ID120 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Appalachian Mountains, Indian Act
Document Summary
It is a common myth that indians were waiting for europeans to lead them to civilization. North america defends democracy as the cornerstone of social, religious, and political enlightenment because it is obliged to think well of itself and its institutions. In north america, you had north americans who were enlightened and indians who were not. For the first century or so, the two groups killed each other. For the next couple of centuries, they traded and fought. Indian-white relations were originally constructed around the concerns of commerce (ex. In these matters, native peoples understood themselves to be sovereign, independent nations, and in early land and treaty negotiations, were treated as such. In the 1700s, as european military forces gained the upper hand, whites began to re-imagine the place of indian nations in north america. Beginning in 1823, the u. s. supreme court made three decisions:
