Week One: The First American West

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on August 7, 2012 at 11:05:20 pm

September 4: Introduction to the Course

“The Savage Tomahawk,” November 24, 1812 (reprinted in The Columbian) *

“The Savage Allies of England,” August 3, 1812 (reprinted in The Independent Chronicle) *

“The War,” September 19, 1812 (reprinted in The American Mercury) *

David Thompson, History of the Late War Between Great Britain and the United States (1832)
Click on the images below for links to "The Death of Jane McCrea" (1804) by John Vanderlyn and the Jefferson-Hartley Map of the Territory east of the Mississippi River (ca. 1784)

* Note: to scroll to the bottom of the newspaper articles, click and scroll at the same time.

Describe the civilizing mission of the United States and explain how this concept related to Thomas Jefferson's Indian Policy.
How did Americans in the early 19th century understand their relationship to Native peoples? Was there a place in the republic for Indian peoples? Base your answers on public policy and popular discourse in the early republic.
Explain the concept of taming the wilderness. How did this idea relate to America's western expansion?
What were the implications of American ideas about the wilderness and civilization for Indian peoples?
Why did American officials believe it to be important that the Native peoples of the Northwest Territory recognize and accept U.S. sovereignty? Based on the assigned texts how do you think Indian peoples understood the concept of sovereignty during the treaty negotiations at Greenville?

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