Putting It All Together (Page 531)
The widely circulated idea of the “Vanishing Indian” in the nineteenth century, which ultimately proved to be false, was one of the most prominent ideas as westward expansion continued. The concept was that the culture of the Native Americans would be unable to adapt to the ways of life brought by the Americans. Although some sources do make the vanishing indian belief seem plausible, there are more which point to Native Americans successfully fitting into the new America. The first source demonstrates why the belief might have been so widely accepted; while sources three and four, clearly show how Native Americans were capable of living alongside the white people who now inhabited the country; and document …show more content…
The fourth source of information is an old photograph of a Oglala Sioux woman. At this time being photographed was a big deal. The fact that this woman took the time to have her picture taken clearly illustrates that Indians had no trouble in joining the technologically superior realm of the white Americans. There is nothing in Native Americans culture or religion that bans new ideas or new inventions, so becoming part of the American world was to be expected. Document three spends a great deal of time discussing the farms of Indians, as well as how they’ve been integrated into the workforce. They needed to heavily stress the idea that Native Americans were not dangerous, due to the stereotypes spread by documents such as the one seen in the first source. This document disproves the concept that indians would ultimately vanish by showing that their is a place for them to fit in with the relatively new nation. It shows that Native Americans could not only avoid vanishing, but …show more content…
The position held by scholar Louis Henry Morgan was that neither outcomes would completely happen. He spoke about the Native Americans in a way that implied they were inherently different. Morgan said that the logical thing to do would be to study the Indian culture to see what could be learned from it. He wasn’t concerned with the idea of taking steps to allow the Natives to join the American society because he viewed them as less advanced, and even gave them ratings. While the idea is interesting, it ultimately proved untrue, as the Indian people were successfully able to incorporate themselves into the society, despite the barbaric tendencies Morgan pointed out. Although Morgan did not seem to believe in the Vanishing Indian theory in the sense that Natives would go extinct, he failed to anticipate that they were completely willing to join the Americans. All in all, it can be said without the Vanishing Indian theory was completely false, and was spread through stereotypes and exaggerations. The first document showed the probable reason for the prejudice against the Native American tribes, while the final two clearly illustrate why the idea of a vanishing culture was ignorant, and the third document expresses the idea that Natives might never join
The widely circulated idea of the “Vanishing Indian” in the nineteenth century, which ultimately proved to be false, was one of the most prominent ideas as westward expansion continued. The concept was that the culture of the Native Americans would be unable to adapt to the ways of life brought by the Americans. Although some sources do make the vanishing indian belief seem plausible, there are more which point to Native Americans successfully fitting into the new America. The first source demonstrates why the belief might have been so widely accepted; while sources three and four, clearly show how Native Americans were capable of living alongside the white people who now inhabited the country; and document …show more content…
The fourth source of information is an old photograph of a Oglala Sioux woman. At this time being photographed was a big deal. The fact that this woman took the time to have her picture taken clearly illustrates that Indians had no trouble in joining the technologically superior realm of the white Americans. There is nothing in Native Americans culture or religion that bans new ideas or new inventions, so becoming part of the American world was to be expected. Document three spends a great deal of time discussing the farms of Indians, as well as how they’ve been integrated into the workforce. They needed to heavily stress the idea that Native Americans were not dangerous, due to the stereotypes spread by documents such as the one seen in the first source. This document disproves the concept that indians would ultimately vanish by showing that their is a place for them to fit in with the relatively new nation. It shows that Native Americans could not only avoid vanishing, but …show more content…
The position held by scholar Louis Henry Morgan was that neither outcomes would completely happen. He spoke about the Native Americans in a way that implied they were inherently different. Morgan said that the logical thing to do would be to study the Indian culture to see what could be learned from it. He wasn’t concerned with the idea of taking steps to allow the Natives to join the American society because he viewed them as less advanced, and even gave them ratings. While the idea is interesting, it ultimately proved untrue, as the Indian people were successfully able to incorporate themselves into the society, despite the barbaric tendencies Morgan pointed out. Although Morgan did not seem to believe in the Vanishing Indian theory in the sense that Natives would go extinct, he failed to anticipate that they were completely willing to join the Americans. All in all, it can be said without the Vanishing Indian theory was completely false, and was spread through stereotypes and exaggerations. The first document showed the probable reason for the prejudice against the Native American tribes, while the final two clearly illustrate why the idea of a vanishing culture was ignorant, and the third document expresses the idea that Natives might never join