Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West was written by Dee Brown and publish in 1970. It was the first book that really began to change the way that Americans viewed how the American west came to be. It is about how the Native Americans were massacred so that the white men and women could have the land to themselves and in peace.
The Native Americans tried to retaliate and put up a fight but they were little match for the white men with their guns and large numbers of men. They were given plague ridden blankets and were tricked out of their food and their homes. Try as they might to protect the land that they and their forefathers had raised their families on and lived off of they soon met their end. Very few Native Americans remain today do to the masses that were killed by the white men.
Those that were not directly murdered were starved or sold into slavery. Many died within the first year of settlers landing on the terrain because their systems were not used to the foreign diseases that were being brought over by ship with the many new settlers. It was truly a horrendous occurrence. The time a whole culture and race of people were almost entirely destroyed by another.
After a conflict both parties should apologize and make amends. It does no good to hold hatred in ones heart. To hold hatred in the heart of an entire civilization against another is even worse. After a conflict though one party may have appeared to be victorious it is really not so. Nothing is really ever gained from conflict but many things can be lost.
Those that could dwell upon an event such as this in history and be proud that the white men won are merely savages themselves. There is no trace of decency in such a thought process. No race or culture ever deserves to be entirely demolished because they do not follow the trends of the others around them. The battles that occurred where so many Native American lives were taken were unjustly weighted. The white men acted barbaric in claiming the western territory of the United States.
No one party won the "conflict" between the Native Americans and the white men. An entire race was nearly massacred and ceased to ever exist as it was before. All people lost. They lost a race of humans, of people. No amount of apologies to those remaining could ever make what happened right. This cannot be fixed or changed. The actions of those in years past will forever leave a scar on the present and future.
War does not solve anything. Peaces treaties and compromises that come after wars when both parties are too exhausted to carry on solve problems. War causes more issues than what began them in the first place. Nothing is solved when one race of people tries to ruthlessly kill another. All that results are large body counts and human beings lying dead, scattered across open fields. What occurred between the Native Americans and the white men was not even a war. It was one race taking complete advantage of another and inflicting suffering equal to that of another holocaust. It is taught that the Holocaust was such a terrible occurrence because Hitler tried to persecute an entire race. What the white men did to the Native Americans really was not that different.
The United States can not do anything at this point to reconcile what occurred. It is a wound that runs deep and will be omnipresent as long as the nation is in existence. No one came out of the conflict victorious. The government may believe that cutting checks will help erase the past but this is not so. After the Holocaust checks were issued to many of the Jewish people that underwent some of the torture but managed to survive. Many of those people did not even cash the checks and those that did, did so with bitterness in their hearts. Money can not erase hatred. It took hatred to fuel the annihilation of an innocent culture. Everyone lost and only despair can remain.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Authors Intent
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West was written by Dee Brown. It is the very true and blunt story of how the American West came to be. It tells the tale of how the United States of America won its western portion by annihilating an entire culture.
Through this book Dee Brown was able to show what life was really like during this time for the average Native American. They were forced to comply with the white mans every wish. They had no choice in the matter because they were by far out numbered and out done in weapons as well.
He wrote this book to accurately depict what life was really like for the Native Americans. Up until this book was published many modern Americans had no idea as to what really occurred and how the west was really won. To say "won" is not even entirely correct, stolen would be a better choice.
It was the first novel to really show Native Americans as a race that was reasonably harmless and defenseless but was almost entirely destroyed regardless. He was able to use firsthand accounts to describe the injustice that was inflicted. Brown detailed why the Native Americans were so attached to the land, how so many died, and why the white men so desperately wanted possession of the land for themselves.
Dee Brown wrote Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to set the record straight. He corrected all of the common misconceptions that had settled in over time. Very few people remained that could give an accurate account of the happenings and Brown believed that everyone should know what really occurred between the Native Americans and the white men and how the terrain was really gained.
Through this book Dee Brown was able to show what life was really like during this time for the average Native American. They were forced to comply with the white mans every wish. They had no choice in the matter because they were by far out numbered and out done in weapons as well.
He wrote this book to accurately depict what life was really like for the Native Americans. Up until this book was published many modern Americans had no idea as to what really occurred and how the west was really won. To say "won" is not even entirely correct, stolen would be a better choice.
It was the first novel to really show Native Americans as a race that was reasonably harmless and defenseless but was almost entirely destroyed regardless. He was able to use firsthand accounts to describe the injustice that was inflicted. Brown detailed why the Native Americans were so attached to the land, how so many died, and why the white men so desperately wanted possession of the land for themselves.
Dee Brown wrote Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to set the record straight. He corrected all of the common misconceptions that had settled in over time. Very few people remained that could give an accurate account of the happenings and Brown believed that everyone should know what really occurred between the Native Americans and the white men and how the terrain was really gained.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee 1st Thematic Question
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West is a novel written by Dee Brown. This book tells just how the western portion of America came to be. For many years before the white men stepped foot on their soil the land had been inhabited by Native Americans. There are many stories taught to young children today about how the Native Americans and the white men coexisted and shared land and food peaceably but these tales are completely falsified.
Native Americans had claimed title of the land long before Christopher Columbus went sailing. It was where they and their ancestors and lived and were to be buried. It was where they raised their families before American settlers began to sail over.
The United States of America has come full circle in its failure in the treatment of Native Americans. They killed them in great masses by overpowering them or by bringing over diseases that their immune systems had no tolerance for. The Native Americans would fight in battles with spears and hand made weapons and the white men would storm in with firearms and entirely demolish them. They were no match for such technology.
During some instances with trading the white men could be known to give the Native Americans plague ridden blankets. Blankets that normally would have been burned, were handed casually to them with murderous intentions. They wanted full possession of the land that they were pursuing and would stop at nothing to achieve it, even if it meant wiping out an entire race.
They treated the entire American Indian race as though it was composed entirely of brutish beasts and savages. It was true that they may have been slightly undomesticated and religiously misguided nothing can excuse the way that they were treated. The white men completely dehumanized them and treated them in an almost animal like fashion.
Even today the art of how to handle another culture has not been properly learned by the United States of America. The government continues even today to handle them poorly. The failed treatment of the Native American culture on the behalf of the United States of America has simply come full circle. Many years ago we starved and beat them out of their land. We killed them in huge masses until their population dwindled down to all that remains today.
Today the United States fails in the way that it handles the Native American culture still. As compensation for all of the negative occurrences in the past there are now reservations where they can live within the United States. The majority of these reservations resemble trailer parks and the people within live off of government money. There is a huge rate of alcoholism within these reservations. The United States is only hurting them by enabling them to casually toss aside daily life. If the government were to handle it properly then perhaps the Native Americans would be served with a choice, they can either be incorporated entirely into daily life as an American or perhaps they could set aside a piece of territory for the Native Americans and their other option can be to go live freely on that land as their ancestors once did.
The United States of America failed in its treatment of Native Americans years ago and still continues to today. By first trying to annihilate an entire race and by now enabling them to become productive the nation has brought only harm upon this foreign culture. The United States succeeded in nothing short of destroying the entire Native American culture as it was once known.
Native Americans had claimed title of the land long before Christopher Columbus went sailing. It was where they and their ancestors and lived and were to be buried. It was where they raised their families before American settlers began to sail over.
The United States of America has come full circle in its failure in the treatment of Native Americans. They killed them in great masses by overpowering them or by bringing over diseases that their immune systems had no tolerance for. The Native Americans would fight in battles with spears and hand made weapons and the white men would storm in with firearms and entirely demolish them. They were no match for such technology.
During some instances with trading the white men could be known to give the Native Americans plague ridden blankets. Blankets that normally would have been burned, were handed casually to them with murderous intentions. They wanted full possession of the land that they were pursuing and would stop at nothing to achieve it, even if it meant wiping out an entire race.
They treated the entire American Indian race as though it was composed entirely of brutish beasts and savages. It was true that they may have been slightly undomesticated and religiously misguided nothing can excuse the way that they were treated. The white men completely dehumanized them and treated them in an almost animal like fashion.
Even today the art of how to handle another culture has not been properly learned by the United States of America. The government continues even today to handle them poorly. The failed treatment of the Native American culture on the behalf of the United States of America has simply come full circle. Many years ago we starved and beat them out of their land. We killed them in huge masses until their population dwindled down to all that remains today.
Today the United States fails in the way that it handles the Native American culture still. As compensation for all of the negative occurrences in the past there are now reservations where they can live within the United States. The majority of these reservations resemble trailer parks and the people within live off of government money. There is a huge rate of alcoholism within these reservations. The United States is only hurting them by enabling them to casually toss aside daily life. If the government were to handle it properly then perhaps the Native Americans would be served with a choice, they can either be incorporated entirely into daily life as an American or perhaps they could set aside a piece of territory for the Native Americans and their other option can be to go live freely on that land as their ancestors once did.
The United States of America failed in its treatment of Native Americans years ago and still continues to today. By first trying to annihilate an entire race and by now enabling them to become productive the nation has brought only harm upon this foreign culture. The United States succeeded in nothing short of destroying the entire Native American culture as it was once known.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Frederick Douglass Thematic Question
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in the year 1818 in Maryland. He was a slave for many years. His mother had been African American and a slave her entire life and his father was her master and a white man. He worked as a slave until in his later life he escaped and was freed.
Douglass wrote an autobiography called The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. His book was published in 1845. Even in the 19th century it was still facing controversy. For every white man the reveled in slavery there were at least two African American men that suffered on account of it. Slavery was a terrible thing.
The very idea that something so terrible could occur for so long in the land of the "free" is really sickening. But the slaves had no voice in the matter and the white men and women were fine with the matter at hand and the few that were not knew better than to tackle such a subject. To so much as teach a slave to read was a punishable offense.
Slavery was a long time in the making and it took a large effort to end it. Frederick Douglass was just one of the many men and women that contributed to the movement. Even in the 21st century racism is still present. You will not find it in the great masses that it could be found in during the 19th century but certainly it still exists.
The very idea that someone should be punished because they have a different colored skin pigment is barbaric. It is difficult to even fathom such a heinous crime today in a world where everything is turning liberal. Frederick Douglass was a brave man to stand up against such an evil as he did.
It takes a really awful person to punish a person for skin color so for a nation to punish and entire race for it is just demented. Those that are not feeling the bite of the whip were more than eager for such terrible things to continue occurring because they received a feeling of superiority. A mans wealth could be determined just by looking at the number of slaves that he owned so no wealthy man was going to be willing to fall easily. The thought of paying field hands enough to equal out to the cost of living was simply unbearable.
America was a sick and heavy burdened nation with the weight of slavery within its midst. It was not until it was cleansed of slavery that America could begin to heal. The marks of slavery will always be present within the nation because such hatred leaves scars that even time cannot properly heal.
It really must have been a world filled with hatred for something so terrible to have survived for so long. Douglass' story does go to show that just a few decent hearts in a world full of hatred can make all of the difference. It was due to those who refused to back down that we owe this age of equal opportunity to.
Douglass wrote an autobiography called The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. His book was published in 1845. Even in the 19th century it was still facing controversy. For every white man the reveled in slavery there were at least two African American men that suffered on account of it. Slavery was a terrible thing.
The very idea that something so terrible could occur for so long in the land of the "free" is really sickening. But the slaves had no voice in the matter and the white men and women were fine with the matter at hand and the few that were not knew better than to tackle such a subject. To so much as teach a slave to read was a punishable offense.
Slavery was a long time in the making and it took a large effort to end it. Frederick Douglass was just one of the many men and women that contributed to the movement. Even in the 21st century racism is still present. You will not find it in the great masses that it could be found in during the 19th century but certainly it still exists.
The very idea that someone should be punished because they have a different colored skin pigment is barbaric. It is difficult to even fathom such a heinous crime today in a world where everything is turning liberal. Frederick Douglass was a brave man to stand up against such an evil as he did.
It takes a really awful person to punish a person for skin color so for a nation to punish and entire race for it is just demented. Those that are not feeling the bite of the whip were more than eager for such terrible things to continue occurring because they received a feeling of superiority. A mans wealth could be determined just by looking at the number of slaves that he owned so no wealthy man was going to be willing to fall easily. The thought of paying field hands enough to equal out to the cost of living was simply unbearable.
America was a sick and heavy burdened nation with the weight of slavery within its midst. It was not until it was cleansed of slavery that America could begin to heal. The marks of slavery will always be present within the nation because such hatred leaves scars that even time cannot properly heal.
It really must have been a world filled with hatred for something so terrible to have survived for so long. Douglass' story does go to show that just a few decent hearts in a world full of hatred can make all of the difference. It was due to those who refused to back down that we owe this age of equal opportunity to.
Contemporary Novel
As my contemporary American novel I chose The Voice at 3:00 A.M. which is a compilation of selected poems written by Charles Simic. He is an American poet and has even had his own type of poetry named after him called the "Simic Poem" because he follows now specific patterns as he writes. He writes about nearly everything and anything that would affect the average American in their daily lives.
His book The Voice at 3:00 A.M. helps to answer the essential question "what/ who is the Quintessential American?" because he writes from the viewpoint of the quintessential American. His poems are generally about how the average American feels about everyday events and experiences. He does not appear to approach many of these topics from a sardonic perspective but from more of a serious viewpoint as though he is really trying to capture the mind of the quintessential American on paper using only a pen as a tool.
His poem subject matters within the book vary between the different occurrences in an Americans life. He has poems about school, childhood, love, lust, religion, factories, toys, friends, lovers, food, libraries, animals, hotels, transportation, mirrors, children that are wiser than their years, etc. There are 177 poems compiled within this book describing the ordinary daily lives of Americans and all of their average encounters. To read a poem within this book could be compared to doing a puzzle. His words are like riddles but he provides you with all of the necessary tools to decode them. He is rather brilliant and his book falls right in sync with our essential questions.
His book The Voice at 3:00 A.M. helps to answer the essential question "what/ who is the Quintessential American?" because he writes from the viewpoint of the quintessential American. His poems are generally about how the average American feels about everyday events and experiences. He does not appear to approach many of these topics from a sardonic perspective but from more of a serious viewpoint as though he is really trying to capture the mind of the quintessential American on paper using only a pen as a tool.
His poem subject matters within the book vary between the different occurrences in an Americans life. He has poems about school, childhood, love, lust, religion, factories, toys, friends, lovers, food, libraries, animals, hotels, transportation, mirrors, children that are wiser than their years, etc. There are 177 poems compiled within this book describing the ordinary daily lives of Americans and all of their average encounters. To read a poem within this book could be compared to doing a puzzle. His words are like riddles but he provides you with all of the necessary tools to decode them. He is rather brilliant and his book falls right in sync with our essential questions.
Frederick Douglass Authors Intent
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave was published in 1845. It is a powerful novel about the harmful effects of slavery. It explores the daily ins and outs of slaves in America and that of their slaveholders, while telling the story of Fredrick Douglass' life.
Perhaps the most powerful feature about this book is that it was written by Fredrick Douglass himself. It is an autobiography. He, himself had this book published in 1845 and had told his story several times before in front of an audience of white men. He was a slave that was forced to struggle through the better part of his life and he wanted to have his story known.
By publishing this book he was able to convey to America just how terrible slavery was and is. He spoke of it as if it were a disease and was justified in doing so. He did something that many non-fiction books could not he made you feel second hand what it was like to be a black man in America during that time. He even spoke about the way slavery affected the white men and women and how it changed them and could take an innocent woman and make a beast out of her.
His intent was to show how harmful slavery truly is to any culture and how it not only effects the people that are enslaved but the nation as a whole. Everyone knows that slavery was not a good thing but not everyone could portray it or take us to the heart of it like Fredrick Douglass did. He truly accomplished many things in the publishing of such a book. He even withheld certain names so that the few people that had tried to help him would not be shunned.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was a book written with great heart and soul. Its intent to show just what America had become due to slavery was accomplished in full. If someone else had recorded his story for him it would not have been as powerful. This book truly shows that slavery was a terrible ghastly being and that writing comes from the heart and not from the mind.
Perhaps the most powerful feature about this book is that it was written by Fredrick Douglass himself. It is an autobiography. He, himself had this book published in 1845 and had told his story several times before in front of an audience of white men. He was a slave that was forced to struggle through the better part of his life and he wanted to have his story known.
By publishing this book he was able to convey to America just how terrible slavery was and is. He spoke of it as if it were a disease and was justified in doing so. He did something that many non-fiction books could not he made you feel second hand what it was like to be a black man in America during that time. He even spoke about the way slavery affected the white men and women and how it changed them and could take an innocent woman and make a beast out of her.
His intent was to show how harmful slavery truly is to any culture and how it not only effects the people that are enslaved but the nation as a whole. Everyone knows that slavery was not a good thing but not everyone could portray it or take us to the heart of it like Fredrick Douglass did. He truly accomplished many things in the publishing of such a book. He even withheld certain names so that the few people that had tried to help him would not be shunned.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was a book written with great heart and soul. Its intent to show just what America had become due to slavery was accomplished in full. If someone else had recorded his story for him it would not have been as powerful. This book truly shows that slavery was a terrible ghastly being and that writing comes from the heart and not from the mind.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Ben Franklin Virtues Proj.
Monday- I actually didn't do such a terrible job with this today as I thought I initially would. All in all humility wise I'd give myself a B. There's room for improvement but I didn't make any significant blunders.
Tuesday- I bombed in the land of humility today... Between an online class and an email to a close friend... Well I flunked.
Wednesday- I actually believe I may have done well with this today. I didn't have to work and so I was home all day attempting to catch up on honors history stuff that I fell behind on when I was camping. I was fine with my parents and other than that the only real communication that I had with the world was through an email to a friend and the emails sole intention was to bring the recipient encouragement.
Thursday- Hmmm... Well I went behind my parents back and went to see a movie at midnight and spent the whole night driving around with some friends... I lied about my whereabouts to them and was pretty selfish all in all... Yeah I'd give today an F.
Friday- I spent all day with Emily and her mother. I flunked terribly at this assignment today... They actually had to start keeping track on paper all of the times that I failed. Whoops!
Saturday- Well my mother learned about my midnight excursion and I came clean and confessed. Honesty really is good for the soul and humility ;-) Other than that I worked an 8 hour shift and became part of the working community. It was rough.. But humility wise today I get an A :-)
Sunday- Well I skipped church to sleep in, didn't go to the cookout and singing because I decided to work, and then spent all evening arguing with my two atheist parents about religion. They were instigating but I should know better... F.
Tuesday- I bombed in the land of humility today... Between an online class and an email to a close friend... Well I flunked.
Wednesday- I actually believe I may have done well with this today. I didn't have to work and so I was home all day attempting to catch up on honors history stuff that I fell behind on when I was camping. I was fine with my parents and other than that the only real communication that I had with the world was through an email to a friend and the emails sole intention was to bring the recipient encouragement.
Thursday- Hmmm... Well I went behind my parents back and went to see a movie at midnight and spent the whole night driving around with some friends... I lied about my whereabouts to them and was pretty selfish all in all... Yeah I'd give today an F.
Friday- I spent all day with Emily and her mother. I flunked terribly at this assignment today... They actually had to start keeping track on paper all of the times that I failed. Whoops!
Saturday- Well my mother learned about my midnight excursion and I came clean and confessed. Honesty really is good for the soul and humility ;-) Other than that I worked an 8 hour shift and became part of the working community. It was rough.. But humility wise today I get an A :-)
Sunday- Well I skipped church to sleep in, didn't go to the cookout and singing because I decided to work, and then spent all evening arguing with my two atheist parents about religion. They were instigating but I should know better... F.
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