The Indians were here before the name American even existed. In Luther Standing Bear’s essay “what the Indian means to America”, he informed us of how great the American Indian is. While many scholars would debate on the true heritage of America’s beginning, The Indian would not join this argument because they alone know the real story of this country we call home. Within this essay the Indians are a breed of people that do not lie down easily. Many would strongly agree with Luther Standing Bear’s definition that the Indian is a true American. The Indians are the roots under America soil because of their strong connection with nature, their spiritual toughness, and their musical influence.…
In the first chapter of “A Different Mirror” by Ronald Takaki, he explains stereotypes and biases of white, Eurocentric attitudes that have been with us since the earliest days of the colonies and settlements here. Beginning with the early colonists and their treatment of the natives, there is a pattern of ruthless acquisition of land and goods. According to Takaki, the early settlers judged native americans as lacking everything identifiable in a civilized society. It never occurred to them that the natives had never been exposed to their european “civilized” ways and did not have knowledge of sophisticated weaponry as their culture did not need such devices of destruction. They did have tools and means of hunting and gathering food but it was all quite unsophisticated compared to european advancements.…
The idea of getting the Indians to moves elsewhere came about on May 30, 1830. The government which was Andrew Jackson and his fellow workers came up with a movement called the Indian Removal Act. This act evicted 46,000 Indians from their property and to move west. Nobody liked the Indians and the government never took them serious. The Indian act was great move to the whites because it left 25 million acres of land. Socially the white seen this as a gain because they needed more land to produce food and slavery. Racism played a big part in the Indian Removal Act. This act helps us understand how landscape played a big part in forming the culture and environment people back then had to adopt to. The Indian Act affected us today because we are treated second to white any…
2. Attempting to coerce Indians into adopting white ways, the government passed the Dawes Act, which eliminated…
National identity is defined as the sense of a nation as a cohesive whole. Sure, the colonists knew that they wanted more freedom and their own government, but their first attempt at such a government, the Articles of Confederation, was a failure. What they wanted as the nation of the United States of America would remain hazy until the founding fathers sat down and wrote the Constitution. The Constitution reflects the emerging sense of the American identity to the greatest original extent: acting as the catalyst of the American identity. Before this identity, there were just 13 states with independent legislation-- all uneasy about the idea of a national overarching government. After the way Britain had treated the Americans, many of the citizens…
Racism was introduced to the Indians by the English colonists. Before the colonist’s arrival, they knew nothing of prejudice. Captives were adopted into the tribe, white prisoners as well as Indians born into another tribe. They were fully accepted as their brothers and sisters. Tribes would even raid other tribes and white settlements in order to increase their numbers. Extramarital miscegenation produced “half-breeds” which…
One of the many myths that the Europeans created about the Native Americans is that they are bloodthirsty, ruthless savages. Oliver La Farge does a good job in his essay of discounting this myth by giving multiple examples of how most groups of Native Americans were a peaceful group of people that just were not quite as well developed socially, economically, technologically, etc. as the Europeans. Because of this lack of development on behalf of the Native Americans, the Europeans looked at the Native Americans as uncivilized savages. The reason that this myth was even created was to justify the slaughtering of thousands of Native Americans at the hands of the Europeans, with the justification being that they were inferior beings, which is another myth brought up. Once the Europeans had conquered the Native Americans, this myth was altered, now proclaiming that the Native Americans were drunken, lazy good-for-nothings. La Farge also discounts this part of the myth in his essay. Going back to the point of the Europeans thinking they were superior a superior race when being compared to the Native Americans, that would happen in any situation if the circumstances were similar because it is human nature to believe that if one race able to conquer another race, then they will believe they are superior. This is one of the continuing myths that have hid…
The American identity involves the freedom to do what you want along with the ability to express yourself in every way imaginable, but unfortunately this is not the reality for people immigrating to our country.…
And so, upon arrival, if a British man came upon a group of Native Americans they didn't necessarily know what they should do since they hadn't otherwise been told. As a result, the settlers ended up just pushing any and all Native Americans that were on their land out of the way, further west, to stop the problem. But as the frontier grew, they soon realized that pushing them constantly west could not go on forever. And thus, the Indians were then put onto reservations, or undesirable land, to end the problems caused by them.…
For example, Ernest Renan stated that the 'blacks' of Africa, the aborigines of Australia, and the 'Indians’ of America were all people who belonged to this 'inferior' race, whereas all the others belonged to the 'superior' white race. When Christopher Columbus set out on his historic journey, and discovered what he then named 'Indians’, he was in fact surprised that these were also people, just like the Europeans that he was familiar with until then. However, these indigenous people were considered to be more 'animals' without a soul, than human beings, and they were eliminated as was seen fit at that time, today, there are very few of these Native Americans in existence any…
The questions that is asked to personally answer in this discussion is do I agree or disagree that Americans need a common identity. I agree with Michael Walzer’s, the man in the textbook, opinion; No, Americans do not need common identity. My opinion is why chance America from the way it was and still is; especially, if America is not doing any harm the way it is. D’Angelo and Dougals (2011) stated that European was the first people to immigrant to America [during the 17th century]. That statement tells me that multiculturalism is what America always has been. Immigration has been the primary cause of the growth of the American population from a little less than 4 million in 1790 to over 270 million in 2000 (Hirschman, 2005, para. 18). If it was not for multiculturalism (immigrants) Americans would have over half of the things they have today. For example, over half of American’s vehicles such as Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen and Mazda are made oversea. Nissan’s, Mazda’s and Honda’s vehicles are made in Japan while Volkswagens are made in Germany. Overall, 50% of Americans buy these vehicles. Canada, Mexico, and China import the most of America’s products. Petroleum products, passenger cars, aluminums, and lumbers are the most items Canada imports to America. We all use these items or have used these items before. Crude oil, car parts, video equipment such as DVD players, and electrical parts are the most things Mexico imports to America. Over 80% of American has DVD players in their home. China imports a lot of things to America such as computers, miscellaneous household goods, toys, household furniture, and footwear. Look at all the things listed that we get from China, there is no way we can do without China’s items. If American has a common identity, we would never be the same. We will not have over half of the things have. In my opinion, if is not broke do not try to fix it.…
Americans come from many different backgrounds and nationalities. Of these Americans are different races and religions, which represent the United States today. With the amount of diverse people in the United States, not everyone agrees with allowing people of different races and religions to mix. Living with people of different cultures can have a major impact on peoples’ lives. People today define themselves and others by the way they look and the things they may do or say. Things such as: Black, White, upper class, lower class, Northerner, Southerner, and Immigrant start to become the labels of others. Everyday people are judged by things such as these cultural characteristics. The different ethnicities in America start to break apart from a whole and become their own. America must learn to become one and stop defining each other separately.…
In chapter 17 of the book, A Different Mirror, written by Ronald Takaki, he discusses what Bill Clinton said in 1997 during his presidency. Clinton says one day we will all be minorities and there will be no majority race in America. He believes this because of all the people who have come from all over to America. In our lecture on April 18th, we discussed the previous film we watched, Come See the Paradise. We also discussed some of the key terms and went over some if anyone had questions. We then were introduced to our next film, The Joy Luck Club. The lecture on April 27th, we mainly discussed previous readings in our text and the movie we just finished. We also went over a preview of the final things due for the course. The film, The Joy…
The identity of America has changed from when the Indians came from Europe to America in 18th century. Where you live has a major affect on your identity from the north to the south. America has defined themselves not by race, religious, and ethnic identity but by common values and individual freedom. America is a salad bowl because there are all different kinds of races, religions, and people from different countries. An individual’s identity is created by where they came from. Everyone comes from different backgrounds. From state to state, everything is different. America is mixed with all different cultures and races. Your identity is created by where you grew up, gender, and your education.…
When the European settlers came to North America, they came with a promise of peace, yet time soon revealed differently. They took the children of the inhabitants (like the Indians and natives) and separated them from their family and people. They were beaten and punished like dogs when they showed signs of their culture (language) and were harassed (raped). They were looked down for their ethnic backgrounds, skin color, language and traditions.…