The Dakota-U.S. Conflict
Being a war which occurred in Minnesota, and described by some as “Minnesota’s other civil war” and “genocide” by others, we may be inclined to think that teaching it is surely a statewide core component of high school U.S. History, but it is not. This course needs to become part of the requirements of high school U.S. History because to high-schoolers, it largely remains either a completely unknown event or something about which they hold misinformation. It is very relevant course material because it gradually caused a loss of knowledge about the Dakota tribes, which encouraged false narratives. It is a prime example of history that has been distorted and rewritten over time, and so it is critical that high schoolers understand, with some depth and perspective about previous attitudes to the war (and how those depended on race), how this particular history of our state contributed to our modern Minnesota.
The beginnings of the Dakota-U.S. Conflict were stirred by tensions raised when the federal government did not follow through (either properly or at all) with its promises of compensation of food and annuity payments in return for surrender of land. In retaliation, on August 17/18, 1862, a band of …show more content…
White lay on teaching Minnesota state history in high school, only to be disappointed at his language, insensitivity, and one-sided representation of this culturally and historically significant event. Not only do such historical documents ‘poison the well’ per se in terms of having a reasonable and intellectually honest discussion about the war, but they actively seek to implant unfair perspectives into the minds of children and high schoolers. More modern texts offer a much fairer and more reasoned perspective. However, the frequency with which this “other Civil War” is taught in Minnesota remains quite low, as we saw from the strawpoll-ing of our class’s student
Being a war which occurred in Minnesota, and described by some as “Minnesota’s other civil war” and “genocide” by others, we may be inclined to think that teaching it is surely a statewide core component of high school U.S. History, but it is not. This course needs to become part of the requirements of high school U.S. History because to high-schoolers, it largely remains either a completely unknown event or something about which they hold misinformation. It is very relevant course material because it gradually caused a loss of knowledge about the Dakota tribes, which encouraged false narratives. It is a prime example of history that has been distorted and rewritten over time, and so it is critical that high schoolers understand, with some depth and perspective about previous attitudes to the war (and how those depended on race), how this particular history of our state contributed to our modern Minnesota.
The beginnings of the Dakota-U.S. Conflict were stirred by tensions raised when the federal government did not follow through (either properly or at all) with its promises of compensation of food and annuity payments in return for surrender of land. In retaliation, on August 17/18, 1862, a band of …show more content…
White lay on teaching Minnesota state history in high school, only to be disappointed at his language, insensitivity, and one-sided representation of this culturally and historically significant event. Not only do such historical documents ‘poison the well’ per se in terms of having a reasonable and intellectually honest discussion about the war, but they actively seek to implant unfair perspectives into the minds of children and high schoolers. More modern texts offer a much fairer and more reasoned perspective. However, the frequency with which this “other Civil War” is taught in Minnesota remains quite low, as we saw from the strawpoll-ing of our class’s student