The Long Bitter Trail Summary
The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians by Anthony F.C. Wallace is a brief account of Andrew Jackson's mistreatment of natives and his Native American removal policy, known as the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This policy lead to the relocation and death of thousands of Native Americans and was later known as the “Trail of Tears”. Wallace reveals Jackson's role (and strong arming) in government policies as well as the racist attitudes towards Native Americans by whites who desired their land.
Providing a fresh perspective, Wallace argues against previous historical claims that indicated Native American were a peoples who needed to be civilized or who were a threat. Wallace states, that the focus of the book is to look …show more content…
He explains how the area east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes were vast temperate lands, with forests and meadows that were home to many separate tribes of Indians. Native Americans in the southeast lives were changed for the worse as settlers spread diseases such as smallpox. Interactions with Northeastern Indians started out peacefully due to the desire to trade goods, but things changed after a series of wars took place between the European powers of France and Britain. Sadly these wars were being fought over the land that was occupied by Indians, thus placing them squarely in the middle of the conflicts. Unfortunately, the U.S. continued to wage land wars with the Northeastern Native Americans, eventually defeating them. Wallace tells us that once these wins occurred, the U.S focused on their next targets, the "more civilized" southeastern Indians …show more content…
The natives readily became the victims of the federal government and its policies. The government “allotment system” had detrimental effects on the Native Americans, that included substandard education, decreased health, and poverty (119). Wallace finishes by saying, "Two hundred years of national indecision about how the United States should deal with it's Native Americans have not come to an end" (120). Summing up the narrative that Native Americans today are still, under the pressure of an off keel system that subjects them to racism and
Providing a fresh perspective, Wallace argues against previous historical claims that indicated Native American were a peoples who needed to be civilized or who were a threat. Wallace states, that the focus of the book is to look …show more content…
He explains how the area east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes were vast temperate lands, with forests and meadows that were home to many separate tribes of Indians. Native Americans in the southeast lives were changed for the worse as settlers spread diseases such as smallpox. Interactions with Northeastern Indians started out peacefully due to the desire to trade goods, but things changed after a series of wars took place between the European powers of France and Britain. Sadly these wars were being fought over the land that was occupied by Indians, thus placing them squarely in the middle of the conflicts. Unfortunately, the U.S. continued to wage land wars with the Northeastern Native Americans, eventually defeating them. Wallace tells us that once these wins occurred, the U.S focused on their next targets, the "more civilized" southeastern Indians …show more content…
The natives readily became the victims of the federal government and its policies. The government “allotment system” had detrimental effects on the Native Americans, that included substandard education, decreased health, and poverty (119). Wallace finishes by saying, "Two hundred years of national indecision about how the United States should deal with it's Native Americans have not come to an end" (120). Summing up the narrative that Native Americans today are still, under the pressure of an off keel system that subjects them to racism and