The Savage Indians

Our assignment is to read from this archive on how people referenced the Indians as savages. According to Google, the definition of savage is a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized. The definition of savagery is the condition of being primitive or uncivilized.
If I were a student reading this archive as part of my school work, it would make me think of the Native Americans almost as animals. It would also influence me, and other readers, to think that I was better than the Indians. The text displays the Indians as uncivilized and uneducated. By referring to them as savages, they completely dehumanize them and make them seem like a foreign creature.

The Savage Indian

Journal Entry: Lewiston, North Idaho

Saturday, June 23, 1877
Today is a mournful day for all of Lewiston. Rumors have been flying around the town that the Indians had killed some of the setters just of the outskirts of town, and today those rumors were certified. My brother, Ben Norton, was shot and killed on the 16th by the Indians. He and his wife built their home in Camas Prairie. My brother got so frightened by the evil Indians in the prairie that they, and several others in that area, fled to Mt. Idaho and wrote for the troops to come to their rescue. They sent no troops to go rescue them! The Indians were supposedly blocking all of the roads, but some action should have been taken. If so, I might still have my brother. We must seek revenge from the Indians. They have killed our innocent people for no reason. Troops were finally sent out to stop the Indians from spreading into other places, but they were defeated. We must not give up. We must keep fighting until all the Indians are gone from this area. They are cruel and violent and do not deserve to be living in the same areas as us. Revenge must be sought fir my brother and the others who lost their lives because of the Indians.

Indians in Camas Prairie 1877

Indians in the News

In the The Teller. from Lewiston, North Idaho on Saturday, June 23, 1877, it tells about the fight between the white Idaho troops and the Indians who were in possession of the Camas Prairie. The Indians were showing aggression towards the settlers in that region, so the settlers called in the troops for back up. The Indians were very violent towards the settlers an the troops, which resulted in the defeat of the Idaho troops. The Indians in this news article fall into the stereotypes of  Indians being the bad guys, and running around with spears trying to kill the settlers. They were violent towards the innocent people, and seemed to be wanting to start this war with the Idaho troops. I find it easy to empathize with the Indians because they seem to be trying to get their land back that they owned long before the American settlers showed up. None the less, the Indians were eager to start a fight and were violent towards innocent settlers.

Deep Thinking Quote

"Our use of social media for news is selective and intentional so that we so that we may tend to remain interested only in things we are already interested in. On the other hand, professional news outlets, like newspapers, expose readers to information on a broad range of topics. This helps me to see what other people are interested in, or think is important."

Newspaper Analysis

3. According to Merriam-Webster, a newspaper is "a set of large sheets of paper that have news stories, information about local events, advertisements, etc., and that are folded together and sold every day or every week".
4. The first newspapers came into existence in Germany in 1609. 
5. Some of the oldest newspapers in the United States were The Boston News Letter, The New-England Courant, and The New Hampshire Gazette. 
6. The current leading stories of The Wall Street Journal are "Libya's Masked Men Hunt Human Smugglers" and "Dell to Buy EMC for $67 Billion". The news that is receiving attention is the technology and companies, and the Middle Eastern conflicts.
7. A newspaper of record is a major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and typically authoritative. A newspaper of record may also be a publicly available newspaper that has been authorized or maintained by a government to publish public or legal notices, and therefore serves as a "newspaper of public record". The New York Times was the nations first designated newspaper of record in 1913. The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are also considered newspapers of record in the United States.
8.  A newspaper is different than the use of social media to stay connected because the information on social media is more current because it is constantly being updated and changed, whereas the newspaper is only as current as when the articles were written. Along with the use of social media, the news is reported by several different choices and point of views. When people read the newspaper, they are getting the information from just one source. Our generation often takes for granted the fact that we have information coming in constantly at our fingertips. Before technology became so advanced, the newspaper was the main way to stay connected to the world.

Social Media and the News

First Quarter Reflections

     This year in U.S. History, I have grown in my ability to empathize with events and people in history, to paraphrase other peoples writing, and to analyze information from movies. These skills also lead to better class discussions and thinking outside of my normal train of thought. I have definitely grown as a thinker because I think more now about other peoples views on the same subject.An area of strength for me was our in-class essay, and the blog posts about empathy, Glory, and 12 Years a Slave. I love to write, so using our discussion in history class and writing about them on our blogs made me very happy. I also enjoyed reading from the textbook and answering the questions. I learn best by writing things down, so this was very helpful for me to understand the information better.

       I used to not enjoy history as much because I didn't like strictly remembering facts and dates in time. However, this year, our conversations have been more interesting and less on just remembering dates. I think I enjoy it so much because we talk about lots of topics that I have never talked about in my previous history classes. Throughout the rest of the year, I hope to learn about more recent events in history.