Research Proposal. Most Americans are familiar with a hegemonic account of American history emphasizing

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1 1 Research Proposal Most Americans are familiar with a hegemonic account of American history emphasizing the wisdom of the founding fathers, the heroic struggle for independence, freedom, justice for all, democracy, and the American dream. However, American history from the perspective of the indigenous people who inhabited the American continent long before Caucasians made their appearance is quite different from the familiar patriotic accounts most Americans learn in grade Comment: Europeans? school. As American pioneers bravely pushed their way westward, tamed the wilderness, and established homes, farms, and communities, the Native Americans were slowly but steadily displaced. This research project attempts to understand and articulate the history of the Cherokee Indians, one of the Five Civilized Tribes, from the early 1700s until forced removal in the year 1836 from a more objective, politically unbiased viewpoint. This particular time period is of interest not only because of the fascinating chronology of events, but also because of the Comment: I suspect your aim is to be unbiased in every way opportunity it affords for objective comparison of two very different cultures. For a number of reasons which will be addressed in the research to follow, the two cultures appeared to be incompatible, with one referring to itself as civilized and to the other as savage, a mentality that seemed to justify a myriad of unjust actions which could themselves be labeled uncivilized. Organization Comment: good - an excellent framing of your project The chronology will begin with a description of Native American culture of the early 1700s as it has been preserved and described by historians. James Adaire, a trader from the 1700s, provides fascinating, first-hand observations of Native American life and culture, which will be valuable for this portion of the historical account. After an initial comparison of Cherokee and European cultures and a description of the politically correct, imperialist mentality of that

2 2 era, we will examine cultural changes due to the influence of white settlers. When it became clear that whites would certainly dominate, in a last-ditch effort to maintain their identity, Comment:?? autonomy, and dignity, many of the Indians chose to become civilized by pursuing education, agriculture, and farming. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles were the tribes labeled as civilized who later relocated in the Oklahoma Territory. Under the leadership of Henry Knox, in 1785 the United States government supported the Cherokees in their efforts toward civilization, believing that they would be willing to sell their land for capital gains when they no longer depended on hunting for sustenance. 1 The Cherokees of Georgia soon surpassed many of the white settlers in education, wealth, quality of clothing, housing, agriculture, farming, production, and self government, but they continued to tenaciously cling to their remaining territory. Ignoring the boundaries outlined in the 1785 Treaty of Hopewell, white settlers continued to encroach on Cherokee territory. The broken Treaty of Hopewell was followed by the 1791 Treaty of Holston, which was followed by additional treaties in 1794, 1798, 1804, and Cherokee territory continued to diminish each time a treaty was broken and a new one was established. President Thomas Jefferson, who took office in 1801, was convinced that depriving the Cherokees of their hunting territory would benefit them by forcing them to become civilized. 2 However, Jacksonian Democrats took it to a whole new dimension with their philosophy of Manifest Destiny, the belief that American settlers were destined to occupy the continent. Comment: be clear about this President Andrew Jackson s administration, which came to power in 1828, used this philosophy to justify occupation and annexation of territories, including that of the Native Americans. Determined to remove the Cherokees from the five million remaining acres, Jackson pushed the matter through Congress and won on a small margin despite a great deal of fierce opposition. 1 Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears, (New York: The Penguin Group, 2007), Perdue, 31.

3 3 Although the Cherokee government refused to sign any agreement regarding removal, American government representatives succeeded in persuading several Cherokee leaders including Elais Boudinot, Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Stand Watie to sign the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, which provided terms of removal. 3 The outraged Cherokees refused to recognize this subversive action which they considered betrayal. However, with continued opposition from President Andrew Jackson, these events culminated in forced Cherokee Indian removal to Oklahoma territory known as the Trail of Tears beginning in the years Thesis and Evidence The question of interest in this briefly outlined scenario is the matter of civilization. Is [or was?] it accurate to describe the white man s culture as more civilized than the traditional Comment: yes culture of the Cherokees? The natural question that arises is what it means to be civilized, and whether or not civilization brought positive changes to the lives of the Native Americans. Some of the cultural elements worthy of consideration and comparison are the issues of land ownership, hunting versus agricultural means of sustenance, the status and treatment of women, slavery, warfare, treatment of prisoners, religion, environmentalism, literacy, law enforcement, marriage, polygamy, sexual promiscuity, sports, and traditional celebrations. The outcomes that must be considered are the general health and welfare of the people as well as that of Comment: can you really do all of this, or will you need to prioritiae? neighboring tribes as a result of practicing these traditions. In addition to the question of what constitutes civilization, an element that factors strongly into historical outcomes was the incompatibility of the two cultures. Aside from the fact that the Europeans considered their culture superior to that of the Native Americans, the fact that a hunting society required large territories to sustain it created a confusing situation for the enterprising white settlers. It appeared to the American settlers that if land was not privately owned, it should be claimed and cultivated to realize its full potential. The Native American, on 3 Perdue, 91. Comment: who?

4 4 the other hand, could not comprehend why land should be privately owned any more that the sky, air, and water should be privately owned. In the words of historical commentator Guenter Lewy, The Americans, convinced of their cultural and racial superiority, were unwilling to Comment: was thios true if they had largely assimilated? Who was responsible for ownership? grant the original inhabitants of the continent the vast preserve of land required by the Indians way of life, and calls it an irreconcilable collision of cultures and values. 4 Some useful resources that explore the topics of culture, civilization, and incompatibility, Steven Fountain! 3/20/08 9:53 AM Deleted: A are Savagism and Civilization, A Study of the Indian and the American Mind, by Roy Harvey Pearce, The White Man s Indian, by Robert Berkhofer, and Race and Manifest Destiny, by Richard Drinnon. Quoting from notable scholars and leaders of the 1800s, Pearce provides many documented expressions of the typical American view of Native American culture. Rather than offering an opinion, Pearce simply attempts to reconstruct the American mentality toward the Native Americans as well as to express the mind of the Native American and lets his sources speak for themselves. While the superiority complex of the early Americans is abundantly evident throughout the documentation provided by Pearce, there were some exceptions to this majority mentality; in fact, there were some who preferred Native American culture to their own and chose to live among the Indians. James Fennimore Coooper creates a positive depiction of Native Americans in his introduction to The Last of the Mohicans, In war, he is daring, boastful, cunning, ruthless, self-denying, and self-devoted; in peace, just, generous, hospitable, revengeful, superstitious, modest, and commonly chaste. 5 More recently, Native Americans have been commended for environmental reasons: they lived in harmony with nature; their simple life-style did not pollute the earth, and they did not waste or deplete natural resources. This may be contrasted with the long-term consequences of civilization, industrialization, and technological advances which, 4 Guenter Lewy, Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide? History News Network. 5 Pearce, 203.

5 5 along with the comforts they afford, are linked with undesirables such as pollution, global warming, and the horror of nuclear warfare. Author Carolyn Ross Johnston contributes an additional voice in favor of Cherokee culture in her book Cherokee Women in Crisis, describing Cherokee culture as matrilineal and maintaining that women traditionally enjoyed a more active place in society than white women. In her words, They were neither subordinate nor superior to men; the Cherokee division of labor based on one s sex did not imply hierarchy, but equality. 6 In contrast to white women whose Comment: this gets into a broad literature about noble savages, natual man, and the changing place of indigenous peoples in the mind of American colonizers. I would attempt to keep this brief and focus the argument on the context of the timeframe announced above. This is necessary background, but be careful to avoid getting sucked into a lengthy discussion. Save it for your book! Comment: the italicization is sufficient to signal that this is a book activities were limited to domestic affairs, who could not vote, participate in the political process, and in some cases could not own property, Cherokee women owned their own homes, controlled their own property, and were farmers. In her support of Cherokee culture, however, Johnston goes to an extreme and even appears to condone infanticide as a family planning measure, Cherokee women traditionally had the right to practice abortion and infanticide, but in 1826 the council made infanticide illegal and punishable by fifty lashes. This shift reflected a departure from women s previous autonomy. 7 A certain amount of objectivity appears to have been lost as she considers women s issues. Primary sources for this research project include the previously mentioned first-hand observations of Native American culture during the 1700s by James Adaire in his book, The History of the American Indians, Foreman Grant s book Indian Removal which includes firsthand written accounts of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and Nations Remembered, An Oral History Comment: not clear why this is important to your proposal - leave critiques for other assignments. What is the use of these women to your project? Steven Fountain! 3/20/08 10:01 AM Deleted: ; of the Five Civilized Tribes compiled by Theda Perdue which includes culturally relevant insights into Native American life-style. Other valuable sources include the article Mobilizing Women, Anticipating Abolition: The Struggle against Indian Removal in the 1830s describing American outrage and fierce resistance to Indian Removal, particularly among American women Comment: need full citation in notes for these Comment: format for article! 6 Johnston, Carolyn Ross Johnston, Cherokee Women in Crisis, Trail of Tears, Civil War, and Allotment, (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2003), 13.

6 6 who were actively involved in the political process for the first time; Cherokees of the Old South. A People in Transition by Henry Malone, a book providing relevant cultural information in addition to a chronology of Cherokee history, and a brief, yet detailed synopsis entitled The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears by Theda Perdue which provides an account of the politics and circumstances leading up to Indian removal and the Trail of Tears. Many other valuable sources are listed in the annotated bibliography The question of civilization in my proposed research project will add a unique perspective and analysis to a chronological account of Cherokee Indian history from the early 1700s to forced Indian removal What does it mean to be civilized, and is it accurate to describe the Cherokees as one of the Five Civilized Tribes because they chose to adopt certain aspects of white culture in the early 1800s? These questions will be addressed along with a comparison/contrast of white and Native American culture during this time period. The research will be objective, and will not attempt to gloss over or ignore undesirable aspects of white or Native American culture. As I have accumulated and digested some of the excellent sources mentioned above, my conclusion is that both cultures had much to learn and appreciate from one Comment: ok Comment: of course it will - not even necessary to state another. The white attitude of racial and cultural superiority was arguably uncivilized in itself and led to dishonorable actions such as slavery and the practice of imperialism, which was simple greed cloaked in the guise of the white man s burden, all a part of the white man s civilization. These and many other concepts and questions will add intrigue to the tragic story of the domination, displacement, and removal of the Cherokees Indians which I hope to include in my research project.