The Letter Chief John Ross's Big Mistakes

The study of secondary sources challenges a person’s understanding of history because it does not come directly from the source, it is filtered through other people, and key elements may be left out. This limits a person’s understanding to what the secondary source wants them to know about a subject. A good example of this can be taken from the letter Chief John Ross wrote to president Lincoln in September of 1862.
Chief John Ross was the Principle chief in charge of all branches of the Cherokee government, he decided to join the Confederacy because it protected all of the Cherokee nation’s slave holdings and he didn’t trust the U.S.government.He,himself, wanted to remain neutral during the Civil War, but because of the majority he picked a side.
He then made the decision, after seeing how the Confederacy mistreated the Cherokee people and the way they didn’t keep their word about treaties that were made, to write a letter to President Lincoln asking for his help. He wrote the letter out of fear for his people .In the letter he wrote “The withdrawal of that Expedition and the re abandonment of that People & Country to the forces of the Confederate States leaves them in a position fought with distress, danger and

army to join together in the destruction of the Indian peoples. In the article he stated “little wonder, then, that a chastened John Ross sent a letter to President Lincoln in September 1862 explaining the Cherokee Nation’s mistake in joining the forces with the Confederacy...but the appeal was too late”The Author of this article openly criticizes and blames Ross for his decisions to join then abandon the Confederacy. The letter makes it seem like Ross acted quickly and