of Indians on American land as they are the “prior occupants”, and their land should never be taken unless they agree or they lose in a war. Although the US government sounds just and fair in attitude, for years, Indians were intentionally tricked into treaties that ceded huge amount of territory to the whites, But it only took one Cherokee child to trade gold. This is what started the removal of the Cherokees.…
From the beginning of the United States, Native Americans were given rights to act as independent nations, and those rights were to be respected by following the Constitution. For example, Henry Knox, the Secretary of War in 1789, wrote to President George Washington, “The Indians, being the prior occupants, possess the right of the soil. It cannot be taken from them unless by their free consent, or by the right of conquest in case of a just war,” (Document B). Because of this, the US allowed the Natives on American land their independent nations as they were the “prior occupants,” and their land should’ve never be taken unless they agreed to it or they were to lose it in a war. Although the United States’ policy sounded fair, for many years, the Natives were intentionally tricked into treaties that ceded huge amount of territory to the whites.…
Cook, Robert. "Racism: An Open Wound for Native Students." Education Week, 10 Mar. 2017, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/06/healing-the-wounds-of-racism-old-and.html.…
I agree with the statement, “The removal of Native Americans from their lands by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 violated their political, legal, and human rights.” The United States’ government was selfish for themselves with the prospering of themselves; the Indians were very understanding to all the treaties the United States forced them to agree with, until the Indian Removal Act; and the spectators of everything that was happening made the Americans look like enemies.…
Unity is something that is appreciated by every individual on this planet as it is help to those from different cultures, religion and race to overcome their differences and to work side by side with understanding and devotion. Acceptance plays an enormous role but as soon as an individual is tolerant to these differences, a great amount of possibilities is opened for him. But what if someone is unable to withstand or accept these changes? This is where the more serious issues rise. ‘Racism is the incapability to accept others for who they are’, which leads to some serious consequences such as prejudice, hate crimes, and could end in assault leading to death. Racism is a worldwide issue in today’s society and most people are trying to fight against it. My essay is composed of racism in Hawaii to which I believe to a certain extent there is.…
If we look back to a time that was before the “discovery” of American, we can see the beginnings of racism by Christopher Columbus. This man came to these lands and forced the Native American to leave their land, so his “white” people could have it instead; Then again in 1830 with the Indian Removal Act. This removal included many members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, among others in the United States. These people were forced to leave their homelands and be put on reservation in so called, Indian Territories, which were located in the eastern sections of what is now called Oklahoma. Many Native Americans suffered from diseases and starvation en route to their destinations; causing many deaths- including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee. Furthermore, when we think of slavery, our minds create images of black men and women, even children, cruelly shoved aboard ships from Africa, or of them stooped over picking cotton in a Southern field. But, what we are missing is the thousands of American Indians in shackles, marching to ports in Boston, Charleston, and other areas; then shipped to other ports throughout the world. The Indian slave trade was ever-present in early America.…
“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race…From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population.”-Martin Luther King Jr. In this quote, King is referring to the policy that the United States encompassed to take hold of the land pertaining to the Native Americans, The Indian Removal Act. But even before “The trail of tears” occurred the Indians suffered at the hands of the early European discoverers. It was in the year 1492 that the newly kings of a centralized Spain sent forth an expedition that would result in the European…
A country that was based on equal treatment, tolerance for others, and fought for their own basic human rights, stripped the Native Americans of their own and degraded their culture. The Indian Removal act was genocide. It represented a time when Americans were hypocritical; while they demanded rights, they denied other races the same treatment. The legacy that was left behind from the Indian Removal act was one of destruction, there is nothing that justifies the disdain and selfishness behind the federal government’s approval of the act, or the support it received from the white…
The history of the Native Americans didn’t start when Columbus bumped into the Americas, “… it began when their ancestors fell from the sky, emerged from under the earth, were transformed from ash trees into people, entered the world through a hollow log…” (pg. 14). Many people who don’t know any better, or just don’t research, still believe that before any outsiders came, that Natives lived horrible lives; never had enough food, weren’t that intelligent, and had no concept of “civilized life.” Of course the reality was the complete opposite; numerous generations of Indians had already inhabited the area, developed survival techniques to suit particular areas, established small/large communities, appointed leaders, kept in contact “with their…
When exploring both the historical oppression of Native Americans and the race’s current challenges, historians can recognize how Indians are living with the remnants of their past. The United States growth as a nation was at the expense of Native Americans, who suffered through genocide, dislocation, and violence from the white man. The historical trauma Native Americans endured has a cumulative emotional and psychological toll, which the ethnicity experiences today. For many tribes, their history is an obstacle for prospective changes and advancement. In the future, to assist Indians in surmounting the trials and tribulations they face, American citizens must spread awareness of the challenges of life on an Indian reservation and aide the group. The United States must finally disregard the stereotypical image of Indians and instead allow Native Americans to win the battle to maintain their cultural identity and traditions. With determination and resilience, in the future, Native Americans can break through the historical barriers of oppression and enjoy financial, familial, and cultural…
I am writing this letter to you with the intent of helping you understand the finer points of what it has been to be a Native American throughout history. Our experience has been less than desirable since the 1400’s when Columbus arrived with his men and 17 ships. According to Churchill (1994), upon Columbus’s arrival, he was quick to enslave and exterminate the Native Americans; the Spanish colonists instilled their “superiority” through these acts. But it wasn’t just explorers that assisted in the demise of the American Indians, the European colonists killed 50%-90% of every tribe in North America from diseases such as Smallpox and Influenza (Delema, 2005). When the Europeans began coming over they viewed America as land for the taking. Native Americans were viewed as “savages” and needed to be eliminated (Delema, 2005).…
Native Americans have three underlining issues; nonnative crime, terminology differences and systemic and institutional racism, in America since 1492 to present that continue to plague Native culture and society. Research will show America, has shown neglect, disregarded, and systematically eliminated native Americans from their home and culture. Native Americans in the Americas have pushed deeper and father into no man's land in such haste and with abhorrence that it have society has robbed Native of identity, home and has embedded a negative image of what was and still is a great peoples.…
Throughout the history of the United States of America, many different groups of people have been abused, exploited, oppressed and discriminated in some way ever since Christopher Columbus “discovered” this land in 1492. One group in particular are the Native Americans, who in fact were here long before the infamous Christopher Columbus had set foot in what he thought was India. Native Americans have had their land and homes burned to the ground, they have inured the Trail of Tears and many more sickening atrocities. Atrocities that have resulted in psychological and financial set backs of the Native American people that still linger today. Monetary reparations have been proposed as a solution to repay the Native Americans for these atrocities,…
The Native Americans were treated horribly, when they trusted the Americans. The U.S., stole their horses and many died from diseases. This information was gotten from the article called “Allow the Cherokee to Stay,” it stated “Their horses were stolen and hundreds died from disease and malnutrition on the journey.” This quote means that they agreed to move nicely and calmly, but the U.S., still did not treat them fair. That’s not all, when one tribe called the Lakota Nation agreed to move westward because there would be food, water, and land. The U.S., tricked them and they went to imprisonment camps. This was in the article called “ The Betrayal of Native Americans”, it said, “Instead, many Lakota live on reservations (or prisoner of war camps, as they might be called) like Pine Ridge, which is annually one of the most impoverished places in the United States.” This states that Native Americans agree to move where it would be better, but the U.S. still treated them horribly. It was not only the U.S., it was also Canda. The Canadians agreed to help the native groups with money because the U.S. and Canada were the richest nations back then. Instead, the Canadians poisoned their water, soil, and air. Some of the native groups were from the first nations. They were the Inuit, Métis tribe, and others . This was in the article called, “The Betrayal of Native Americans”. The quote stated, “Instead of honoring its…
Simply put, a representative democracy is a system of government in which all eligible citizens vote on representatives to pass laws for them. As Americans, we elect a president and members of Congress, and also elect local and state officials. All of these elected officials supposedly listen to the populace and do what is best for the nation, state or jurisdiction as a whole. Is this real autotomy of choice? If so does the hypocritical platform that America was founded upon affect our present day lives? Voting officials into office to make decisions for us does not constitute real freedom or liberty of choice. Every decision made in contemporary American government is affected and altered by the way American freedom was developed.…