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JaredRichards
Mr.Lewis
English1010
30November2015

CausePaper

Weholdthesetruthstobeselfevident,thatallmenarecreatedequal,thattheyare
endowedbytheirCreatorwithcertainunalienableRights,thatamongtheseareLife,Libertyand
thepursuitofHappiness.(Declaration)DoesthisonlyapplytoimmigrantsfromEuropethat
immigratedbetween15001800,whenthiswaswritten?Doesthisapplytopeoplethatwere
alreadyherepriortothistimeperiod?Orwhataboutthosethatcameafterthistimeperiod?I
wouldliketoaddressthelastpartoftheabovequote:Life,Libertyandthepursuitof
Happiness,(Declaration)andhowitappliestoNativeAmericans.
TheNativeAmericanslivedherethousandsofyearsbeforethefirstEuropeansettlers
arrivedonthebanksofpresentdayMassachusetts.TherearehundredsofNativeAmerican
Tribes,someofthemorewellknownareSioux,Navajo,Chippewa,Inuit(Eskimo),tonamejust
afew.Eachofthesetribeslivedindifferentpartsoftheland.Theyhadbattlesandwarswith
eachother,grewcrops,andraisedfamiliesandcommunities.Theywereselfsustaining,using
everypiecefromthedeertheykilledandallpartsofcropsfromtheland,withgreatrespect.To
thenativesthiswasnotAmerica,thiswasalandthatwasgiventothembythegreatcreator
fortheiruseandsubstance.ThiswaslifetotheNativesuntil1492whenChristopherColumbus


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setsailunderthequeenofSpaintofindthewestIndies.HeneverreachedAsia,aswasintended,
heendedupinSouthAmerica.ColumbushadfoundaNewWorld.Thisdiscoveryopeneda
gateforotherexplorerstocometoanew,richland.
Morethanonehundredyearslater,in1620,agroupofEnglishseparatistssetsailonthe
Mayflower.LandinginpresentdayMassachusetts,theyestablishedacolony.Havinglittle
knowledgeofthelandtheynowlivedon,thesettlersbuiltrelationshipswiththenativesand
learnedhowtoliveofftheland.Duetothisrecentlyestablishedrelationship,theywereableto
notonlysurvive,butflourish.Manymoresettlerscameoverthecourseofthenexthundred
years,hopingtoleavetheruleofthecrowninEngland.In1776,TheDeclarationof
IndependancewassignedandtheUnitedStatesofAmericawasborn.
AsmorepeoplecametoAmerica,morelandwastakenfromthenativesandtheywere
pushedoutoftheirownhomesandsettlements.Inanattempttokeeppeacewiththenatives,the
U.S.governmentfoundedtheBureauofIndianAffairsonMarch11,1824.(BIA)Evenwiththis
liaisontherewasstillhostilitybetweenthesettlersandthenatives.Oneexampleofthisisthe
BattleatWoundedKnee.Afteramedicinemanhadavisionduringaneclipseofthesunin
whichhetalkedtothecreator.Hewastoldthattheindianswouldhaveamessiahandthewhite
manwouldbedestroyed.ThisvisionbroughtaritualcalledtheGhostDanceAsthis
movementspreadacrossthecountryamongnatives,thesettlersthoughttherewouldbean
uprisingandsoughttotakeawayalltheirweaponstomaintainpeace.AttheBattleofWounded
Kneeayoungdeafbravemisunderstoodwhatwashappeningandwhythewhitemenwere
takingtheirguns,ashotwentoff.TheU.S.Armywhohadorderstoremovetheweapons,
openedfireandkilled300men,women,andchildren.(Wounded)Manymorewarshappened


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betweenthesettlersandthenatives,causingthenativestolosemanyoftheirlovedonesand
tribemembers,inadditiontoalotoflandthatwasonceusedtogrowcropsandhuntfoodfor
theirfamilies.Afteryearsofnativesbeingdrivenoutoftheirhomesandlandsduetothesettlers
needtoexplorenewland,theU.S.Governmentsetupreservationsforthenativeswithtreaties
andcontractsspellingouttherulesandregulationsofthereservations.
Unfortunately,thegovernmenthasbrokenthesetreatiesandcontractswiththenative
americanstimeandtimeagain.TheIndianTreatyandRemovalActof1830isoneexampleofa
treatybrokenbytheUSgovernment.(IndianTreaty)Witheachbrokencontract,thegovernment
takesmoreandmorecontroloverthereservationlandsthataresupposedtobethereforthe
NativeAmericans.ThelandsthattheNativeAmericansoncehadtobeabletogrowcrops,hunt
andlivetheirlivesonhavebeentakenfromthem,andtheyhavebeenmovedtoareaswherethey
donotknowhowtoworktheland.Also,withtheadvancesintheworldoutsideofthe
reservation,thosethatarestillonthereservationarebehindthetimes.Theyarenotableto
industrialiseiftheywantedto,seeingasallreservationsaredeemedfederallandandremainin
controloftheU.S.Government.TheNativeAmericansonthereservationsarenotallowedto
growandsellcrops.Ifthereiscoaloroil,theycannotmineitinordertosellandbringinan
income.(Regan)Becausetheydonothaveanincome,thebasicneedsofeverydaylifecannotbe
metwithoutgovernmentassistance,causingthegovernmenttoputmoreandmoremoneyinto
thewelfareoftheNativeAmericans.Thiscausesaproblembecausemostresidentsona
reservationarenowonfoodstamps,medicareormedicaid.Therearefewnativeamericans
livingonreservationsthatfeeltheyneedtoworktocreateanincomeforthemandtheirfamilies.


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NativeAmericanscannotcontinuetobetreatedthewaytheyhavebeen.Theproblems
thatareonthereservationsnowwillonlygetworsehasthegovernmenttakesmoreandmore
controloftheirlives.Life,LibertyandthepursuitofHappiness,(Declaration)cannothappen
forNativeAmericansthatarelivingonreservationsundercurrentcircumstances.

WorksCited
"BIAWebsite."
IndianAffairs
.Web.4Dec.2015.

"IndianTreatiesandtheRemovalActof1830."
IndianTreatiesandtheRemovalActof1830
.
Web.4Dec.2015.

Regan,Shawn."5WaysTheGovernmentKeepsNativeAmericansinPoverty."
Forbes
.Forbes
Magazine,13Mar.2014.Web.4Dec.2015.

"TheDeclarationofIndependence:ATranscription."
NationalArchivesandRecords
Administration
.NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,4July1776.Web.5Dec.2015.

"TheWoundedKneeMassacre."
Ushistory.org
.IndependenceHallAssociation,2008.Web.4
Dec.2015.