The author makes its clear how Native American women in early American culture were treated better than early white women. While we hear about how important men, such as Christopher Columbus, were involved in the exploration of America, the important and special role of females in history is glossed over in early education. In the early Sioux Indian tribes, the women were revered, gave wise advice, and participated in hunting with bows and arrows. The Zuni tribe women also owned houses and could gain property if they filed for divorce.
The way that Native American tribes treated females was in sharp contrast to white women who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in the 17th century. Females and adolescent girls were treated likes slaves and not respected. Women such as Elizabeth Springs and Linda Brent were treated with much disrespect. Female healers such as Anne Hutchinson were put on trial for witchcraft. Women had to fight to secure rights in voting, earning money, and attending college.
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"A People’s History of the United States".
Native Americans continued to be treated poorly in America. Before the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the Indian Removal forced many Native Americans out of their land, in favor of white settlers. The author of the book feels that it was necessary to force the Native Americans off their land to increase trade, money, farming, and to open the door to capitalism. Andrew Jackson killed many of the Creek Indians, including women and children. He is not liked among Indians and continued to force Indians out of their territory when he became president. The Red Sticks Indians fought hard against Jackson, but it was only a matter of time before more native people lost their land. Treaties were established with Native Americans to make peace and honor their land, but were eventually broken by the government and are still broken today. People such as Ralph Waldo Emerson were outraged and wrote a public letter to object to the treatment of the Indians.
The pattern of forcing people off their land just continued with the American presidency of James Polk. Polk wanted California and Texas and decided to send troops into the Rio Grande to achieve his mission. Many Mexicans occupied the Rio Grande area. Since the boundary between Texas and Mexico was not clear, this created some problems for Polk. In 1845, Mexico was annexed, which created a war in 1846. Two years later, Mexico surrendered Texas and California became part of America. The Rio Grande became the official Texas and Mexico border and Mexicans receive about $15 million dollars for their loss in reparations and for their land.
In the United States, slavery was an accepted practice for quite some time. By the mid- 19th century about 4 million slaves worked the cotton and tobacco plantations in the South. Southern plantations owners counted on slaves for free labor. Slaves were beaten and punished. African Americans were known as the lesser race. Eventually people started to revolt. Strong black women such as Harriet Tubman helped create the Underground Railroad, which was used to get slaves to freedom. People such as Frederick Douglas spoke out against slavery and questioned the morality of holding black people captive.
The Civil War took place between the years of 1861 and 1865. It pitted North against South, the South favoring slavery. The South would lose all their free labor. The North eventually won the war. President Abraham Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and made it illegal for anyone to own slaves. This era also saw the rise of black writers. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about the struggles of poor black and white people.
