Friday, March 02, 2007

Black Hawk War -- your questions

Please post your answers as comments to this blog ...

1. Were there any preconceptions, stereotypes or just plain wrong ideas the Indians had about the whites that helped lead to the conflict?

2. Were there any preconceptions, stereotypes or just plain wrong ideas the whites had about the Indians that helped lead to the conflict?

3. Were Was there any point where someone could have headed off the fighting? Who? When? Why? What could they have done or said to do so?

19 comments:

sitko8622 said...

1. The Indians had the preconception that the whites were there to kill them all and drive them away from their land.

2. The whites had the preconception that the Indians were blood thirsty warriors who wanted to kill them.

3. The only way this battle could have been stopped is if the Treaty of 1804 had not been signed. Black Hawk was not present at this treaty along with some other tribal leaders. This angered them because they did not want to give up all of their land east of the Mississippi. The final blow came in 1830 when Sauk and Fox tribal leaders ceded the land east of the Mississippi to the United States government.

knevill said...

1. The indians believed the white men to be evil and full of diseases which they were. They were full of diseases and i guess in a sense evil because they wanted to steal the indians land.
2. there were plenty of misconceptions that the white men had about the indians. One of the big things was that the indians were savages. The indians really werent savages, they were just defending the thing that they loved, there land.
3.I dont believe you or i could have done anything to stop the war from happening. One person alone could not stop two large groups from fighting over the one thing that they want, the land.

Melissa Booker said...

1)I think that the common misconception that the indianns had about the whites is that the whites wanted to conquer their territory and rob them of their freedom.
2) I think that the whites were convinced that since the Indians lost their land they now, wanted to take over their territory. I think that both the whites and the Indians had a fear of losing their land. And both the whites and the indiands had a fear of the other, conquering their territory.

Tyler V. said...

1. The Indians viewed the white people as satanic, a real evil threat. So they did not like them and their vibes were right. The whites ended up opressing them in slavery and kicking them off their land. The whites horses, guns, attire, and everything else frightend the indians. Therefore that's what caused the drama.

2. Same as above

3. I think the leader of the indians (Black Hawk), and the leader of the whites at the time should have went into a TP and smoked together and reasoned with sharing the land and the crops. Therefore they could have created something along the lines of their owned combined joint empire. They should have let the indians know that they weren't evil but did want a part of the land and then they could of worked out some agreement.

Tim said...

1)Yes, their were preexisting stereotypes that whites assumed that with the return of the indians, that the indians wanted to take back their land with bloodshed and no peace. The indians stereotype of the white man was land stealers and not keeping their treaties.
2)Yes at one time they were trying to retreat back and militia stopped them making it impossible to retreat peacefully.
3)Yes, throughout this whole war their were many little battles which could of been avoided if someone would of tried to talk instead of fire their weapon. I believe the best time that this could of happened was at the very first confrontation when the indians were trying to retreat and the militia attacked, this battle could of been stopped and the indians could of went back to their homes peacefully.

Tyler V. said...

2. I misread the question. The Whites viewed the Indians as savages who take no prisoners. They believed that the indians were selfish and would not take part in sharing of the land.

sisson said...

1. I would have to say that there where preconceptions and stereotypes about the whites. Many of the Indians did not know what was really going on. Because the Indians did not understand the language; and had no reason for trusting the white people. All they really knew was since they had been here there really had been nothing good that had come from them.
2. Yes, there where preconceptions and stereotypes that the whites had about the Indians. The whites thought that they could come right over and take land that was not rightfully theirs to begin with.
3. Yes, someone could have headed off this fight. The chiefs and the government should have had some kind of sit down. When all this arose. When the whites decided to take over the came that was not theirs. The two leaders could have worked out some kind of deal so, the fighting may not have ever occurred.

Molly McHenry said...

1. The Indians had the preconception that the whites were going to steal their lands and kill them in the process if necessary.
2. The whites saw the Indians as savages and as a threat to their lives.
3. I don't think anything could have been done to stop the war from happening. It was the result of two cultures that misunderstood each other and could not communicate with on another

Randy said...

1. The main concern with the Indians is that they believed the white people wanted to destroy the Indian culture and tak eover their land and such.

2. The white people thought just about the same as the Indians, that they just wanted to fight them and take their land.

3. Yea I do believe that the war could have been stopped. If leaders of both sides would have just gotten together and told each other how they thought about each other, they would have proabbly worked some agreement out earlier than what they did. The fight could and should have been stopped from happening.

Jim Clayton said...

1.The Indians had the preconception that the whites were going to kill all of them and that they were evil and full of diseases
2.The Whites thought that the Indians were savages and wanted nothing other then blood.
3. If the Treaty of 1804 was never signed is the only way that this battle would have not occured. when the treaty was signed the black hawk leader wan not there and not willing to give up land east of the mississippi.In 1830 the Sauk and Fox tribe conceded their land east of the mississippi to the U.S.

Mary said...

1.Their trust in the British seemed to be misplaced. Black Hawk found out that no help was coming and that he had been misled.

2.Jefferson believed that the Native Americans would just give up their heritage and become farmers and weavers. Also the website said that “white Americans throughout the country were increasingly likely to see Native Americans as racially rather than culturally inferior.”

3.The militia should have had an interpreter to avoid confusion if negotiations were to happen. Also no one sent messengers to try and clear up the misunderstanding.
At 3 different times Black Hawk tried to surrender and negotiate, but no one could understand their language. This would have ended the conflict altogether.

radio68 said...

1)I think that the Indians wanted to kill the whites b/c they had thought that the whites had spread small pox around which killed many indians. I think the indians thought the whites were only there to take their land, when really they need a place to live just like the indians.
2) I think that the whites thought the indians wanted to hurt/kill any mormon they saw b/c they took ove their land. The indians wanted revenge. They did indeed take the cattle of the mormans which started the war.
3)9 April 1865, is when the war started. I think that the white kinda started the war b/c he had pushed an indian off his horse b/c some cattle were stolen. But then the Indains wanted revenge and deceided to kill some mormons and steal more cattle. This lead to the mormons killing any indians they could get their hands on...including women and chilren.

KeeCravens said...

1. The indians had though that the whites were evil. The indians also belived that they were full of diseases. The whites wanted the indians to belive this so it would drive them off of there land.
2. The whites thought of the indians as blood warriors and savaiges. both indians and whites had a fear of losing their land. which the whites killed the indians off of theri land.
3. The Battle could been stopped if the treaty was not signed. if the whites talked to the indian and told them they wanted part of their land and not fired there weapons right away. there could have been agreement instead of battles.

Megan said...

1. The Indians thought that the white people were going to take their land and kill them. The whites were full of disease.
2. The whites thought that the Indians were savages and were going to kill them.
3. I think that if some of the militia were able to speak the Indian language, they would have been able to work out something so that they would not have had to fight. Maybe there could have been some settlement where the Indians could stay on part of the land and the whites could stay on another part. If they were far enough away from each other they may have been able to live in the same region without killing each other.

Joe v said...

1. The main concern with the Indians is that they believed the white people wanted to destroy the Indian culture and take over their land.

2) The whites thought the indians wanted to hurt any mormon they saw because they took over their land. The indians wanted to get back at them. They took the cattle of the mormans which started the war.

3. The only way this battle could have been stopped is if the Treaty of 1804 had not been signed. Black Hawk was not present at this treaty along with some other tribal leaders. This angered them because they did not want to give up all of their land east of the Mississippi. The final blow came in 1830 when Sauk and Fox tribal leaders ceded the land east of the Mississippi to the United States government.

J-Stan said...

1. What happened was that the indians thought that the white were there to drive them away and kill them for their land.
2. What the whites thought was that the indians were savages and were to kill any white people in their territory.
3. I believe there could of been anything that could of stopped the war. Other than if the treaty of 1804 wasnt signed.

Leane said...

1. The indians had the preconception that the whites were there to kill them all adn drive them away from their land.
2. The white had the preconception that the Indians were blood thirsty warriors who wanted to kill them.
3. The only way this battle could have been stopped is if the Treaty of 1804 had not been signed. Black hawk was not present at this treaty along with some other tribal leaders.

aurb26 said...

1)They thought the whites were out to kill them and drive them off their land.
2)They thought the indians were out to savagely kill them.
3) If the Treaty of 1804 hadn't been signed, this could have been avoided because Black Hawk wasn't present at the signing so it angered him bc he didn't want to give up his land east of the Mississippi.

Leane said...

1. The indians believed the white men to be evil adn full of diseases. the white were there to kill them and drive them away from their land.
2. There was alot of misconceptions that the win men had abotu the indians. They thought the indians were blood thirsty warriors who waned to kill them.
3. The only way this battle could have been stopped is if the treaty would not have been signed.