One of the main distinctive features of American history is the problem of settlers dealing with the native inhabitants. “The Indian problem” has been an issue in ever since the first Europeans came onto the continent. The area of present-day United States of America was particularly attractive for British colonists, who had quite different approach to the handling of the native inhabitants than the other colonizing nations. The British always tried to leave the natives alone or keep the Indians away from themselves – trying to live life according to pure principles of Christian belief. This approach led to relatively few contact between the two sides. But the immigration of ever-new immigrants, as well as their own reproduction caused slow but sure move of the society’s natural boundary to the west. This fairly neutral relationship lasted until the “hop” over the Appalachian Mountains in the final period of the colonial America and in the era of the early republic. The old approach to the Indian problem (particularly during 1820s and 30s) was the treatment of the tribes as independent nations within certain boundaries, with the consequence of treaty and removal policies. Simplified, this method can be expressed by the words “isolation” (removals, clear boundary) and “not interfering” (into their nomadic lifestyle). But as the colonization of the continent moved more and more to the west, with gradual but certain dissolving of the clear frontier between “white” and “red” during the Reconstruction period, more and more Indian tribes were confronted with the great number of newcomers. This confrontation, caused mostly by the hunger for land and natural resources, initiated many racial and tribal conflicts. In this paper, the author criticizes previous methods of dealing with the Indian problem and recommends a new one, which should be supported by congressional actions. This new approach should lead to Indians’ integration and assimilation. The writer is the 21st president of the United States – Chester A. Arthur. Whether Arthur wrote this piece or not is quite difficult to find out, but most probably it was written either directly by him or indirectly by someone of his advisors who put his ideas in textual form. In author’s view, there have to be three major changes in the process of solving the problem.
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President Chester A. Arthur Aims to Turn Indians into U.S. Citizens, 1881
Dátum pridania: | 08.03.2003 | Oznámkuj: | 12345 |
Autor referátu: | lehu | ||
Jazyk: | Počet slov: | 1 225 | |
Referát vhodný pre: | Stredná odborná škola | Počet A4: | 4 |
Priemerná známka: | 2.99 | Rýchle čítanie: | 6m 40s |
Pomalé čítanie: | 10m 0s |
Zdroje: President Chester A. Arthur Aims to Turn Indians into U.S. Citizens, 1881