Peoples History Discussion Questions

Be prepared to locate and discuss the answers to these questions from 'As Long As Grass Grows...' from APH of US

1. Why did almost every important Indian nation fight on the side of the British during the American Revolutionary War?

2. What was Jefferson’s policy toward the Indians?

3. What prompted Tecumseh’s rebellion?

4. How was the Battle of Horseshoe Bend won?

5. Why would demanding that Indians own private property make them more vulnerable to losing their land than if they continued to use the land in common?

6. What reasons did Jackson give to explain his invasion of Spanish-owned Florida? What resulted from the Seminole War of 1818?

7. How did President Jackson’s Indian policy compare (in practice, rationale, and effect) to his predecessors’?

8. How did Jackson act unconstitutionally?

9. What caused the outbreak of the Second Creek War?

10. How did Speckled Snake describe the history of European-Indian relations? Do you agree with his synopsis? If not, how would you alter it?

11. If you went up to a Creek or Cherokee in the 1830s and asked if you could buy some of his or her land, what would he or she say to you?

[Extra Credit : respond in a three to four paragraph comment. Remember to link to outside sources. Also see 'Persons of Mean and Vile Condition' in APH of US.] 12. Is there any parallel between Bacon’s Rebellion and the Indian Wars preceding the War of 1812 with respect to the dynamics among Indians, poor whites, and rich whites? If so, explain how the situations are parallel. If not, what factors are different enough so that there is no structural parallel?

13. What strategy(ies) did the Cherokees adopt to fight removal?

14. What position did Senator Frelinghuysen take regarding Indian removal? What action did Ralph Waldo Emerson take to oppose the removal of the Cherokees? Does the existence of ineffective white opposition to Indian removal indicate that white Americans were swept away by historical forces? Why or why not?

15. What happened to the Choctaws after they signed their treaty of removal? Were the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek observed by both sides?

16. Why did the Georgia militia arrest Sam Worcester and Elizar Butler? Were the actions of the militia consistent with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution? Why did it not matter whether the Supreme Court ruled in favor of or against the Cherokees?

17. By 1832, how long had the Creeks been defending their lands against the Europeans?

18. Place the following events in the order in which they usually happened:
a. Indians appeal to federal government to enforce treaty that protected the integrity of Indian land.
b. White settlers encroach on/invade Indian land.
c. Federal government does nothing.
d. On Indian land (by federal treaty) whites and Indians attack each other.
e. Federal government orders Indians to move farther west.
f. [Are any steps missing?]
Why did this process repeat itself over and over again?

19. What were the conditions under which the Creeks moved west?

20. How did the Seminoles resist removal? How effective was the Seminole form of resistance?

21. If the Cherokee removal was so dreadful that it was to be known as the Trail of Tears, why did Van Buren feel that it had the “happiest effects?”

22. Draw a map that includes the following: Appalachians, Mississippi River, Rocky Mountains, Florida Territory, Tallapoosa River in Alabama, the state borders of Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, the location of the Battle of Horshoe Bend, the Trail of Tears.

23. Debate Resolution: Andrew Jackson’s Indian policy represented a fundamental change from the Indian policies of previous U.S. presidents.

Zinn, Howard (2011-04-10). A People's History of the United States: Abridged Teaching Edition (Kindle Locations 2264-2276). Kindle Edition.