Tecumseh essays

Tecumseh essays As a young pupil in a third grade classroom I remember first hearing about Columbuss adventure to Plymouth in 1492. A little bit later we also found out about the pilgrims who found America in the Mayflower and had the first Thanksgiving ever with their guests the Indians. I can only recall learning about how the Indians taught their new neighbors harvesting techniques and other survival tips. Then the Native Americans were not brought up again in history classes until the Trail of Tears. I never gave any thought to why this was, but must have figured that nothing significant could have happened to them from those two different time periods. Tecumseh really altered my previous knowledge about the Native Americans. They had as much of a history as America did. Civil war, outsiders taking their territory, and early struggles to survive were all both shared by Indians and Americans. Why is it then students do not know as much as they should of this rich, native heritage. This is eas ily considered United States history, just because the Indians were not there to sign the Declaration of Independence does not diminish their importance. Edmunds story of Tecumseh: and the Quest for Indian Leadership takes a magnifying glass peak into the time period of 1680s to the War of 1812. Focusing especially on one particular Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh. The Shawnees lived in the Ohio valley at about the time when the frontier was being explored. History books gave their readers the impression that when these explorers were heading out west that they better be fearful of the savage tribes throughout the land. Comparable to the fear some have walking about in the bad streets of populated cities. According to Edmunds writings, the tribes were initially peaceful with the Americans until they broke promises and took military action (36). The Indians rarely struck first with the battles with the white man. Consistentl...