Thursday, March 24, 2011

Native Americans: Savages in the eyes of the Settlers.

Upon the discovery of the new land white settlers encountered the Native Americans. Throughout the years the Native Americans caused trouble for these new settlers and due to this white settlers began to start rumors and slowly and turn people against them. Soldiers confronting the Native Americans were full of fear and concerned due to these terrible rumors of savagery. The government also somewhat brainwashed its people to believe these stories of savages and massacres, but were these stories one sided or were the Natives really savages?

Several differences between the races made it obvious how these people would react if a sudden death happened. Both races would blame it on each other. This happened a lot when a battle would break out between the Natives and the whites. Unfortunately, the whites had something the Natives didn't. This was the power of media and it's manipulative tendencies. For an example, the great death of General Custer. He was portrayed as a great man who was savagely put to death by the Indians for no reason at all, but was this really true? Not one bit, General Custer was actually vulgar to the Indians and demanded them to give him their land. This is only one of several media mishaps that white settlers read and believed. This fueled rumors of the Native savagery, naturally. Most of the time, the Native Americans had nothing to do with the outbreaks unless they were taunted to attack first. It's human nature to react violently when pushed to the limit and this was usually the case for many.


On the same subject of the sudden outbreaks, another reason for this might have been the fear the white settler's soldiers had upon entering the Native's lands. No army is sent away without a say from the general. Usually generals fuel up their soldiers so they build up personal anger and fight better, this might have been what was done at the time. Soldiers would create this instant hate for the Native Americans and would always overreact to things. Although this can also include the Native Americans personal army. An event such as "The Wounded Knee Massacre" could have been initiated by either army's fear of each other, but knowing the result of the massacre more Natives were killed off than white settlers. This can somehow determine the hatred these men had for the Native Americans for absolutely no reason.

The government in the end, had to do a great deal with the current outbreaks and rumors. The fear the government created helped them get what they wanted which was the Indian's land. By saying they would help them become more modern and bring them to a nicer life was only a small good omen said to cover up the rest of the negative plans these people had. A balance was needed for the public to actually vote for their laws and plans and it actually worked. The problem the government had was that they promised things but did not really comply to their own rules. They said they would be fair, but they never did keep their words. This of course would anger the Native Americans and cause battles. This was another way to show the people how the Natives were "wild" and "out of control". People not knowing the real story believe all what the media and government said and went along with their black, tainted plans.

During the white settlers travels of conquering land and such they found a great obstacle to overcome, this being the Native Americans. By created fake stereotypes or exaggeration of events, these people some how got control of these people and took their lands unfairly. Rumors helped the white settlers get what they wanted and implanted fear for the settlers as well as the terrified Natives. It is true that the Native Americans weren't always peaceful, but this was because they were being disturbed and being taken away from their homeland. If you were suddenly taken away from your home, wouldn't you complain and fight back? The Natives did this but still ended up in rubbish towns with awful conditions. White settlers would continue to think that all Indians were savages and dangerous throughout the years until the truth would eventually pour out.


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