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Week Four: Empires Enter the West

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Saved by Frank Kelderman
on August 1, 2012 at 3:07:44 pm
 

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September 25: Lewis and Clark with the Mandan

 

Readings

 

  • Lewis and Clark: Rivers, Edens, and Empires. As you read through this wiki make certain to read the transcripts of Jefferson's secret message to congress, Jefferson's instructions to Lewis, Jefferson's Speech to the Delegation of Indians, and the Indians response to Jefferson.
  • Rivers of Words: Exploring Lewis and Clark. Click on the numbers 9 and 10.  Make certain to read the journal entries and letters highlighted for Lewis and Clark's winter at Fort Mandan, Council and their journal entry for their council with the Sioux.

 

Study Questions 

 

1. Explain how kinship and hierarchy influenced Native and American diplomacy as Lewis and Clark made their way through the west.

 

2. What is the core idea behind Thomas Jefferson's Indian policy?  How was this related to the Lewis and Clark expedition?  How was it related to American political power in the west?

 

3. What is the back-story regarding trade in Jefferson's secret message to congress?  How would you interpret Jefferson's speech to the Indians?  How are the speech and message to congress related?

 

4. Describe the importance of trade for Jefferson's Indian policy and for the mission of the corps of Discovery.  What are the implications of trade with the U.S. for the Sioux and the Mandan and Hidatsas?

 

5. What was the diplomatic goal of the Lewis and Clark expedition in Jefferson's instructions?  How well did Lewis and Clark implement Jefferson's diplomatic goals?  What was the diplomatic goal of the Sioux?  How would you describe the encounter with Lewis and Clark from a Sioux perspective?  From a Mandan perspective? (Be sure to read the full journal entries for September 25-28, 1804).

 

6. Why were there so many Natie villagers at teh Mandan-Hidatsa villages?  What were the significance of these villages for trade and diplomacy among Native peoples in the Upper Missouri Basin?

 

7. How were trade and sovereignty linked in the Upper Missouri from an American perspective?  How would they be viewed from a Native perspective?

 

 


September 27: The Santa Fe Trail and the Republic of Texas


Readings

 

 

Study Questions 

 

1. Texas in 1840 is one of many nineteenth-century guides for people emigrating to the West. Guides ranged from detailed descriptions of the region to guidebooks with step-by-step maps and instructions on how to get to the new region, such as emigrant guides to Utah. Keeping this genre in mind, who was the authors' ideal audience? Think about specific examples from the text that demonstrate the authors' motivations.

 

2. What image of the Republic of Texas (1836-1846) does this text create? If you were looking for a new country to emigrate to, would Texas appeal to you? Why or why not? Consider specific examples and think about variables based on sex, age, occupation, marital status etc., that would help determine the appeal of Texas.

 

3. Who is George Wilkins Kendall? (You may need to look up information on Kendall in an outside source.) What role did he play in the Texas Santa Fé Expedition? According to Kendall, why did he join the expedition?

 

4. How does Kendall depict the goals of the expedition? Upon joining the expedition, how did Kendall think he and others on the expedition would be received by Sante Fé’s inhabitants? How did their expectations differ from reality and what can we determine about the individuals on the expedition and the regions' politics?

 

5. The Texas Santa Fé Expedition set out in 1841, a year after the publication of Texas in 1840. What does the juxtaposition of these two texts suggest about Texas' economy, goals, society, and relationship with Mexico and the United States. 

 

6. Throughout the excerpts Kendall mentions encounters with American Indians. How does he perceive the Indians he sees and hears stories about? How does he differentiate between the different groups he meets? 

 

7. Kendall claims, “The desperation of their [the Indians’] hunger was such as to overcome any astonishment or intimidation the appearance of our wagon might have caused…” (87). What other reasons may explain why the sight of wagons and Texan traders did not astonish the southwestern Indians? What do the Indian attacks imply about this region?

 

 

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