Book Notes -4 - Summary A Different Mirror: a History of Multicultural America PDF

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Notes from chapter 4 from the book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Details of important events and people from the chapter. ...

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Book Notes Chapter 4 1. Who are the main characters and why are they significant?  Andrew Jackson had a big role in the removal of the Indians. In 1830 the Indian Removal Act stated authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy.  Cherokee were classified on the colored side and suffered the same racial segregation and disfranchisement as former slaves. They also often lost their historical documentation for identification as Indians, when the Southern states classified them as colored.  The Choctaw were the first Native American tribe forced to relocate under the Indian Removal Act. The Choctaw were exiled because the U.S. was greedy for their land, wanting to use its resources, and sell it for settlement and agricultural development by European Americans.  General Thomas Pinckney was an early American statesman, diplomat, and soldier in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, achieving the rank of major general. He served as Governor of South Carolina and as the U.S. minister to Great Britain.  In the 18th century, the Pawnee were allied with the French, with whom they traded. They played an important role in halting Spanish expansion onto the Great Plains by decisively defeating the Villasur expedition in battle in 1720.  Plains Indians (Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Sioux, and Pawnee) were a Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have traditionally lived on the greater Interior Plains. 2. What are the significant events (cite dates, periods, locations)?  In 1802, the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act had provided that no land cessions could be made except by treaty with a tribe, and that federal rather than state law would operate in Indian territory.  In 1805, the Choctaw Treaty stated that the federal government had reserved certain tracts of land for individual Choctaws.  In January 1830, the Mississippi state government abolished the sovereignty of the Choctaw nation. Any Choctaw who opposed state authority would be subjected to a thousand-dollar fine and a year in prison.  In 1829, the Georgia legislature passed a law extending state authority over the territory of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokees were given a choice-leave the state or be subjugated by white rule. Under the leadership of Chief John Ross, the Cherokees refused to abandon their homes and lands. The federal government, they insisted, was obligated to honor the treaties guaranteeing the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation and the integrity of their territory.  Most of Cherokees refused to migrate. In the spring of 1838, chief Ross again protested the treaty by presenting Congress with a petition signed by 15,665 Cherokees. But the federal government dismissed it and ordered the military to forcibly remove them.

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These treaties, which took much time and effort to finalize, ceased with the passage of the 1871 Indian Appropriation Act, declaring that “no Indian nation or tribe” would be recognized “as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty.” Moreover, Congress directed that all Indians should be treated as individuals and legally designated "wards" of the federal government. On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, signaling the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. The transcontinental railroad had long been a dream for people living in the American West. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This was the first removal treaty carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act.

3. What important themes does Takaki focus on in this chapter?  One of the important themes he focuses on is the trail of tears. They forced them to relocate and were carried out by various government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. Once they were relocated the people suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route, and thousands died before reaching their various destinations. The removal included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nation. Their land in Georgia was also “legally” moved into the “market,” therefore giving them the choice of leaving the state or being subjugated by white rule. Chief John Ross made them refuse to leave and wrote to Jackson about how a good “father” would keep his promises of protection. Jackson instructed Commissioner to negotiate a treaty for their removal, with negotiation meaning silencing all opposition. The treaty caused many white settlers to seize the “ceded” lands and force the Cherokees to abandon them. Despite outcries of protesting, the federal government ordered the military to forcibly remove them, which was done brutally.  Another theme is the “American Progress”: “Civilization” Over Savagery”. The making of the railroad increased expansion and it caused the country to want to get rid of the obstructing Indians. President Grant commented on how the railroads were connecting Indians to civilization which could be dangerous to society. Railroad companies pushed for the passage of the 1871 Indian Appropriation Act which basically destroyed the political existence of the tribes but in America’s eyes, to advanced civilization.

4. Identify the power takers in this chapter. By what means did these individuals or groups gain power?  The powers takers were the white men. For example, one of them was Andrew Jackson. What they did was relocate the remaining 5 native tribes that were the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Sioux, and the Pawnee because they had power from the Indian removal act from 1830. What they gained was power and control. They

gained more land for the white men. It gave them more opportunity to expand their agriculture, their factories, and to expand on a better civilization. They want to get rid of them because they wanted it to be civilized then “savagery”. 5. Identify the characters whose power was appropriated. What were the circumstances that lead to their oppression? How did these characters demonstrate resistance to their oppression? The Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Sioux, and the Pawnee were the characters that had their powers appropriate. The white men wanted more land and simply wanted them off the lands. So, they moved westward which is also known as the Trail of Tears. How they demonstrated resistance towards their oppression was fighting back. For example, the Cherokees was a group of natives that refused to leave their lands. Then the white men used their military to forcibly remove them out those lands. But also, they were treated cruelly, they were hated, and not seen as humans, “by law” the white men had the “power” to remove them. Although that happened, they still fought back to the white man’s oppression....