This week we will look at how indigenous borderlands became bordered lands during the early 19th century. We will spend a great deal of time looking at Natives west of the Mississippi dealt with an American invasion. Finally, we will also discuss the role of art, cartography, and "manifest destiny" in shaping of the "frontier" and American identity.
Points of Entry:
Comancheria Map:
Juan Buatista de Anza Trail:
List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.
What are some of the arguments?
How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?
Additional question for discussion:
We've extensively discussed the ways that non-Natives have defined the commemoration and teaching of American Indian history. How do you think cartography and map making also shape our understanding of Native history?
"The Comanche Nation is warlike and well instructed in the use of firearms through frequent communication with the French."(Hurtado pg230)
ReplyDeleteThis quote brings up the larger theme of trade and how immportant it was to Indian life. Trade with the French and others helped the Comanche Nation become one of the Dominent tribes in the West.
"The gold rush proved to be catastrophic for the Indians. By 1860 the native population had fallen from perhaps 300,000 to about 32,000."(Hurtado pg258)
That figure is astonishing, the use of cartography in the form of demography and census takers helps explain the reason for this decline in Indians. The census showed that there was a low female to male ratio which played a role in birthrates, but other factors like starvation, and homicide played a role
“American armies marching through Cherokee country did not always distinguish between Cherokee friends and Cherokee foes, and by the end of the Revolution the Cherokee nation was on its knees.”(Calloway, 371)
ReplyDeleteEven though some native communities were peaceful and negotiated with the Americans they were still treated the same as if they were not.
“Before British agents could set about securing the Choctaws as allies against the Americans, they had first to mediate an end to their conflict with the Creeks that they themselves has fomented several years earlier when British Indian policy had aimed at keeping Indian tribes divided against themselves rather than united against the Americans.” (Calloway, 371)
The Natives could not get it together with the British and unfortunately would not be successful in resisting the Americans. Americans drive to expand and push Indians out was working. There was resistance but it was not so much successful.
Cartography and map making also shape our understanding of Native History because it maps out where Natives were living and who they were living with. Maps can show the movement of the Natives and how they were forced off of their land with Americans expanding their claim on territory.
"The new Presidio of San Luis, as well as the Mission under its protection, was attacked by 2,000 Comanche Indians and other allied nations, equiped with firearms and apparently instigated by French foreign political agents (Hurtado pg 230)."
ReplyDeleteThis quote emphasis's how deadly the Indians were as allies. Though it also highlights how the French used the Indians has nothing but tools for their own means.
"Certainly, there were many changes long before horses arrived, there was much continuity amid the changes they brought, and many of those changes were in degree rather than direction. But not since the spread of corn had the West seen such a powerful force of change (Calloway pg 267)."
This quote just tells how important such a minor thing like horses really are to the Native Americans. With the horses they became more mobile and thus that much more deadly.
"Defeat, loss of land, and continued disruption of traditional ways further upheavel and despair in Indian communities in the Old Northwest" (Calloway pg.374). This is providing the reader with the overall outcome that Native Americans faced after the American Revolutionary War. Also this quote prvides the general story of the experiences of Native Americans and creates the sense that this experience was felt by all the most Native American nations during this time era.
ReplyDelete"The end of the Revolution opened the way for a renewed invasion of Indian lands ny backcountry settlers, who ignored federal attempts to regulate the frontier" (Calloway 371). The purpose of this quote is that it is trying to expalain that the regardless of federal law, the people of the United States we still eager for expansion that laws were being disobeyed. This also could lead to another discourse to whether recent settlement in these lands are valid through previous law, which would prevent and invalidate the settlements of these lands. Also this quote displays the weakness of the newly established federal government because it was not able to detain its citizens from breaking federeal regulations.Most importantly this statement shows the significant result of the Revolutionary war which ultimately reshaped boundaries and displaced many Natives out of their lands
"a confederacy of northwestern tribes emerged that rejected treaties signed by individual tribes and refused to accept American settlement west of the Ohio River."(Calloway 372)
ReplyDeleteThese Natives American tribes joined forces in order to fight for their land. They did not respect the treaties that some tribes agreed upon because it was not benefiting them in the end.
"only licensed traders were permitted to operate in Indian country, and no transfer of Indian land were valid without congressional approval." (Calloway 373)
Only government officials were allowed to go onto Indian country and trade or make treaties with the natives.
Cartography makes understanding Native history much easier because we can see where they were living and where they were sent off to by Americans that were expanding westward.
"Bolton believed that California and other parts of the Spanish Borderlands were 'the meeting place and fusing place of two streams of European civilization,' each with substantially different histories with regard to the Indian" (Hurtado 258). It seems that Spanish-Indian culture of dependence was transfered onto settling Americans. What seems strange is that Americans did not seem resistive to the idea of using Indians for labor.
ReplyDelete"The great smallpox epidemic of 1779-83 was certainly not the first epidemic to ravage the West...but it was more extensive than any before or since...its extent and its impact on the course of American history have hardly been considered in histories of the United States" (Calloway 415). The history of Indian conquest seems to start with smallpox and ending with European victory. Smallpox must have had a devastating effect on Indian populations which would have lead to an American victory. Smallpox seems to be the real villain for Indians.
“But Indians who migrated west to escape American expansion only succeeded in buying themselves time. As a Spanish official in Sonora warned in 1783, a new and independent power has now arisen on our continent. Its people are active, industrious, and aggressive.” (Calloway 376) This quote is referring to the rise of America and its ambition on rapidly expanding. Even though some native groups left their homeland to stay out of the way of America it was not going to be enough. This relates to the theme of Manifest Destiny and Americas desire to spread over all of North America.
ReplyDelete“Anza’s military and diplomatic triumphs in securing peace with the Comanches occurred in the context of epidemic disease, which may suggest a more compelling explanation of Comanche willingness to make peace.” (Calloway 418) This quote relates to how Spain was able to establish peaceful trade with the natives and keep them under control as allies. However when looking back as the period in time the probable cause for reaching a peaceful solution was because the Comanches were being devastated by the outbreak of smallpox.
"Indian leaders understood that the war for American independence was also a war about Indian land. In Indian country it became both a civil war and a world war, and for many Indian peoples it was one phase of a twenty-year war that continued at least until the Treaty of Greenville in 1795" (Calloway 367).
ReplyDeleteThe American war for independence was not only costly for the Americans and British, but for the Indians as well. With both country's looking to Indians to join their cause in the fight, many Indian tribes tried to remain neutral to no avail. Both the Americans and British were extremely persistent in drawing Indians into their ranks, and all those who did not join were punished severely. As a result different tribes were often split about which side to join which led to even greater rift between tribes than was already present.
"The fusing of Anglo and Hispanic traditions was not a smooth process in gold rush California, especially for Indians. Some Anglos adopted Hispanic labor practices as a convenient expedient, while others sought to drive Native Americans out of the work force where Indians could expect to find little protection" (Hurtado, Iverson 258).
This just goes to further show that there was little interest in accommodating Indian needs as the United States continued to expand. Instead, the only concern was for American interests which involved a great deal of exploitation.
"A delegation of 260 Iroquois, Shawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and "Loup" Indians visiting St. Louis in the summer of 1784 told lieutenant Governor Cruzat that the Revolution was "the greatest blow that could have been dealt us, unless it had been our total destruction." (Calloway, 371)
ReplyDeleteAfter the Revolution Native peoples faced a great deal of violence and aggression from American settlers pushing West. Although the government of this New United states attempted to regulate westward movements, they did not have control over their citizens. Congress attempted to regulate westward movement through treaties, but they were largely ignored by settlers. This created an era of increased tension and violence between Natives and settlers. Even though the Revolution is usually portrayed as beneficial for all Americans, it clearly was not as it created an era of never ending warfare for Indians in the frontier regions.
"Maritime traders cultivated the friendship of Indian leaders, usually hereditary clan chiefs, for both political and commercial purposes" (Calloway, 408)
This quote shows that even though Native peoples in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys were in a position where they were facing increased violence and conflict with Americans, Native people in the Pacific Northwest experienced a different dynamic. In the Pacific Northwest, Native people held the key to trade. Therefore in order to be successful in the area, Americans had to abide by the terms of Native people. This shows that the dynamic between Native peoples, and Americans was not uniform throughout North America.
"Though peacefully transferred on paper in Paris, Indian territories in the West were often scenes of turmoil and sometimes veritable killing fields" (One Vast Winter Count, 367)
ReplyDeleteThis quote relates to the idea of history coming from a Native American perspective rather than a European perspective facing west. In Europe, the conflict appeared to be peacefully solved. But it reality it was not. This also reminded me of the pictures we looked at in class on Tuesday. The paintings portrayed a land that was peaceful and uninhabited. The reality was that the Europeans violently drove the Native Americans out of their homes and land.
"awhole generation had grown up knowing little
but war. In the West, Indian peoples felt the repercussions of a conflict
that ultimately brought a new nation to their homelands and plunged
them into their own wars for independence"
(367)
This quote is an example of how the Native Americans viewed the war and how it effected their lives. This is a view that is not so widely known.