Westward Expansion Of Native Americans: A Congressional Speech By James Michael Cavan

Westward expansion not only opened up the west coast to America, it also opened up America to new interactions with Native Americans. Westward expansion created one big question for Americans, what to do with the Native Americans? The answer to this was not black and white, many Americans felt as if assimilation was the key, while other Americans felt that annihilation was the key. This created a big divide in America on deciding what to do with Native Americans and whites in the new frontier. In this collection of documents, the primary sources differ from helping the Native Americans to exterminating the Native Americans: A congressional speech by James Michael Cavan given on 1868, a book called A Century of Dishonor written by Helen

In the speech that James Michael Cavan gave to congress, Cavan called for the extermination of Native Americans while Helen Hunt Jackson argued for better reform until Native Americans were properly trained by enlightened white teachers.To understand what Native American life was like trying to assimilate, Zitkala-Sa’s take as a Native American student at a boarding school was provided to add to this point of view, this is contradicted by what Chief Joseph says whites should really do, Chief Joseph believed everyone’s problems would be solved if Native Americans were treated like whites treat other whites. Thomas Nast believed that Whites should have patience for Native Americans until they are civilized which is the very opposite of giving them no chance and exterminating them like Cavan

James Michael Cavanaugh called for the elimination of all Native Americans stating that he had never seen a living Native American that he would consider good. Why continue signing treaties with the Native Americans if after a few months they would be right back to doing what they did in the past, scalping settlers and destroying settler’s homes, Cavanaugh asked his fellow congressman. Cavanaugh explained the torturous ways of scalping on innocent women in new territories of the united states, presenting the Native Americans as war minded people. The audience that Cavanaugh was speaking to was older white males in congress, he knew none of them would have made it past the protective barriers so he was free to paint the Native Americans however he wanted. Cavanaugh wanted the Native Americans gone so he portrayed the Native Americans as blood thirsty and dangerous, by telling of how they would scalp innocent women. It is clear that Cavanaugh wanted the Native Americans to be gone, killed, and their land