Analytical Piece on Background Information

The Native Americans were viewed with great respect before the American Revolution, but afterwards everything began to change. When American leaders looked at the Native Americans before the revolution they saw them as a model for how to form a government. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin looked at "the Iroquois' lack of class stratification and their representational form of government" as "an inspiration" ("Iroquois Confederacy"). Jefferson looked at the Iroquois, the dominant Native American military power of the 18th century, with high regard and appreciated their structure. Other American leaders of the time also had great respect for the Iroquois and many “democratic principles of the constitution would be drawn from the Iroquois model” (“Iroquois Confederacy”). The founding fathers of America looked so highly upon the Iroquois that they took their policies of representative government and a lack of class segregation into account when creating the infrastructure for the future of America. There was a certain time when the Native Americans were highly respected but there was a huge contrast to this after the American Revolutionary War. The Iroquois had to choose if they wanted to support the Americans, the British, or remain neutral. They chose to support Britain because "it appeared the British would win the war," "British trade routes and practices were more lucrative and widespread than those of the rebellious colonists," and "for the British, violent retaliation was a dangerous trend that they hoped to curb" ("Native Americans in the American Revolution"). While not all Native Americans supported the British, by the end of the war most of them did side with the British because of the potential benefits. However, when America won the war the Native Americans had to pay huge consequences. While not all Native Americans supported Britain this is the way that most white Americans looked at it, as they generalized the Native Americans then. This relates to present day because Americans generalize Native Americans as a wealthy people, which in turn lowers the benefits they receive, thus harming the poor Native Americans.
As a result of the war, the Americans still respected the Native American way of life as they used their ideas in the constitution, but disliked them as a people because “All Native Americans were considered traitors" and they were targeted "as enemies of the nascent republic" ("Native Americans in the Revolution"). They went as far as raiding the Native American communities which made "Indian groups perpetual enemies of the new nation" (Iroquois Confederacy"). The white Americans pillaged the Native American villages and overpowered them off of desirable land. This time period completely deteriorated the relationship between the Native Americans and the white Americans. The relationship between the white Americans and Native Americans shifted from one of respect to one of hate. The white Americans saw anything that belonged to Native Americans and took it as their own, partially because they viewed them as traitors, but also because there were growing stereotypes about Native Americans as a bad people. There were cultural representations, such as “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show which showed Native Americans as “savage Indians attacking civilized white Americans” (“Cultural Depictions of Native Americans”). The white Americans saw shows like this and assumed that these representations of Native Americans as savages were true. The white people then felt superior and they knew they were powerful enough to take what they wanted, so they did. The white Americans succeeded in their efforts "to confine the Native Americans to reservations in areas deemed unsuitable for white settlement" ("American Indians and Buffalo Soldiers"). The white Americans took away millions of acres of land from the Native Americans and forced them to live on the worst possible land. There was some Native American resistance, but after they failed in a large attempt to revolt they gave up fighting. The Native Americans were at one point highly respected by the white Americans, but after there was widespread fighting for the British in the American Revolution, this view was drastically changed. The Native Americans were forced off of the land they had inhabited for years because they were seen as traitors. The land they had once lived on for years now belonged to the white Americans which shows the shift in power. White Americans did not feel guilty about what they were doing to the Native Americans because of the widespread view that they were evil savages. Today, many Native Americans still live on reservations and face many challenges such as alcoholism and suicide. They do not have enough money to confront the issue in large part due to the fact that they were forced to live on undesirable land. The government has been trying to give benefits to Native Americans in order to repay them for the atrocities that occurred; however, the Native Americans will never again enjoy the vast land and power that they had before America was “discovered”.