Week 4 Reflection: Native Americans and the West

HOMESTEAD ACT
   noun
a special act of Congress (1862) that made public lands in the West available to settlers without payment, usually in lots of 160 acres, to be used as farms.    


As we learned in the last lesson, the expansion of railroads and the invention of barbed wire and improvements in windmills and pumps attracted ranchers and farmers to move west. The discovery of gold, silver, and other precious minerals attracted prospectors and miners. (I hate to use this term to name these group of people, but for the sake of history how we know of it...) Native Americans were forced to leave the land that they were on FIRST so White Americans could own the land. The Homestead Act was not at all helpful for Native Americans nor African Americans but it was beneficial to the white families. White Americans were able to take the land from Native American which they felt was ok, but to make it not look bad they gave them SOME of their land (*sarcastically speaking*). The piece of land that was given to Native Americans was called reservations. In these reservations Americans really intended to make the natives forget about their heritage. The Americans would make them go to boarding school and make them learn English, make them dress in uniforms, and teach them gender roles that are still around today. It all makes sense of how society today look at the roles of women and men and what one should or could do and what one could not. Native Americans were taught that woman should work at home while men should be industrial workers. As a woman this is where I feel it all started, the inequality in jobs between men and woman.
They got some NERVE !!







You all will not believe this, but this is the facts from the history and I CAN NOT MAKE THIS UP (As much as I wish I could)! The justification they had for the Manifest Destiny was it was their God-given right. Just WHY would they say GOD.
(Godddddd ! Have yall seen the recent Soulja Boy memes lol, its my exact reaction)
 Well from my long life knowledge of God... I know that can not be what you got from Gods words. Not my loving God. Wow, that one goes down in books.





Bibliography
Homestead act. Website: Homestead Act
History.com Editors :Manifest Destiny. Website: Manifest Destiny
Tragedy of the Plains Indians : Digital History







Comments

  1. ProfPetersenFebruary 16, 2019 at 7:02 PM

    I really enjoyed reading this post ( if not the depressing subject). I like how you used the homestead act as a starting point, the hook! I also love the images you added—really descriptive and emotive visuals. You are also doing a good job drawing a thread across the material you have learned in the last few weeks. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Taliyah PabonFebruary 16, 2019 at 9:09 PM

    Great post you really went in depth with this topic and you also see how this was an issue for the Native Americans. As well Americans have progressed a lot since this time in our history. Keep up the good work your doing great I can't wait until I see what you post for Week 6, I am sure that it will be amazing. See you then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Morgan HoldenFebruary 21, 2019 at 5:33 PM

    First, the usage of your gifs is amazing. Second, I feel the same way. Stealing land is one thing, but stealing hope is something else entirely. They took humans and forced them into a life that they didn't want and completely stripped them of who they are. I wish this weren't true but sadly, America has one of the worst origin stories in the world. This was a great read, keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Miranda DavisFebruary 23, 2019 at 5:09 PM

    YAS! Your post got me all the way together. It flowed amazingly and the gifs that you inserted legit describe my mood when I was reading and thinking about the topic as a whole. I'm agreeing with you there is no such thing as a God-given right to steal land that never belonged to a person in the first place. Secondly, last I checked didn't have to a birthright, because when compared the birthright would be the winner of the two.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kirstyn AlstonFebruary 23, 2019 at 11:38 PM

    First off, that Soulja Boy meme had me weak because who do they think they are? Really? God-given right? Like don't bring God into this foolishness. They thought that they could take over everything and then take the Native Americans heritage away from them. I loved reading your post, mostly the end because your perspective was not only true but funny.

    ReplyDelete

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