American Old West

DiMitri Smith November 1, 2015 ARTH 110 Stagecoach John Ford’s film “Stagecoach” is about a group of people with different backgrounds, cross paths in a stagecoach on its way to Lordsburg, New Mexico. The group consists of an alcoholic doctor, a run out of town mistress, whiskey salesman, a bank manager turned thief, and sickly wife of a soldier accompanied by a shady man who seems to be charmed by her. Along the way they encounter the infamous escaped convict, Ringo Kid. On the latter half of…

The Truth about the West I believe that the West was a myth; it was actually extremely hard work and was not a great lifestyle to be a cowboy, miner, or farmer. Their jobs were very dangerous, and did not get paid very much. The money they did earn would go to new clothing, food, or bathing. Often miners came from China because the U.S. citizens would not want to leave their family and friends. People who entered these jobs were very hard workers who commonly had to support their families.…

government and the Indian activists put effort in turning Indians into Americans. Among the most important characteristic of this plan was the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. The long run effects of the program were not much of a help as various people had premeditated it to be. The 1887 Dawes Severalty Act was approved by the U.S. Congress to provide for the permitting of landholdings; portions, generally 160 acres to every Native American, replacing public tribal holdings. The program was…

one young man who comes from the Southside of Chicago is unmatchable and unique from anyone else. Kanye Omari West grew up in the “Windy City” of Chicago. Kanye’s mother, Donda West, was an English Professor and the first African American Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University. Kanye’s father, Ray West, who was also a former black panther, is a photojournalist. Ray West currently resides in the Dominican Republic, where he helps remove human trafficking and give ex-drug…

Coldest Story Ever Told: Kanye West’s Undeniable Cultural Energy Kanye West, musician and artist, has optimized and originated many artistic styles that have led to current patterns in modern popular culture. West’s constant innovation in music and general reflection of the New School’s rejection of Old School ways has placed him the class of an icon among youths. In his three-decade span of activity in the music industry, West has evolved through eras of soul, electronic, alternative, and a…

The Paradox of the Cowboy: Proven and Debunked What makes a man to wander? That depends on whether the man is living in reality, or in the myth of a cowboy. In John Ford’s movie The Searchers, all the typical traits of the myth of the west are present. However, in All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the typical cowboy ideal is less clear. McCarthy uses contradictory themes to simultaneously challenge and submit to the myth of the cowboy presented by Ford. The main characters John Grady and…

myth: “while the west was still looked upon as ‘wild and wooly’, and in reality was fraught with numerous and often time, murderous dangers.” In 1861 he came at a mail driver at the age of 21 he states that his greatest fear was that some white man would get frightened at the sight of reds and kill on not like that idea of the white trace being afraid of them, as opposed to the fear of Native Americans themselves. This demonstrates that there was an omnipresent fear of Native Americans however…

Western Mystique: Native American Morals What is a western? The west is a described as a barren wasteland or the land that cowboys duel and fight. Also, people think that a western is depicted that Native Americans as the bad guys or the villains. But that is not always the case in the film The Searchers by John Ford he depicts indians as the villains, weak, and unworthy. Whereas William Herbert is describing Natives as strong and proud. John Ford had his characters in his film do some…

The American West was a land of opportunity for everyone from 1865-1900. Though, the extent of the opportunity varied on your race or creed. In many cases, if you were intelligent, resourceful, and hardworking you would likely succeed in one way or another. The opportunities of recently freed blacks, the Chinese, and the American Indians were much less than that of the white man. In almost all cases, these groups of people really had no other choice and had to take any chance they could get in…

The Wild West - the very expression conjures up images of stagecoaches, saloons, and of men facing each other in a dusty, tumbleweed-strewn street, ready to draw their guns and shoot it out. But just how wild was the Wild West? The frontier West, with little or no government in the place, was a generally peaceful place, not the violent frontier often shown in movies and by history books that really do not know the history. There are a lot of myths out there are about the wild west. There are…