APPENDIX
Documents, Presentations, & Instructional Materials
Lesson One:
1) Warm-up Activity: Illustration
2) PowerPoint Presentation: Historiography
3) Supplemental Readings:
a) Columbus letter to Ferdinand and Isabella;
b) “The Black Legend” Bartolome de las Casas;
c) First Contacts, America: A Narrative History; Tindall
4) OPVL Handout
Lesson Two:
1) PowerPoint/Video: Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears; A Different
Perspective
2) Primary and Secondary Source Documents:
a) Indian Removal, Excerpt from Andrew Jackson’s Seventh Annual
Message to Congress;
b) John G. Burnett’s story of the removal of the Indians;
c) Letter to Congress from Guwisguwi (or John Ross) in 1829;
d) Cherokee Phoenix editorial, Feb. 24, 1829;
e) Oral History, 1972, Robert K. Thomas
3) Rubric/Poster
Lesson Three:
1)
PowerPoint Presentation; Sand Creek Massacre
2) Supplemental Readings:
a) Col. Chivington’s Account
b) George Bent’s Account
c) John Smith/Lt. Joseph Cramer Account
d) Rocky Mountain News Editorial
3) Rubric/Group Presentation/Panel Discussion
Lesson Four:
1) Library of Congress Tutorial
2) List of potential historical issues/topics
Lesson One; Document #1
Columbus Letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
In a letter reporting his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain,
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) paints a portrait of the indigenous Taino Indians as
living lives of freedom and innocence near the biblical Garden of Eden.
Full Text:
....The people of this island [Hispaniola] and of all the other islands which I have found and
seen, or have not seen, all go naked, men and women, as their mothers bore them, except
that some women cover one place with the leaf of a plant or with a net of cotton which they
make for that purpose. They have no iron or steel or weapons, nor are they capable of using
them, although they are well-built people of handsome stature, because they are wondrous
timid. They have no other arms than the arms of canes, [cut] when they are in seed time,
to the end of which they fix a sharp little stick; and they dare not make use of these, for
oftentimes it has happened that I have sent ashore two or three men to some town to have
speech, and people without number have come out to them, as soon as they saw them
coming, they fled; even a father would not stay for his son; and this was not because wrong
had been done to anyone; on the contrary, at every point where I have been and have been
able to have speech, I have given them of all that I had, such as cloth and many other
things, without receiving anything for it; but they are like that, timid beyond cure. It is true
that after they have been reassured and have lost this fear, they are so artless and so free
with all they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they
have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it,
and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts; and whether the thing be of
value or of small price, at once they are content with whatever little thing of whatever kind
may be given to them. I forbade that they should be given things so worthless as pieces of
broken crockery and broken glass, and lace points, although when they were able to get
them, they thought they had the best jewel in the world.... And they know neither sect nor
idolatry, with the exception that all believe that the source of all power and goodness is in
the sky, and in this belief they everywhere received me, after they had overcome their fear.
And this does not result from their being ignorant (for they are of a very keen intelligence
and men who navigate all those seas, so that it is wondrous the good account they give of
everything), but because they have never seen people clothed or ships like ours.
Lesson One; Document #2
Excerpt from “The Black Legend”
Bartolome de las Casas
Title: The Black Legend
Author: Bartolomé de las Casas
Year: 1542
Type of document: book excerpt
Quotation: "Great atrocities are committed against the indigenous people"
Annotation:
Late in the eighteenth century, around the time of the three hundredth anniversary of
Columbus's voyage of discovery, the Abbé Raynal (1713-1796), a French philosophe,
offered a prize for the best answer to the question: "Has the discovery of America been
beneficial or harmful to the human race?"
Eight responses to the question survive. Of these, four argued that Columbus's voyage
had harmed human happiness. The European discovery of the New World had a
devastating impact on the Indian peoples of the Americas. Oppressive labor, disruption of
the Indian food supply, deliberate campaigns of extermination, and especially disease
decimated the Indian population. Isolated from such diseases as smallpox, influenza, and
measles, the indigenous population proved to be extraordinarily susceptible. Within a
century of contact, the Indian population in the Caribbean and Mexico had shrunk by
over 90 percent.
During the sixteenth century, when the House of Habsburg presided over an empire that
included Spain, Austria, Italy, Holland, and much of the New World, Spain's enemies
created an enduring set of ideas known as the "Black Legend." Propagandists from
England, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands vilified the Spanish as a corrupt
and cruel people who subjugated and exploited the New World Indians, stole their gold
and silver, infected them with disease, and killed them in numbers without precedent. In
1580, William I, Prince of Orange (1533-1584), who led Dutch Protestants in rebellion
against Spanish rule, declared that Spain "committed such horrible excesses that all the
barbarities, cruelties and tyrannies ever perpetrated before are only games in comparison
to what happened to the poor Indians."
Ironically, the Black Legend drew upon criticisms first voiced by the Spanish themselves.
During the sixteenth century, observers like Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566), the
bishop of Chiapas, condemned maltreatment of the Indians. As a way to protect Indians
from utter destruction, las Casas proposed an alternative labor force: slaves from Africa.
Given the drastic decline of the Indian population and the reluctance of Europeans to
perform heavy agricultural labor, African slaves would raise the staple crops that
provided the basis for New World prosperity: sugar, coffee, rice, and indigo.
Las Casas would come to regret his role in encouraging the slave trade. Although he
rejected the idea that slavery itself was a crime or sin, he did begin to see African slavery
as a source of evil. Unfortunately, las Casas's apology was not published for more than
300 years.
Full Text:
New Spain [Mexico] was discovered in 1517 and, at the time, great atrocities were
committed against the indigenous people of the region and some were killed by members
of the expedition. In 1518 the so-called Christians set about stealing from the people and
murdering them on the pretence of settling the area. And from that year until this--and it
is now 1542--the great iniquities and injustices, the outrageous acts of violence and the
bloody tyranny of these Christians have steadily escalated, the perpetrators having lost all
fear of God, all love of their sovereign, and all sense of self-respect. Even now, in
September 1542, the atrocities get worse by the day, it being the case, as we have said,
that the infernal brutality and utter inhumanity of the acts committed have readily
increased as time has gone on.
Among other massacres was one which took place in Cholula, a great city of some thirty
thousand inhabitants. When all the dignitaries of the city and the region came out to
welcome the Spaniards with all due pomp and ceremony, the priests to the fore and the
high priest at the head of the procession, and they proceeded to escort them into the city
and lodge them in the houses of the lord and the leading citizens, the Spaniards decided
that he moment had come to organize a massacre (or "punishment" as they themselves
express such things) in order to inspire fear and terror in all the people of the territory.
This was, indeed the pattern they followed in all the lands they invaded: to stage a bloody
massacre of the most public possible kind in order to terrorize those meek and gentle
peoples. What they did was the following. They requested the local lord to send for all
the nobles and leading citizens of the city and of all the surrounding communities subject
to it and, as soon as they arrived and entered the building to begin talks with the Spanish
commander, they were seized without anyone outside getting wind of what was afoot.
Part of the original request was they should bring with them five or six thousand native
bearers and these were mustered in the courtyards when and as they arrived. One could
not watch these poor wretches getting ready to carry the Spaniards' packs without taking
pity on them, stark naked as they were with only their modesty hidden from view, each
with a kind of little net on his shoulders in which he carried his own modest store of
provisions. They all got down on their haunches and waited patiently like sheep. Once
they were all safely inside the courtyard, together with a number of others who were also
there at the time, armed guards took up positions covering the exits and Spanish soldiers
unsheathed their swords and grasped their lances and proceeded to slaughter these poor
innocents. Not a single soul escaped.
From Cholula they made their way to Mexico City. On their journey, they were showered
with thousands of gifts from the great king Montezuma who also sent some of his men to
stage entertainments and banquets for them on the way. When they reached the Great
Causeway which runs for some two leagues right up to the city itself, they were greeted
by Montezuma's own brother and many local dignitaries bearing valuable gifts of gold,
silver and apparel from the great lord.
Yet that same day, or so I am reliably informed by a number of eye-witnesses, the
Spaniards seized the great king unawares by means of a trick and held him under armed
guard of eighty soldiers, eventually putting him in irons.
....The pretext upon which the Spanish invaded each of these provinces and proceeded to
massacre the people and destroy their lands--lands which teemed with people and should
surely have been a joy and a delight to any true Christian--was purely and simply that
they were making good the claim of the Spanish Crown to the territories in question. At
no stage had any order been issued entitling them to massacre the people or to enslave
them. Yet, whenever the natives did not drop everything and rush to recognize publicly
the truth of the irrational and illogical claims that were made, and whenever they did not
immediately place themselves completely at the mercy of the iniquitous and cruel and
bestial individuals who were making such claims, they were dubbed outlaws and held to
be in rebellion against His Majesty.
US/VA History
Primary Source Analysis: OPVL
Courtesy of Ms. Kristan Wiesner
Social Studies Dept. – Gar-Field Senior H.S.
Name: ______________
Date: ___________________
Directions: When analyzing a source, there are certain questions that must be answered to determine
the validity and worthiness of the source. Using the document/source, answer the following questions in
complete sentences.
ORIGIN
Answer questions in complete sentences, explaining how you know the answer.
1. Who is the author of this source?
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2. Where is this person from?
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3. What type of source is this?
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PURPOSE
Answer questions in complete sentences, giving full explanations.
4. Why was the source created?
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5. Who was the intended audience?
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VALUE:
Answer questions in complete sentences, giving full explanations.
6. Of what value would this source be to historians?
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7. How is this source useful in our studies?
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LIMITATION
Answer questions in complete sentences, giving full explanations.
8. What are the limitations of this source in terms of our study?
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9. What does it tell us? What doesn’t it tell us?
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10. What does this source tell us about the author?
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11. What are the author’s biases and restrictions?
Lesson Two; Document #1
Indian Removal
Extract from Andrew Jackson's Seventh Annual Message
to Congress
December 7, 1835
The plan of removing the aboriginal people who yet remain within the settled portions of the
United States to the country west of the Mississippi River approaches its consummation. It
was adopted on the most mature consideration of the condition of this race, and ought to be
persisted in till the object is accomplished, and prosecuted with as much vigor as a just
regard to their circumstances will permit, and as fast as their consent can be obtained. All
preceding experiments for the improvement of the Indians have failed. It seems now to be
an established fact they they can not live in contact with a civilized community and prosper.
Ages of fruitless endeavors have at length brought us to a knowledge of this principle of
intercommunication with them. The past we can not recall, but the future we can provide
for. Independently of the treaty stipulations into which we have entered with the various
tribes for the usufructuary rights they have ceded to us, no one can doubt the moral duty of
the Government of the United States to protect and if possible to preserve and perpetuate
the scattered remnants of this race which are left within our borders. In the discharge of
this duty an extensive region in the West has been assigned for their permanent residence.
It has been divided into districts and allotted among them. Many have already removed and
others are preparing to go, and with the exception of two small bands living in Ohio and
Indiana, not exceeding 1,500 persons, and of the Cherokees, all the tribes on the east side
of the Mississippi, and extending from Lake Michigan to Florida, have entered into
engagements which will lead to their transplantation.
The plan for their removal and reestablishment is founded upon the knowledge we have
gained of their character and habits, and has been dictated by a spirit of enlarged liberality.
A territory exceeding in extent that relinquished has been granted to each tribe. Of its
climate, fertility, and capacity to support an Indian population the representations are highly
favorable. To these districts the Indians are removed at the expense of the United States,
and with certain supplies of clothing, arms, ammunition, and other indispensable articles;
they are also furnished gratuitously with provisions for the period of a year after their arrival
at their new homes. In that time, from the nature of the country and of the products raised
by them, they can subsist themselves by agricultural labor, if they choose to resort to that
mode of life; if they do not they are upon the skirts of the great prairies, where countless
herds of buffalo roam, and a short time suffices to adapt their own habits to the changes
which a change of the animals destined for their food may require. Ample arrangements
have also been made for the support of schools; in some instances council houses and
churches are to be erected, dwellings constructed for the chiefs, and mills for common use.
Funds have been set apart for the maintenance of the poor; the most necessary mechanical
arts have been introduced, and blacksmiths, gunsmiths, wheelwrights, millwrights, etc., are
supported among them.
Steel and iron, and sometimes salt, are purchased for them, and plows and other farming
utensils, domestic animals, looms, spinning wheels, cards, etc., are presented to them. And
besides these beneficial arrangements, annuities are in all cases paid, amounting in some
instances to more than $30 for each individual of the tribe, and in all cases sufficiently
great, if justly divided and prudently expended, to enable them, in addition to their own
exertions, to live comfortably. And as a stimulus for exertion, it is now provided by law that
"in all cases of the appointment of interpreters or other persons employed for the benefit of
the Indians a preference shall be given to persons of Indian descent, if such can be found
who are properly qualified for the discharge of the duties."
Such are the arrangements for the physical comfort and for the moral improvement of the
Indians. The necessary measures for their political advancement and for their separation
from our citizens have not been neglected. The pledge of the United States has been given
by Congress that the country destined for the residence of this people shall be forever
"secured and guaranteed to them." A country west of Missouri and Arkansas has been
assigned to them, into which the white settlements are not to be pushed. No political
communities can be formed in that extensive region, except those which are established by
the Indians themselves or by the Untied States for them and with their concurrence. A
barrier has thus been raised for their protection against the encroachment of our citizens,
and guarding the Indians as far as possible from those evils which have brought them to
their present condition. Summary authority has been given by law to destroy all ardent
spirits found in their country, without waiting the doubtful result and slow process of a legal
seizure. I consider the absolute and unconditional interdiction of this article among these
people as the first and great step in their melioration. Halfway measures will answer no
purpose. These can not successfully contend against the cupidity of the seller and the
overpowering appetite of the buyer. And the destructive effects of the traffic are marked in
every page of the history of our Indian intercourse. . . .
Lesson Two; Document #2
John G. Burnett’s Story of the Removal of the Cherokees
Birthday Story of Private John G. Burnett, Captain Abraham McClellan’s Company, 2nd Regiment, 2nd
Brigade, Mounted Infantry, Cherokee Indian Removal, 1838-39.
Children:
This is my birthday, December 11, 1890, I am eighty years old today. I was born at Kings Iron
Works in Sulllivan County, Tennessee, December the 11th, 1810. I grew into manhood fishing in
Beaver Creek and roaming through the forest hunting the deer and the wild boar and the timber
wolf. Often spending weeks at a time in the solitary wilderness with no companions but my rifle,
hunting knife, and a small hatchet that I carried in my belt in all of my wilderness wanderings.
On these long hunting trips I met and became acquainted with many of the Cherokee Indians,
hunting with them by day and sleeping around their camp fires by night. I learned to speak their
language, and they taught me the arts of trailing and building traps and snares. On one of my
long hunts in the fall of 1829, I found a young Cherokee who had been shot by a roving band of
hunters and who had eluded his pursuers and concealed himself under a shelving rock. Weak
from loss of blood, the poor creature was unable to walk and almost famished for water. I carried
him to a spring, bathed and bandaged the bullet wound, and built a shelter out of bark peeled
from a dead chestnut tree. I nursed and protected him feeding him on chestnuts and toasted deer
meat. When he was able to travel I accompanied him to the home of his people and remained so
long that I was given up for lost. By this time I had become an expert rifleman and fairly good
archer and a good trapper and spent most of my time in the forest in quest of game.
The removal of Cherokee Indians from their life long homes in the year of 1838 found me a
young man in the prime of life and a Private soldier in the American Army. Being acquainted
with many of the Indians and able to fluently speak their language, I was sent as interpreter into
the Smoky Mountain Country in May, 1838, and witnessed the execution of the most brutal
order in the History of American Warfare. I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged
from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of a
drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and
forty-five wagons and started toward the west.
One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Chief John Ross led in prayer
and when the bugle sounded and the wagons started rolling many of the children rose to their
feet and waved their little hands good-by to their mountain homes, knowing they were leaving
them forever. Many of these helpless people did not have blankets and many of them had been
driven from home barefooted.
On the morning of November the 17th we encountered a terrific sleet and snow storm with
freezing temperatures and from that day until we reached the end of the fateful journey on March
the 26th, 1839, the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of
death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. And I have known as
many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold, and
exposure. Among this number was the beautiful Christian wife of Chief John Ross. This noble
hearted woman died a martyr to childhood, giving her only blanket for the protection of a sick
child. She rode thinly clad through a blinding sleet and snow storm, developed pneumonia and
died in the still hours of a bleak winter night, with her head resting on Lieutenant Greggs saddle
blanket.
I made the long journey to the west with the Cherokees and did all that a Private soldier could do
to alleviate their sufferings. When on guard duty at night I have many times walked my beat in
my blouse in order that some sick child might have the warmth of my overcoat. I was on guard
duty the night Mrs. Ross died. When relieved at midnight I did not retire, but remained around
the wagon out of sympathy for Chief Ross, and at daylight was detailed by Captain McClellan to
assist in the burial like the other unfortunates who died on the way. Her unconfined body was
buried in a shallow grave by the roadside far from her native home, and the sorrowing Cavalcade
moved on.
Being a young man, I mingled freely with the young women and girls. I have spent many
pleasant hours with them when I was supposed to be under my blanket, and they have many
times sung their mountain songs for me, this being all that they could do to repay my kindness.
And with all my association with Indian girls from October 1829 to March 26th 1839, I did not
meet one who was a moral prostitute. They are kind and tender hearted and many of them are
beautiful.
The only trouble that I had with anybody on the entire journey to the west was a brutal teamster
by the name of Ben McDonal, who was using his whip on an old feeble Cherokee to hasten him
into the wagon. The sight of that old and nearly blind creature quivering under the lashes of a
bull whip was too much for me. I attempted to stop McDonal and it ended in a personal
encounter. He lashed me across the face, the wire tip on his whip cutting a bad gash in my cheek.
The little hatchet that I had carried in my hunting days was in my belt and McDonal was carried
unconscious from the scene.
I was placed under guard but Ensign Henry Bullock and Private Elkanah Millard had both
witnessed the encounter. They gave Captain McClellan the facts and I was never brought to trial.
Years later I met 2nd Lieutenant Riley and Ensign Bullock at Bristol at John Roberson’s show,
and Bullock jokingly reminded me that there was a case still pending against me before a court
martial and wanted to know how much longer I was going to have the trial put off?
McDonal finally recovered, and in the year 1851, was running a boat out of Memphis,
Tennessee.
The long painful journey to the west ended March 26th, 1839, with four-thousand silent graves
reaching from the foothills of the Smoky Mountains to what is known as Indian territory in the
West. And covetousness on the part of the white race was the cause of all that the Cherokees had
to suffer. Ever since Ferdinand DeSoto made his journey through the Indian country in the year
1540, there had been a tradition of a rich gold mine somewhere in the Smoky Mountain Country,
and I think the tradition was true. At a festival at Echota on Christmas night 1829, I danced and
played with Indian girls who were wearing ornaments around their neck that looked like gold.
In the year 1828, a little Indian boy living on Ward creek had sold a gold nugget to a white
trader, and that nugget sealed the doom of the Cherokees. In a short time the country was
overrun with armed brigands claiming to be government agents, who paid no attention to the
rights of the Indians who were the legal possessors of the country. Crimes were committed that
were a disgrace to civilization. Men were shot in cold blood, lands were confiscated. Homes
were burned and the inhabitants driven out by the gold-hungry brigands.
Children - Thus ends my promised birthday story. This December the 11th 1890.
Lesson Two; Document #3
Letter to Congress from Guwisguwi (or John Ross) in 1829
John Ross, also known as Guwisguwi (a mythological or rare migratory bird), was the
principal chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866. In 1829, knowing that President
Andrew Jackson not only supported Indian removal, but also was orchestrating a bill to ensure it
became federal policy, Ross crafted this memorial to Congress, forgoing the customary
correspondence and petitions to the President.
We, the undersigned, Representatives of the Cherokee nation, beg leave to present before
your honorable bodies a subject of the deepest interest to our nation, as involving the most sacred
rights and privileges of the Cherokee People. The Legislature of Georgia, during its late session,
passed an act to add a large portion of our Territory to that State, and to extend her jurisdiction
over the same, and declaring “all laws and usages, made and enforced in said Territory by the
Indians, to be null and void after the first of June, 1830. No Indian, or descendent of an Indian, to
be a competent witness, or a party to any suit to which a white man is a party.”
This act involves a question of great magnitude and of serious import, and which calls for the
deliberation and decision of Congress. It is a question upon which the salvation and happiness or
the misery and destruction of a nation depends, therefore it should not be trifled with. The
anxious solicitude of Georgia to obtain our lands through the United States by treaty was known
to us, and after having accommodated her desires (with that of other States bordering on our
territory) by repeated cession of lands, until no more can be reasonably spared, it was not
conceived, much less believed, that a State, proud of Liberty, and tenacious of the rights of man,
would condescend to have placed herself before the world, in the imposing attitude of a usurper
of the most sacred rights and privileges of a weak, defenceless, and innocent nation of people,
who are in perfect peace with the United States, and to whom the faith of the United States is
solemnly pledged to protect and defend them against the encroachments of their citizens.
In acknowledgment for the protection of the United States and the consideration of
guaranteeing to our nation forever the security of our lands, the Cherokee nation ceded by treaty
a large tract of country to the United States, and stipulated that the said Cherokee nation “will not
hold any treaty with any foreign power, individual State, or with individuals of any State.”
These stipulations on our part have been faithfully observed, and ever shall be.
The right of regulating our own internal affairs is a right which we have inherited from the
Author of our existence, which we have always exercised, and have never surrendered. ...
It is with pain and deep regret we have witnessed the various plans which have been advised
within a few years past by some of the officers of the General Government, and the measures
adopted by Congress in conformity to those plans, with the view of effecting the removal of our
nation beyond the Mississippi, for the purpose, as has been expressed to promote our interest and
permanent happiness, and save us from the impending fate which has swept others into oblivion.
We cannot admit that Georgia has the right to extend her jurisdiction over our territory, nor
are the Cherokee people prepared to submit to her persecuting edict. We would therefore
respectfully and solemnly protest, in behalf of the Cherokee nation, before your honorable
bodies, against the extension of the laws of Georgia over any part of our Territory, and appeal to
the United States’ Government for justice and protection. ...
The nation, under a continuance of the fostering care of the United States, will stand forth as a
living testimony, that all Indian nations are not doomed to the fate which has swept many from
the face of the earth. Under the parental protection of the United States, we have arrived at the
present degree of improvement, and they are now to decide whether we shall continue as a
people or be abandoned to destruction.
Lesson Two; Document #4
Second Annual Message from President Andrew Jackson
President Andrew Jackson’s Second Annual Message, 1830.
The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual
States, and to the Indians themselves. ...It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with
settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in
their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is
lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the
Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and
become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community. These consequences, some of them
so certain and the rest so probable, make the complete execution of the plan sanctioned by
Congress at their last session an object of much solicitude.
Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself, or
would go further in attempting to reclaim them from their wandering habits and make them a
happy, prosperous people. The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern
States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of
population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the
countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense
of the United States, to send them to a land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps
made perpetual.
Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our
ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land
our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave
the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful
separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become
entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young
population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and faculties of
man in their highest perfection.
These [white emigrants] remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense,
purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of
their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by events which it can not control, the
Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and
extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode?
How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to
the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would
be hailed with gratitude and joy.
And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the
settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is
to our brothers and children?
Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal,
but generous. He is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their
population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the General
Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his
removal and settlement.
Lesson Two; Document #5
This editorial appeared in the Cherokee Phoenix on February 4, 1829. The bilingual
paper—published in English and Cherokee syllabary, which was developed in 1821—
served as the primary vehicle of communication among the many Cherokee townships that
constituted the Cherokee Nation across Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.
We understand upon good authority that our frontier neighbours in Georgia are moving in fast
and settling on the lands belonging to the Cherokees. Right or wrong they are determined to take
the country.
Attempts of this kind have been made heretofore, but without any success, for the intercourse
law of the United States has been invariably executed. Whether the President will again use the
military force to oust these intruders as the law provides, we are not able to say. The law is
explicit, and we hope, for the honor of the General Government, it will be faithfully executed. It
is as follows:
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any such citizen or other person, shall make a
settlement on any lands belonging, or secured, or granted, by treaty with the United States, to any
Indian tribe, or shall survey, or attempt to survey, such lands, or designate any of the boundaries,
by marking trees or otherwise, such offender shall forfeit a sum not exceeding one thousand
dollars, and suffer imprisonment, not exceeding twelve months.
And it shall, moreover, be lawful for the President of the United States to take such measures,
and to employ such military force, as he may judge necessary, to remove from lands, belonging,
or secured by treaty as aforesaid, to any Indian tribe, any such citizen, or other person, who has
made or shall hereafter make, or attempt to make, a settlement thereon.
The view of every honest and liberal man, it ought to redound to the credit of the Cherokees.
It is this. In all cases of intrusions, when whitemen
have behaved in a provoking manner, and with the greatest degree of impudence, the Cherokees
have never, to our knowledge, resorted to forcible measures, but have peaceably retired, and
have patiently waited for the interference of the United States, and the execution of the above
section. Does not this show that they are faithful to the treaty contracts, and that they expect the
like faithfulness from the United States. We hope that they will not now be disappointed.
Trail of Tears/Indian Removal Act Poster
Rubric
Performance
Indicators
Exceed
Expectations
Met
Expectations
4 Points
Content Accuracy
At least 4 facts;
accurate
Organization/Clarity Concise and
Organized
Creativity
Demonstrates
excellent
creativity and
graphics
Relevance
Demonstrates
outstanding
knowledge of
Trail of
Tears/Indian
Removal Act
Comments:
3 Points
3 facts; mostly
accurate
Mostly
Organized
Good Creativity
and use of
graphics.
Demonstrates
good knowledge
of Trail of
Tears/Indian
Removal Act
Somewhat Met
Expectations
Below
Expectations
2 Points
1 Point
2 or less facts;
Less than 1 fact;
some
inaccuracies
Unorganized;
unclear
Little
demonstration of
creativity; poor
use of graphics
Demonstrates
below average
knowledge of
Trail of
Tears/Indian
Removal Act
Some
organization;
Some creativity
demonstrated;
minimal use of
graphics
Demonstrates
average
knowledge of
Trail of
Tears/Indian
Removal Act
Lesson Three; Document #1
Sand Creek Massacre: Colonel John Chivington’s Account
The attack was made about sunrise. In my opinion the Indians were surprised;
they began, as soon as the attack was made, to oppose my troops, however, and were soon
fighting desperately. Many of the Indians were armed with rifles and many with revolvers; I
think all had bows and arrows. They had excavated trenches under the back of Sand creek, which
in the vicinity of the Indian camp is high, and in many places precipitous. These trenches were
two to three feet deep, and, in other connexion [sic] with the banks, were evidently designed to
protect the occupants from the fire of the enemy.
The Indians took shelter in these trenches as soon as the attack was made, and from thence
resisted the advance of my troops. From the best information I could obtain, I judge there were
five hundred or six hundred Indians killed; I cannot state positively the number killed, nor can I
over the field, by my orders, after the battle, for the purpose of ascertaining the number of
Indians killed, report that they saw but few women and children dead, no more than would
certainly fall in an attack upon a camp in which they were. I myself passed over some portions of
the field after the fight, and I saw but one woman, who had been killed, and one who had hanged
herself; I saw no dead children.
From all I could learn, I arrived at the conclusion that but few women or children had been
slain. I am of the opinion that when the attack was make on the Indian camp the greater number
of squaws and children made their escape, while the warriors remained to fight my troops.
I had no reason to believe that Black Kettle and the Indians with him were in good faith at peace
with the whites.
Source: United States Congress, House of Representatives. “Massacre of
Cheyenne Indians,” Report on the Conduct of the War, 38th Cong., 2nd Sess.
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865, p. 48-50.
Lesson Three; Document #2
Sand Creek Massacre: George Bent’s Account
The following is an account of the attack by George Bent, an Indian-American
(his mother was a Cheyenne), who was living with the Indians at Sand Creek.
At dawn on the morning of November 29 I was still in bed when I heard shouts and the noise
of people running about the camp. I jumped up and ran out of my lodge. From down the creek a
large body of troops was advancing at a rapid trot, some to the east of the camps, and others on
the opposite side of the creek, to the west. More soldiers could be seen making for the Indian
pony herds to the south of the camps; in the camps themselves all was confusion and noise—
men, women, and children rushing out of the lodges partly dressed....
The Indians all began running, but they did not seem to know what to do or where to turn.
The women and children were screaming and wailing, the men running to the lodges for their
arms and shouting advice and directions to one another. I ran to my lodge and got my weapons,
then rushed out and joined a passing group of middle-aged Cheyenne men…. So after a short
time we broke and ran back toward the creek, jumping into the dry bed of the stream, above
the camps. Hardly had we reached this shelter under the high bank of the creek when a company
of cavalry rode up on the opposite bank and opened fire on us. We ran up the creek with the
cavalry following us, one company on each bank, keeping right after us and firing all the time.
Many of the people had preceded us up the creek, and the dry bed of the stream was now a
terrible sight: men, women, and children lying thickly scattered on the sand, some
dead and the rest too badly wounded to move.
We ran about two miles up the creek, I think, and then came to a place where the banks were
very high and steep. Here a large body of Indians had stopped under the shelter of the banks, and
the older men and the women had dug holes or pits under the banks, in which the people were
now hiding. Just as our party reached this point I was struck in the hip by a bullet and knocked
down; but I managed to tumble into one of the holes and lay there among the
warriors, women, and children.
Source: George E. Hyde, Life of George Bent: Written from his Letters (Ed.
Sovoie Lottinville.) Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1968. Pp. 151-152.
Lesson Three; Document #3
Sand Creek Massacre: John Smith’s Account
Question: How many Indians were there there [at Sand creek]?
Answer: There were 100 families of Cheyennes, and some eight lodges of
Arapahos.
Question: How many persons in all, should you say?
Answer: About 500, we estimated them at five to a lodge.
Question: 500 men, women, and children?
Answer: Yes, sir.
Question: Do you know whether or not Colonel Chivington knew the friendly
character of these Indians before he made the attack on them?
Answer: It is my opinion that he did.
Question: Did you tell Colonel Chivington the character and disposition of these
Indians at any time during your interviews on this day?
Answer: Yes, sir.
Question: What did he say in reply?
Answer: He said he could not help it; that his orders were positive to attack
the Indians.
Question: From whom did he receive these orders?
Answer: I do not know; I presume from General Curtis.
Question: Did he not tell you?
Answer: Not to my recollection.
Question: Were the women and children slaughtered indiscriminately, or only
so far as they were with the warriors?
Answer: Indiscriminately.
Question: Can you state how many Indians were killed – How many women and
how many children?
Answer: Perhaps one-half were men, and the balance were women and
children. I do not think that I saw more that 70 laying dead then, as far as I
went. But I saw parties of men scattered in ever direction, pursuing little bands
of Indians.
Question: What time of day or night was this attack made?
Answer: The attack commenced about sunrise, and lasted until between 10 and
11 o’clock.
Question: How large a body of troops?
Answer: From 800 to 1,000 men.
Question: What amount of resistance did the Indians make?
Answer: I think that probably there may have been about 60 or 70 warriors who
were armed and stood their ground and fought. Those that were unarmed got
out the way as they best could.
Source: United States Congress, House of Representatives. “Massacre of
Cheyenne Indians,” Report on the Conduct of the War, 38th Cong., 2nd Sess.
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865, p. 6-9.
Sand Creek Massacre: Lieutenant Joseph Cramer’s Account
Question: Were most of the Indians killed and scalped at Sand creek warriors?
Answer: They were not; I should think two-thirds were women and children.
Question: Did any of the Indians escape during the attack upon Black Kettle’s
camp?
Answer: I should judge they did, a good many.
Question: At anytime during the attack on Black Kettle’s camp did the Indians
appear in line of battle?
Answer: Not that I saw.
Question: How did the Indians resist the attack upon them?
Answer: By fighting back. They fought singly or a few in a place when the
ground would give them shelter from our fire, and fought bravely. A great
many started towards our lines with hands raised, as if begging for us to spare
them.
Question: Were the Indians followed and killed while attempting to escape?
Answer: They were, some of them.
Question: Were any of the Indian women and children killed and mutilated
while attempting to escape?
Answer: They were; they were followed and killed, but I do not know when
they were mutilated. They were mutilated, though.
Source: United States Congress, Senate, “Sand Creek Massacre,” Report of the
Secretary of War,Sen. Exec. Doc. 26, 39th Cong., 2nd Sess. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1867, pp. 50-51.
Lesson Three; Documents #4 and #5
Two Editorials from the Rocky Mountain News (1864)
The Battle of Sand Creek
Among the brilliant feats of arms in Indian warfare, the recent campaign of our Colorado
volunteers will stand in history with few rivals, and none to exceed it in final results. We are not
prepared to write its history, which can only be done by some one who accompanied the
expedition, but we have gathered from those who participated in it and from others who were in
that part of the country, some facts which will doubtless interest many of our readers.
The people of Colorado are well aware of the situation occupied by the third regiment during the
great snow-storm which set in the last of October. Their rendezvous was in Bijou Basin, about
eighty miles southeast of this city, and close up under the foot of the Divide. That point had been
selected as the base for an Indian campaign. Many of the companies reached it after the storm set
in; marching for days through the driving, blinding clouds of snow and deep drifts. Once there,
they were exposed for weeks to an Arctic climate, surrounded by a treeless plain covered three
feet deep with snow. Their animals suffered for food and with cold, and the men fared but little
better. They were insufficiently supplied with tents and blankets, and their sufferings were
intense. At the end of a month the snow had settled to the depth of two fee, and the command set
out upon its long contemplated march. The rear guard left the Basin on the 23rd of November.
Their course was southeast, crossing the Divide and thence heading for Fort Lyon. For one
hundred miles the snow was quite two feet in depth, and for the next hundred it ranged from six
to twelve inches. Beyond that the ground was almost bare and the snow no longer impeded their
march.
On the afternoon of the 28th the entire command reached Fort Lyon, a distance of two hundred
and sixty miles, in less than six days, and so quietly and expeditiously had the march been made
that the command at the fort was taken entirely by surprise. When the vanguard appeared in sight
in was reported that a body of Indians were approaching, and precautions were taken for their
reception. No one upon the route was permitted to go in advance of the column, and persons who
it was suspected would spread the news of the advance were kept under surveillance until all
danger from that source was past.
At Fort Lyon the force was strengthened by about two hundred and fifty men of the first
regiment, and at nine o'clock in the evening the command set out for the Indian village. The
course was due north, and their guide was the Polar star. As daylight dawned they came in sight
of the Indian camp, after a forced midnight march of forty-two miles, in eight hours, across the
rough, unbroken plain. But little time was required for preparation. The forces had been divided
and arranged for battle on the march, and just as the sun rose they dashed upon the enemy with
yells that would put a Comanche army to blush. Although utterly surprised, the savages were not
unprepared, and for a time their defense told terribly against our ranks. Their main force rallied
and formed in line of battle on the bluffs beyond the creek, where they were protected by rudely
constructed rifle-pits, from which they maintained a steady fire until the shells from company C's
(third regiment) howitzers began dropping among them, when they scattered and fought each for
himself in genuine Indian fashion. As the battle progressed the field of carriage widened until it
extended over not less than twelve miles of territory. The Indians who could escaped or secreted
themselves, and by three o'clock in the afternoon the carnage had ceased. It was estimated that
between three and four hundred of the savages got away with their lives. Of the balance there
were neither wounded nor prisoners. Their strength at the beginning of the action was estimated
at nine hundred.
Their village consisted of one hundred and thirty Cheyenne and with Arapahoe lodges. These,
with their contents, were totally destroyed. Among their effects were large supplies of flour,
sugar, coffee, tea, &c. Women's and children's clothing were found; also books and many other
articles which must have been taken from captured trains or houses. One white man's scalp was
found which had evidently been taken but a few days before. The Chiefs fought with
unparalleled bravery, falling in front of their men. One of them charged alone against a force of
two or three hundred, and fell pierced with balls far in advance of his braves.
Our attack was made by five battalions. The first regiment, Colonel Chivington, part of
companies C,D,E,G, H and K, numbering altogether about two hundred and fifty men, was
divided into two battalions; the first under command of Major Anthony, and the second under
Lieutenant Wilson, until the latter was disabled, when the command devolved upon Lieutenant
Dunn. The three battalions of the third, Colonel Shoup, were led, respectively, by Lieutenant
Colonel Bowen, Major Sayr, and Captain Cree. The action was begun by the battalion of
Lieutenant Wilson, who occupied the right, and by a quick and bold movement cut off the enemy
from their herd of stock. From this circumstance we gained our great advantage. A few Indians
secured horses, but the great majority of them had to fight or fly on foot. Major Anthony was on
the left, and the third in the centre.
Among the killed were all the Cheyenne chiefs, Black Kettle, White Antelope, Little Robe, Left
Hand, Knock Knee, One Eye, and another, name unknown. Not a single prominent man of the
tribe remains, and the tribe itself is almost annihilated. The Arapahoes probably suffered but
little. It has been reported that the chief Left Hand, of that tribe, was killed, but Colonel
Chivington is of the opinion that he was not. Among the stock captured were a number of
government horses and mules, including the twenty or thirty stolen from the command of
Lieutenant Chase at Jimmy's camp last summer.
The Indian camp was well supplied with defensive works. For half a mile along the creek there
was an almost continuous chain of rifle-pits, and another similar line of works crowned the
adjacent bluff. Pits had been dug at all the salient points for miles. After the battle twenty-tree
dead Indians were taken from one of these pits and twenty-seven from another.
Whether viewed as a march or as a battle, the exploit has few, if any, parallels. A march of 260
miles in but a fraction more than five days, with deep snow, scanty forage, and no road, is a
remarkable feat, whilst the utter surprise of a large Indian village is unprecedented. In no single
battle in North America, we believe, have so many Indians been slain.
It is said that a short time before the command reached the scene of battle of an old squaw
partially alarmed the village by reporting that a great herd of buffalo were coming. She heard the
rumbling of the artillery and tramp of the moving squadrons, but her people doubted. In a little
time the doubt was dispelled, but not by buffaloes.
A thousand incidents of individual daring and the passing events of the day might be told, but
space forbids. We leave the task for eye-witnesses to chronicle. All acquitted themselves well,
and Colorado soldiers have again covered themselves with glory.
The Fort Lyon Affair
The issue of yesterday's News, containing the following despatch, created considerable of a
sensation in this city, particularly among the Thirdsters and others who participated in the recent
campaign and the battle on Sand creek.
Washington, December 20, 1864
"The affair at Fort Lyon, Colorado, in which Colonel Chivington destroyed a large Indian
village, and all its inhabitants, is to be made the subject of congressional investigation. Letters
received from high officials in Colorado say that the Indians were killed after surrendering, and
that a large proportion of them were women and children."
Indignation was loudly and unequivocally expressed, and some less considerate of the boys were
very persistent in their inquiries as to who those "high officials" were, with a mild intimation that
they had half a mind to "go for them." This talk about "friendly Indians" and a "surrendered"
village will do to "tell to marines," but to us out here it is all bosh.
The confessed murderers of the Hungate family - a man and wife and their two little babes,
whose scalped and mutilated remains were seen by all our citizens -- were "friendly Indians," we
suppose, in the eyes of these "high officials." They fell in the Sand creek battle.
The confessed participants in a score of other murders of peaceful settlers and inoffensive
travelers upon our borders and along our roads in the past six months must have been friendly, or
else the "high officials" wouldn't say so.
The band of marauders in whose possession were found scores of horses and mules stolen from
government and from individuals; wagon loads of flour, coffee, sugar and tea, and rolls of broad
cloth, calico, books, &c, robbed from freighters and emigrants on the plains; underclothes of
white women and children, stripped from their murdered victims, were probably peaceably
disposed toward some of those "high officials," but the mass of our people "can't see it."
Probably those scalps of white men, women and children, one of them fresh, not three days
taken, found drying in their lodges, were taken in a friendly, playful manner; or possibly those
Indian saddle-blankets trimmed with the scalp's of white women, and with braids and fringes of
their hair, were kept simply as mementos of their owners' high affection for the pale face. At any
rate, these delicate and tasteful ornaments could not have been taken from the heads of the wives,
sisters or daughters of these "high officials."
That "surrendering" must have been the happy thought of an exceedingly vivid imagination, for
we can hear of nothing of the kind from any of those who were engaged in the battle. On the
contrary, the savages fought like devils to the end, and one of our pickets was killed and scalped
by them the next day after the battle, and a number of others were fired upon. In one instance a
party of the vidette pickets were compelled to beat a hasty retreat to save their lives, full twentyfour hours after the battle closed. This does not look much like the Indians had surrendered.
But we are not sure that an investigation may not be a good thing. It should go back of the "affair
at Fort Lyon," as they are pleased to term it down east, however, and let the world know who
were making money by keeping those Indians under the sheltering protection of Fort Lyon; learn
who was interested in systematically representing that the Indians were friendly and wanted
peace. It is unquestioned and undenied that the site of the Sand creek battle was the rendezvous
of the thieving and marauding bands of savages who roamed over this country last summer and
fall, and it is shrewdly suspected that somebody was all the time making a very good thing out of
it. By all means let there be an investigation, but we advise the honorable congressional
committee, who may be appointed to conduct it, to get their scalps insured before they pass Plum
creek on their way out.
GRADING RUBRIC FOR GROUP PANEL
DISCUSSIONS
NAME___________________________________
KNOWLEDGE:
43210
Shows an understanding of the material
Able to answer questions
PARTICIPATION: 4 3 2 1 0
Does their “fair share” in presenting the material
Participates in each part of the presentation
LENGTH: 4 3 2 1 0
Long enough to adequately cover assigned material; 5-7 Minute Presentation
CONTENT: 4 3 2 1 0
Topic thoroughly covered
Answers required questions; enough information given to understand topic
Did not exclude any important information or include any unnecessary information
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: 4 3 2 1 0
Included class in the learning process
Engaged in reflective discussion
TOTAL:_____________
TUTORIAL:
Step 1: Go to www.loc.gov
www.loc.gov
This is the home page of the
Library of Congress website.
Step 2:
Go to “Topics” which is located on the
right side of the screen, and click on
“American History.”
Step 3:
This page consists of a number of topics in
American History. Review the list for possible
“Historical Investigation” topics.
Step 4:
Example: This page includes a list of American
Revolution topics in the Library of Congress’
collection. Review the list and narrow the list
down to several topics which interest you.
Step 5:
Each topic has sub-topics; please choose one
sub-topic to write your paper on. To see a list of
sub-topics, click on a topic on the left.
Example: In this example on Benjamin
Franklin, you can select any one of the
Exhibition Sections, including “Break with
Britain,” “Treaty of Paris,” or, “Scientist and
Inventor”
Step 6:
Example 2: Another topic you could
choose would be Religion and the Founding
of the American Republic. In this case, you
could select (by clicking on the sub- topic)
“Religion in 18th century America” or
“America as a Religious Refuge: The
Seventeenth Century”
Research Topics
Sample List
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Start with a Subject area that interests you. Examples might include:
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f)
g)
h)
i)
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k)
The Civil Rights Movement
The Continental Congress
The Progressive Era
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Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
The Cold War
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II. Next, choose a specific Topic, and Research Question within your Subject area.
Examples might include:
a) How important was the role of Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights
movement?
b) Could the Declaration of Independence been written without the support of
the Southern colonies?
c) How much influence did Muckraker journalists have during the Progressive
Era?
d) How significant was Fidel Castro’s role in the Missile Crisis of 1962?
e) Why didn’t the U.S. enter WWI earlier?
f) Did Great Britain favor the south during the Civil War?
Remember: The subject and topic of this research assignment should be one that interests you.
However, please check with teacher before deciding on a topic. You want to be sure you select a
topic that provides lots of good research material, sources etc., but is narrow enough in scope to
produce a clearly written, articulate, and well defined paper.