defending the west
ETHS 160 F
Gerald Padilla
May 1, 2014
Group Paper: Ch. 6 Defending the West
Chapter 6 : Defending the West The expansion from East to West in America that occurred during 1840’s through 1890’s triggered imperative change in the lives of indigenous people. This expansion is also known as the Manifest Destiny in which, Europeans claimed to have the God given right expand the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. During this expansion Americans forced their economic, political, social and religious ways onto the Native Americans. These Indigenous people fought endlessly against this massive and rapid expansion. In the book, “First Peoples,” by Colin G. Calloway more specifically chapter 6: “Defending the West,” it goes into depth about the expansion towards the West. In our opinion Calloway does a great job of explaining and showcasing unbiased information using dates, quotes, historical documents and maps. As a group we also like how Calloway also states the direct and indirect factors that caused the Native American to decline by the millions. Overall, we agree that Calloway presents information from an academic standpoint rather than, producing an emotionally driven preservative.
One of the most notable indirect factor against the Indians would be the diseases brought by the Europeans. As they landed they were not aware that they carried diseases. Many of these settlers had developed immunity from these deadly diseases. Furthermore, Native Americans had never lived with domesticated animals such as the pigs, horses, cattle etc. they were a fragile population against the disease like smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever. Calloway creates a disturbing image in the readers head as a segment from a series of documents entitled “Sixty Years of Kiowa History”, “ So many Assiniboines died that bodies were buried in large pits until the ground froze, after which there was no choice but to throw them
Gerald Padilla
May 1, 2014
Group Paper: Ch. 6 Defending the West
Chapter 6 : Defending the West The expansion from East to West in America that occurred during 1840’s through 1890’s triggered imperative change in the lives of indigenous people. This expansion is also known as the Manifest Destiny in which, Europeans claimed to have the God given right expand the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. During this expansion Americans forced their economic, political, social and religious ways onto the Native Americans. These Indigenous people fought endlessly against this massive and rapid expansion. In the book, “First Peoples,” by Colin G. Calloway more specifically chapter 6: “Defending the West,” it goes into depth about the expansion towards the West. In our opinion Calloway does a great job of explaining and showcasing unbiased information using dates, quotes, historical documents and maps. As a group we also like how Calloway also states the direct and indirect factors that caused the Native American to decline by the millions. Overall, we agree that Calloway presents information from an academic standpoint rather than, producing an emotionally driven preservative.
One of the most notable indirect factor against the Indians would be the diseases brought by the Europeans. As they landed they were not aware that they carried diseases. Many of these settlers had developed immunity from these deadly diseases. Furthermore, Native Americans had never lived with domesticated animals such as the pigs, horses, cattle etc. they were a fragile population against the disease like smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever. Calloway creates a disturbing image in the readers head as a segment from a series of documents entitled “Sixty Years of Kiowa History”, “ So many Assiniboines died that bodies were buried in large pits until the ground froze, after which there was no choice but to throw them