Columbus Day is most commonly known to be a controversial holiday in the Americas. This holiday does not fully portray the wrongful doings that the natives had to endure during this transitional period. We will go into pre-Columbian history, dealing with both the “old” and “new world.” We will discuss the behaviors the Native Americans had to deal with from the Europeans, and what their first encounters consisted of. Also, we will gradually see how policies toward Native Americans will change over time in place of the “new world” and discuss how this was being done. In addition to change, we will also discuss how policies varied among different colonies, but also how some were similar to one another. Next, we will converse the Natives’ involvement in the American Revolution. Following, will we discuss native removal and the creation of the reservation system, each will be discussed into detail.
The “old world” is categorized as Europe and Asia, as the “new world” is known to be the Americas. However, stated the “new world” was only new to the Europeans who had discovered this land in the late 1400s. Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, believed he could sail west around the world and reach Asia and the Indies. Instead, Columbus reached the Americas on accident in 1492, where he explored Cuba and the island of Hispaniola, however he had believed he had actually reached Asia. It is stated in the lesson 1 PowerPoint; Native Americans had been living on this land at least 10,000 years before it was discovered by the Europeans. It also stated that the American continent was inhabited by peoples of diversity and their distinct cultures, each showing unique ways of life and their views of the world. There are multiple myths discussed about Native Americans, such as the diversity of the culture is based on geographical location. It is believed that Agrarian societies grew a wide variety of crops, including the three sister crops- corn, beans, and squash. The Plains Indians were hunter gatherers and became more hunters after the arrival of the horse from the Spanish. The range of crops now available in the new world were quite different than the crops that were available in the old world. Some of the crops the Europeans brought were papayas, tomatoes, vanilla, cacao, and many more. In addition to the old-world animals on the land, they were now also dogs, llamas, guinea pigs, turkey, and buffalos. Although the Europeans brought new things that were shown to be beneficial, they also brought on some negatives to this new world. Diseases that were carried by the Europeans included, but not limited to, small pox, malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis, and many more. Some diseases that were brought back to the old world from the new, included syphilis and gonorrhea. According to The Impact of Contact chart, the effects on the population of Europe included, the introduction of new plants and livestock in Europe, introduction of new diseases, and having to move to the new world. With the introduction of new plants and animals, it created a surplus of food causing population growth. The introduction of plants that were easy to grow allowed an increase in certain plants, larger amounts of people could have more food, and the potato was introduced to Ireland while the tomato was introduced to Italy. Also, according to this same chart, it is illustrated that there were multiple effects on the economy of Europe as well.
The exploration into the new world was motivated with the need to find another route to Asia. According to the lesson 2 PowerPoint, this was needed after the fall of the Constable in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire, making trade through the Middle East more expensive and difficult. Columbus believed it would be easy to convert these natives into Christianity, he believed they had no religion. Columbus predicted that Native Americans would be great servants, as they took in all that was told to them. In the search for wealth, Columbus didn’t find much. In efforts to please the Spanish crown, he captured Arawaks to return as slaves and the little gold he did find. Columbus made a total of 4 voyages the Americas.
The policies towards Native Americans not only were they mostly broken promises and lies, they managed to change over time. In 1787, the English policy stated that Indians were to be treated with "utmost good faith" and specified that "their lands and property shall never be taken away from them without their consent." Settlers pushing forward was opposed Tacumseh, who late began to organize an Indian Confederation. After the purchase of Florida, the tribe known as the Seminoles, was moved to a reservation in central Florida. In 1828, court case Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, had been a fight of jurisdiction. The supreme court ruled in favor of the Cherokee, however, this was a short-lived victory. President Andrew Jacksons’ reputed the court’s decision which resulted in the federal government moving the Natives to Oklahoma. The Indian Removal Act (1830) authorized the president to negotiate treaties and the removal of the remaining Eastern Indians to land west of the Mississippi. This removal sometimes happened in chains, resulting in the “trail of tears,” a trip marked by hunger, disease, and death. Although in 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes in a message to Congress said, "Many, if not most of our Indian wars have had their origin in broken promises and acts of injustice on our part." The Plains Indians Wars began in 1860 to the 1890s. These wars came out as Americans attempted to force Natives onto reservations. This was their way of fighting back about their wrong doings.
The American Revolution, known as the United States War of Independence or American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) This is when 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independences, to later form the Unites States of America. The war remained a civil war within the British Empire, until 1778, when France, Spain, and the Netherlands joined the colonies against Britain. Since the very beginning, sea power was crucial in determining the course of war. The British had sent troops to America, enabling the French to bring about the final British surrender at Yorktown. “The American Revolution freed colonists from British rules and offered the first blow in what historians have called ‘the age of democratic revolutions.’” (American Yawp) By September of 1783, independence had been won, however the view of what the new nation would look like was still up in the air. “The Revolution, however, did not aim to end all social and civic inequalities in the new nation, and, in the case of Native Americans, created a new degree of inequality. But, over time… helped highlight some of those inequalities and became a shared aspiration for future social and political movements,”
Indigenous people were forcibly removed from their native land in efforts to establish white supremacy and expansion. Native removal was also done to help find gold and fertile and profitable land. The 5 civilized tribes, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, were all removed from their homeland. After the discovery of gold in Georgia, the migration of white supremacy into Cherokee lands in 1829. The Manifest Destiny held that the United Sates was destined – by God, to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. The land that was taken was fertile, mineral-rich, and convenient for large-scale agriculture, making this land profitable in multiple ways. In 1830, Georgia declared the tribes “tenants at will” and argued they fell under state laws. Also, in 1830, the Indian Removal Act called for the movement of Native peoples West of the Mississippi River. This act gave the president at the time, Jackson, the money and the means to remove Native Americans by force. In 1831, the court ruled that Native American tribes were sovereign nations in the case Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia. This case was brought by the Cherokee suing, claiming they were independent from Georgia. As Georgia fought to have jurisdiction over the Cherokee, the supreme court ruled in favor of the Cherokee. However, the federal government removed the Indians to Oklahoma. The following year, the ruling in The Worcester v. Georgia, declared that the state had no authority over tribal lands.
In efforts to remove the natives, the reservation system was also created. This was federal land that was set aside specifically for Native American nations. Still forcibly relocation and settlement, the creation of boarding schools was intended to eliminate Native cultures, languages, religion, and also their resources. One major issue the native removal influenced, was death. The Trail of Tears lasted 1836 through 1838, during this travel most of the major tribes had its people become slaves to the new world, however there were also very high fatalities during this time as well. This trail was in route to the reservation that was selected by the U.S.
The reservation system was federal land set aside for Native American nations in efforts to separate the natives from the new world. The reservation the natives were forcibly relocated to was located west of Missouri and the Arkansas Territory. The creation of boarding schools was intended to eliminate Native cultures, languages, religions, and also resources that allowed: political, economic, social independence. The reservation system is believed to have unfair and corrupt management of food to reservations. More than 500 treaties were broken during this time. The whole reservation system was allowed following the Indian Removal Act (1830), the Indian Appropriation Act (1851- which authorized the establishment of reservations), and the Dawes Severalty Act (1887). Any indigenous peoples that refused to follow the reservation system either sought out settlement in Mexico or Canada, others remained to defend their way of life and the culture that existed with it. Eventually leading to Seminole Wars and Plains Indian Wars. The Seminole Wars began over attempts by United States authorities to recapture runaway black slaves living among Seminole bands. While the Pains Indian Wars is highlighted by the Battle of Little Bighorn. Results and consequences according to lesson 3 PowerPoint included that, the reservation system forced Natives to be dependent on the United States government. Thus, allowing white Americans settlement onto native lands and allowing expansions to their plantation empires. Through everything Native Americans had to endure, they were effectively gone by 1895.
Columbus Day is controversial holiday because it is something that doesn’t deserve to be celebrated. I believe this holiday is unfair and wrong to those who lost everything in the process as colonialization was established. Why should we celebrate the discovery of the “new world” when it was never “new” in the first place? What is now known as the Americas, was found on accident, it was an unintended mistake. Like a man stated in the YouTube video, Christopher Columbus | Native Americans | One Word | Cut, “Everyone knows the United States was stolen”, this is true. Spaniards conquered land that was already pre-occupied by the Indigenous Peoples and their cultures. They stole and tore down everything the Native Americans had established. They forced Natives to live on reservations, which some say is equivalent to a prison. Everyone recognizes Columbus Day as the day the Americas was first discovered. However, it is lost in translation what is truly more important to recognize. We must recognize those tribes who lost it all, you had everything stolen from them. We must acknowledge what Columbus really did to this land and how much misery it brought in the future. If the holiday can’t be removed in its entirety, it should be renamed Indigenous Peoples’ Day in remembrance of those tribes who lost everything.
Throughout the history of the United States, there has been multiple actions that you would say were not so civilized. Columbus Day is a prime example of how sketchy the government can get. The United States was established on stolen land, land that was not ours to take in the first place. This land was inhabited by Native Americans, who was later caught in the crossfire between the United States and power. Through the policy changes, the American revolution, Native removal, and the creation of the reservation system, you can see evidence on why Columbus Day should not remain.