Lewis And Clark Debate Evidence Essay

Submitted By boobear12371
Words: 1269
Pages: 6

Opening Statement­
We believe that Lewis and Clark disrespected the Indians and the land they lived on.
Before their expedition, American Indians had lived on those rivers, plains, and mountains for thousands of years. What had happened was something just short of a holocaust for them.
They were introduced to fatal diseases like smallpox and scarlet fever as well as products like liquor. The Indian’s main source of food, the buffalo, were slaughtered and the Indians forced onto reservations and had their land taken from them. Since Lewis and Clark, the first
Europeans to travel American Indian land, the population and possessions of the Indians have plummeted. Document A­
“...
as it may better enable those who endeavor to civilize & instruct them, to

adapt their measure to the existing notions & practices of those on whom they are to operate. . . .


Document B­ contradicting to your argument, there was an event where the indians had stolen the gun “R Fields as he seized his gun stabbed the indian to the heart with his knife the fellow ran about 15 steps and fell dead;”
I called to them as I had done several times before that I would shoot them if they did not give me my horse and raised my gun, one of them jumped behind a rock and spoke to the other who turned arround and stoped at the distance of 30 steps from me and I shot him through the belly
Fieldses returned with four of our horses; we left one of our horses and took four of the best of those of the indian's; while the men were preparing the horses I put four sheilds and two bows and quivers of arrows which had been left on the fire, with sundry other articles; they left all their baggage at our mercy my indian horse carried me very well in short much better than my own would have done and leaves me with but little reason to complain of the robery.

Document C
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Says Ben Sherman, president of the Western American Indian Chamber in
Denver: "The upcoming events portray Clark as the benevolent protector of
Indians — that's propagandist baloney." The tragic aftermath: as Governor of the
Missouri Territory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Clark presided over
President Thomas Jefferson's l and­grab policy
, which some historians characterize as a direct cause of "cultural genocide" and "ethnic cleansing."

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." But whites brought diseases that killed as many as 90% of some tribes' members. Most of the tribes Lewis and Clark encountered were forced off the rivers that sustained their commerce and culture and herded onto reservations with poor soil. Today a third of Native Americans live below the poverty line, and half are unemployed.
"Our people have for too long put on beads and feathers and danced for the white man," says Ronald McNeil, a great­great­great grandson of Chief Sitting
Bull and president of the local community college. "Yes, we'll show how our ancestors lived when Lewis and Clark came up the trail. But then we must say what happened to them since. I'm tired of playing Indian and not getting to be an
Indian."
In his journal, Lewis called the Blackfeet "a vicious lawless and rather an abandoned set of wretches." But today's Blackfeet want no one to forget that two of their warriors were killed in a skirmish sparked by Lewis' talk of selling arms to rival tribes. "We knew, 'There goes the neighborhood,'" says tribe member James
Craven, a professor at Clark University in Vancouver, Wash.

Document D­
“But they were now Convinced that everything we had told them were true

that they Should keep in memory every thing which we had Said to them, and Strictly attend to our advice, that their young men Should Stay at home and Should not go again to war against any nation.” Document E­ Additional Resources (excerpts from…)
Dick Little Bear: Here they purchased land from another government that had no ownership of it. They didn’t even consult with the