Transcript As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs

As Long as Grass Grows or Water
Runs
By Brittany Marmo
Indian Removal
• The United States was trying to take over the Indian
land and some Indians were willing to live in peace and
just follow the rules while others were determined to
fight for their land.
• This was during the time that Andrew Jackson was in
charge and he obtained the treated with the Indians.
• “He encouraged white squatters to move into Indian
lands, and then told the Indians the government could
not remove the whites and so they had better cede the
lands or to be wiped out.” (Zinn, page 128-129)
Andrew Jackson
• Jackson’s goal was to expand and obtain the land.
• He made the Indians believe that he had their
best interests at heart and that whatever he did
was to help them out, when in reality, he wasn’t
caring about their safety. Jackson was willing to
do whatever he had to do to get what he wanted.
• “Jackson was a land speculator, merchant, slave
trader, and the most aggressive enemy of the
Indians in early American history.” (Zinn, page
127). This is why he was called “the evil” Jackson.
The Trail of Tears
Abuse in Military
• The use of military force was extremely important
because this was destroying the Indians land and then
harassing the Indians themselves.
• “If they chose to stay they would have to abide by state
laws, which destroyed their tribal and personal rights
and made them subject to endless harassment and
invasion by white settlers coveting their land.” (Zinn,
page 133)
• Different kinds of abuse were extremely common and
this is what led to multiple killings and deaths.
Diseases and Illness
• Indians were forced out of their land and had to migrate,
therefore, they started catching different illnesses on the
way.
• “the first winter migration was one of the coldest on record
and people began to die of pneumonia. In the summer a
major Cholrea epidemic hit Mississippi and Choctaws died
by the hundreds.”
• All of the fighting led to starvation and all of the starvation
led to sickness.
• “As the American armies advanced, more battles were
fought, more thousands died on both sides, more
thousands were wounded, more thousands sick with
diseases.” (Zinn, page. 165)
Mexican Takeover part 1
• The Mexican takeover was run by James Polk.
• The United States wanted to take over Mexico to make
this beautiful place more of a civilized nation.
• “The United States would be giving the blessings of
liberty and democracy to more people.” (Zinn, page
154.)
• What they were trying to do was make the Mexican
people believe that they had a lot of potential and the
only way they were going to be successful and to
survive was to let the United States take over.
• This was obviously a lie, it was just a way for the United
States to take over and get what they wanted.
Mexican Takeover part 2
• The difference between the Mexican takeover
and the Indian removal was that the Mexicans
really did have a chance at keeping their land.
They had a chance to really try and stay where
they were.
• The Mexicans were there to fight and they
weren’t going to let anything get in the way of
that.
• “The Mexicans had fired the last shot. But they
had done what American government wanted…”
(Zinn, page. 151)
Polk vs. Jackson
Polk vs. Jackson part 2
• There were major differences between these two men.
Jackson was a compassionate but aggressive man. He
was great at making the people believe that what he
was doing was for the better interest of the people. He
was known as a trusted guy.
• Polk was not trusted from the very beginning by the
Mexicans. This is why the Mexicans decided to fight
because they knew they couldn’t trust a word that he
said. They had to take it upon themselves to protect
their own land because they knew at any minute, Polk
could disown them.
The White Settlers
• The white settlers didn’t understand that what they were
doing was wrong.
• This caused racial separation between the Indians, the
whites, and even the Mexicans.
• Jefferson said that the removal was “necessary for the
opening for the vast American lands to agriculture… and
the development of the modern capitalist economy. (Zinn,
page. 126)
• This gave the Indians belief that these white Americans had
their best interest at heart.
• They began these battles to insinuate losing power. They
were extremely greedy and didn’t care about the expense
of others.
The Actual Takeover
• The takeover was simpler than most due to the
distance and the proximity of how close they were to
the established lands.
• It was easy for the government to pass laws so this was
easily applied to the Indians.
• These settlers didn’t even search too far for the land.
• “If they chose to stay they would have to abide by state
laws, which destroyed their tribal and personal rights
and made them subject to endless harassment and
invasion by white settlers…” (Zinn, page. 133)
Help from the United States
• Some of these men volunteered to help the United
States gain the land.
• The natives believed by helping the United States that
this would help them survive.
• “Eight hundred Creek men had volunteered to help the
United States army fight the Seminoles in Florida.”
(Zinn, page. 143)
• The natives tried everything that they could do to try
and avoid their own land being taken from them. They
knew that by joining the United States, this gave them
the chance at at least being able to keep their land.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson part 2
• Jefferson said that the Indians were to be left
alone and that it should be the white people
that should be removed from the land.
• When Jefferson became president, it was too
late because the whites outnumbered the
Indians 8 to 1.
• He had no choice but to agree with the
majority and force the Indians out.
The Indian Fight
• The Indians fought with Americans to kick out
their British for their independence.
• “Indian nation fought on the side of the British.
The British signed for peace and went home; the
Indians were already home, and so they
continued fighting the Americans on the frontier,
in a set of desperate holding operations.”
• The Indians tried really hard and put up a good
fight but at the end of the day, they lost to the
Americans.
Citation
• Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United
States: 1492-2001. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.