Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Essay Example for Free

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Essay Americans who have always looked westward when reading about this period should read this book facing eastward†. Despite the popularity of the eyewitness accounts, Brown is not an absentee narrator. In the book Brown emphasizes two main points, the language he uses and the storyline of the book. He uses these two things to give the eyewitness accounts as much impact as possible. In the process, he attempts to defile his enemy in all kinds of different manners: The way Brown makes his readers; view eastward is by using the faults that have plagued the Native Americans. Brown’s way of emphasizes language allows the readers to connect to the Native Americans and this allows the book to thrive and continue. This book differs from a lot of other books about Native Americans, because he uses many Native American interpretations. For example, the Sioux and Cheyenne’s frequently see trains pass through their land in the Powder River country. Says Brown: ‘‘Sometimes they saw Iron Horses dragging wooden houses on wheels at great speed along the tracks . They were puzzled over what could be inside the houses. ’’ Brown uses the terms ‘‘Iron Horses’’ and ‘‘wooden houses’’ to describe trains and train cars, as a Native American at this time would have perceived them. Brown also uses the Native American designations for U. S. military ranks in his descriptions. For example, to a Native American at this time, a general was known as a â€Å"Star Chief† and a colonel was an â€Å"Eagle Chief†. In addition, Brown refers to prominent American historical figures by their Native American names. For example, many Native Americans called General George Armstrong Custer ‘‘Hard Backsides,† â€Å"because he chased them over long distances for many hours without leaving his saddle †. Brown also uses Native American naming systems for natural processes like time. Because Americans during this time divide the year into twelve months and refer to these months by names like May and June, however, Native Americans referred to these time periods by their relationship to nature. So, in Brown’s book, May is â€Å"the Moon When the Ponies Shed† and June is â€Å"the Strawberry Moon†. By using distinctly Native American interpretations like these in his narration, Brown takes his readers deep into the Native American experience. In the process, the reader begins to identify with the Native Americans. When readers identify with characters, they tend to feel sympathy for them. Through Dee Browns thesis, Brown organizes his story to maximize his readers’ sympathetic emotions. Brown establishes a three? part structure for most chapters, which demonstrates again and again that Native Americans lost no matter what they did. Francis Paul Prucha for examples states that â€Å"The materials have been selected to make the authors point, not to present a balanced view of what happened, from the Native American standpoint or from any other†. Typically, the chapter begins with a discussion of a chief or tribe who has lost something, generally a piece of their land and still has more to lose. For example, in the beginning of the second chapter, Brown notes: â€Å"As the result of two deceptive treaties, the woodland Sioux surrendered nine? tenths of their land and were crowded into a narrow strip of territory along the Minnesota River†. Following the discussion of what has been already lost; Brown introduces the second part, the struggle. For Native Americans in the nineteenth century, the struggles were many, whether they decided to go to war or did not. Many tribes in the book do choose to fight to retain their remaining land and freedom. In most cases, the tribes win some battles but end up losing the war. The U. S. soldiers are too advanced and numerous to be defeated, something that the Native Americans begin to realize. For example, Little Crow is cautious about fighting at first, because he had been to the East and seen the power of the Americans. They were everywhere and with cannons they would destroy everything in their path. Even when the Native Americans outnumber the whites, the military technology can be the decisive factor in the victory. As many Native Americans learned, even though they had bravery, numbers, and massive charges all of that would mean nothing if the Native Americans were armed only with bows, lances, and clubs. In cases where the Native Americans try to remain peaceful, Brown shows many ways that they are provoked into war. In several cases, settlers or miners hungry for the Native Americans’ remaining land spread lies in an effort to get the government to take their land. During the Civil War, Native Americans were sometimes provoked into fighting because it was the safer of two options for white, male citizens. For example, Brown says there was political pressure on soldiers from Coloradans who wanted to avoid the military draft of 1864 by serving in uniform against a few poorly armed Indians rather than against the Confederates farther east. Even after the Civil War, when the draft was no longer an issue, some drafted soldiers used lies to provoke Native Americans and kill them because peace was not profitable for the settlers. The final part of Brown’s argument in most chapters is the ending. Due to the massive struggles that Native Americans faced whether or not they chose to remain peaceful, most chapters end badly. The chiefs, who are often depicted as strong in the beginning and middle of the chapters when they are fighting for their land and people, end up dead, in prison, in exile, or on a reservation with the rest of their people. Even the exceptions to this rule, such as the chapter depicting Red Clouds successful war, ultimately end negatively. Red Cloud’s story is an example of the overall structure of the book. The book starts out with many Native Americans living free and retaining parcels of their land. As the story progresses and the white emigration start to take over, large armies and groups of white settlers cut down the various tribes. By the end of the book, the effect of white emigration has impacted around so much of the country that most Native Americans are dead, in prison, or on scattered reservations. To conclude I felt the effect on the reader is profound. Brown has gotten his readers to root for the underdogs by using eyewitness accounts and language to draw readers into the Native American experience. Yet, in each chapter Brown steadily crushes any hope that the reader might have for the Native Americans winning much of anything by using his plot. By using these strategies, Brown makes his readers feel more into the book by trying to make them sympathize to the Natives. Brown’s tone, or attitude towards his subject matter, is one of barely restrained outrage, and he wants readers to get angry, too. Tom Phillips, another reviewer states, â€Å"Brown has gone too far at some points and is guilty of the same faults as those who created the raditional image of the Native American as savage, alcoholic and expendable†.

Essay --

Stalin’s Rise What effective tactics did Joseph Stalin use to rise to power? Emily Goetz 3-10-2014 Word Count 4th hour Question: What effective tactics did Joseph Stalin use to rise to power? Thesis: Over the course of several years, Stalin consolidated his power through the use of political scheming, maintaining a respectable image, and by out-maneuvering his opposition in the Communist Party. A. Plan of Investigation: Over the course of several years, Stalin established his power through the use of political scheming, maintaining a respectable image, and by out-maneuvering his opposition in the Communist Party. Stalin’s rise shows the importance of how political figures maneuver their way to the top and how a dictator achieves legitimacy. In the future, when leaders are rising, they can be compared to Stalin’s and stopped if there are close similarities in ruthlessness. This paper is narrowed to Stalin’s rise to better elaborate on several of the tactics Stalin used to obtain power. I need to find videos from history to show what Stalin was like physically around others. I need to locate speeches, and perhaps recording by other party members about Stalin to show Stalin’s ruthlessness. B. Summary of Evidence: Stalin was drawn into the city’s revolutionary circles after â€Å"discovering the works of Karl Marx† (McKinney). In 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two, known as the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Stalin joined the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. Between â€Å"1902 and 1913 Stalin was arrested and sent into Siberia seven times† (Haugen). Between exiles Stalin continued work for the Bolsheviks and met Lenin for the first tim... ...de sure to give only those who agreed with him any power, and eventually Congress was filled with a majority of Stalin supporters. When Stalin’s opponents took the left side, Stalin took the right and vice versa. As a result, Stalin maneuvered his way into the Party so much that he practically guaranteed his own success as Lenin’s successor. By the time the Party's core realized what had happened, it was too late, and the only person with the authority to challenge him, was on his deathbed and incapable of speech after a series of strokes. Stalin took down Leon Trotsky and in 1925, and forced Trotsky to resign from the party. Stalin exiled Trotsky from the Soviet Union in 1929, and had him assassinated in Mexico in 1940 (Stalin). Stalin knew how to use his position as an advantage, even to the point of abusing his powers, so they he could defeat his opponents.

Rights and Freedoms of Aboriginals

The rights and freedoms of Aboriginals have improved drastically since 1945 with many changes to government policy, cultural views and legal rules to bring about a change from oppression to equality. Unfortunately on the other hand, some rights and freedoms have not improved at all or have even worsened. Firstly the change in legal and constitutional rights have been a great creator of rights for the Aboriginal people. Up until 1967 the Aboriginals did not have the right to be counted in the census.This was basically a way of saying that the Aboriginals were not Australians, almost not even people. Fortunately the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginals citizenship. It did however not end any discrimination against the Aboriginal people and merely allowed them to legally join society but not socially join society. Another change to Aboriginal rights and freedoms was the constitutional change also by the 1967 referendum which allowed the federal government to pass laws over the Aboriginal pe ople.This was to change section 51 of the constitution which stated â€Å"The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: †¦.. The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws. † This was great news as it stopped the states making unfair laws on Aboriginals and stopping them from travelling from state to state.On the other side however it was completely disrespectful as it stated the commonwealth must show respect to everyone except the Aboriginals. Another large milestone in the improving rights of the Aboriginals was the fight and subsequent win over land rights. The quest for land rights began in 1963 with the Bark Petition. The bark petition was a petition that was sent from the Yolngu people to the federal parliament that was written on a piece of bark. Unfortunately for the Aboriginals, this petition was rejected and instead the land rights were given to a local mining company.This ruling was justified under the concept of Terra Nullius, saying that the land was not settled. Another challenge to land ownership was the Tent Embassy on the parliament house lawns. This constant public pressure caused the government to express interest in giving land rights to Aboriginals. This was completed with Justice Woodward’s report in 1974 that recommended that Aboriginal reserves are to be returned to Aboriginal ownership, that Aboriginals had claim to vacant land if they could prove ties with the land, that Aboriginal sacred sites were protected.This was great as it gave power to the Aboriginals. It did however also mean that if they had sacred land that was already owned if not even used would not be returned to them. This was passed in 1976 when the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed. Later in 1981 the Northern Territory government opposes land rights and attempts to amend the land rights act to stop claims of owned stations and property. The attitudes of the white Australians also had a huge impact on change of rights and freedoms as it pressured the government into giving Aboriginals rights and freedoms.The 1967 was testament to this when a huge 90. 77% of Australians agreed that Aboriginals had the right to be counted in the census. There has never been any real public objections to giving aboriginals rights, merely quiet harbored prejudices in the persons’ mind. On the other side of the case the Aboriginal rights in general have not improved with many Aboriginals being mistreated and discriminated against. The statistics do not speak honestly about public opinion.The rights and freedoms of Aboriginals have been fuelled by an ever increasing wave of Aboriginal activism and increased self-esteem. Aboriginal activism began with the Bark Petition in 1963 and has caused almost all of the government change. The freedom rides of 1964, th e Wave Hill protest in 1966, Even the abolishment of the policy of assimilation was caused by the Aboriginals constant protest and pain of the stolen generation. The most dominant display of Aboriginal activism however was the creation of the Tent Embassy on the lawns of Parliament House.

Illegal Immigration and its Concerns - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 979 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category Sociology Essay Level High school Tags: Illegal Immigration Essay Did you like this example? Nowadays this is a situation that has become very common in several countries with High Human Development Index: Illegal Immigration. It refers to ‘the migration of people into a country in ways that violate the immigration laws of that country, or the remaining in a country of people who no longer have the legal right to remain (Wikipedia). Over many years to this date many are the constraints that countries such as England, France, the United States, Germany, Canada, and others, are facing because of this problem. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Illegal Immigration and its Concerns" essay for you Create order Due to their economic situation, high level of technological advancement, high social indicators, quality of life, among other premises, these countries have faced problems with Illegal Immigrants. Due to the large gap between these countries and those countries that find themselves in a very poor socioeconomic-political situation, this movement has increased exponentially and has generated strong waves of demonstration by organizations for and against illegal immigrants. Immigration has started in the USA over four hundred years ago. History says that the first immigrants to arrive to USA were the Europeans. They start with the Industrial Revolution that gave rise to manufacturing economy, which made America become the leading power in the world. As we all know, illegal immigration is a big issue of Law Violation in the first world countries. According to Jack Martin (Special Projects Director, Federation for American Immigration Reform – FAIR) on his statement ‘Illegal Immigration and its effects on society and the economy’ he says that â€Å"The total fiscal burden from illegal immigration borne by the state’s taxpayers is considerably higher than those †¦. If the full costs of administration of justice, e.g., such costs as policing, processing, trials, interpreters, medical expenses and other incarceration costs beyond salaries of the incarceration staff were included, those estimated costs would greatly expand.â⠂¬  He also tells us that the costs borne by the state on the expenses with illegal immigrants, and with medical emergencies and incarceration the estimated cost was $ 285 million dollars per year in 2006, and estimates the rise in cost to $ 812 million dollars per year until 2020. Although there are many Immigrants crossing the border between Mexico and the United States legally, there are also many immigrants who illegally crossed the border between these two countries in a way that tries to obtain work with better wages than they do in Mexico. The United States Congress in a way to address illegal immigrants has passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), including some measures to stop this wave of illegal immigration, such as sanctions against companies that hire illegal immigrants to work, has strengthened policing at its borders in order to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants. Years later there was an increase in illegal anti-immigration measures, and with this reinforcement of laws against illegal immigrants, it increased the number of illegal immigrants in the country, to the point of spreading throughout the territory, not being in the states that had previously lived more illegal immigrants, such as New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, and California. Although illegal immigrants are a good part of the labor force receiving ‘under the table’ and giving substantial gains to companies employing undocumented immigrants, and there is no undocumented workers contributing to programs like Medicare or even Medicaid, with this procedure the state fails to raise millions in taxes causing a hole in the state accounts due to spending billions on illegal immigrants aid programs and support. Due to the number of visitors entering the United States who do not return to their countries of origin preferring to stay in the country illegally, many embassies in these countries have been making it difficult to assign visas to visit, reducing visas attributed annually. This process has an inversely proportional relation to the attribution of entry visas, reducing the number of visas attributed as citizens from those countries that do not return are increasing. According to FAIR between 17,000 and 19,000 foreigners are trafficked to the United States every year. These people are deceived with false promises of employment and of a better life. Victims of trafficking are exploited for purposes of commercial sex, including prostitution, stripping, pornography live-sex shows and other acts. However, trafficking also takes place in labor exploitation, including domestic servitude, sweatshop factories, agricultural work and more. â€Å"- FAIR Although the United States faces serious problems with illegal immigration, Europe is also facing many problems with this new wave of illegal immigrants moving from several poor countries in Africa. Thousands of illegal immigrants have died trying to reach Europe by land or by sea. And even by sea that in recent years has been the biggest humanitarian disaster, with records of several shipwrecks of small vessels that transport them in inhuman conditions illegal immigrants, who along the journey end up running out of water and food, many dying in the boats, which are then thrown into the sea. This situation has awakened a huge humanitarian crisis along European borders, with some European countries arranging quotas for illegal immigrants to accommodate them. But not everyone is having this luck, and many end up suffering in refugee camps where they are placed. This movement poses a certain danger to a socially, economically and politically organized society and can increase the risks of increased drug trafficking, clandestine work, prostitution and even trafficking in human beings, and increasing the deportation of illegal immigrants to their home countries. source. Undocumented immigrants are still entitled to medical care, immunizations, humanitarian aid and basic education. Much has been done to combat illegal immigration in the United States, from strengthening borders, creating stricter anti-immigration laws. Even with all this concern in dealing with Illegal Immigration, there is still a great influx of Illegal Immigrants seeking the desired American Dream. The fight against Illegal Immigration will be a constant struggle and it does not prove to have an end in sight.