Luigi Persico\'s \"Discovery of America\"

Luigi Persico's "Discovery of America" was placed at large stairway of the east facade of the Capitol and after considerable protests from the masses it was removed permanently in 1958 (Jaffe, 2008). The first look at the statue without going in to historical perspective depicts a hostile scenario between the studious man holding a spherical object high above the bowed and perplexed women, inappropriately dressed and tribal. Historically it represents the American hero that everyone in America agrees upon; someone who is accepted across various regions and ethnicities. Christopher Columbus was the earliest "founding father" for American Nation, being remembered due to his goodness, solemnity and inventiveness besides librating Native Americans from their barbarian ways (Brown, 2007) the removal of statue represents a gradual change of attitude in American culture which once saw Native American's as a tribal nation disliked by most Caucasians. It was earlier in the 20th century that the figure was recognized as not only condescending and insensitive towards Native Americans but also had an incorrect portrayal of Columbus as compared with traditional portrait. It was the triumph of human rights and equality in society over a history of war and hate.

Question No. 2

2b. 19 federally recognized Native American tribes in Southern California:

Barona

Cahuilla iii. Campo iv. Chemehuevi

v. Ewiiaapaayp

vi. Inaja vii. Jamul viii. La Jolla

ix. La Posta

x. Los Coyotes

xi. Manzanita xii. Mesa Grande xiii. Pala xiv. Pauma xv. Rincon xvi. San Pasqual xvii. Santa Ysabel xviii. Sycuan Viejas

Profile of Cahuilla Tribe:

The Cahuilla tribe used to live in comparatively smaller groups then other tribes and had a language belonging to Uto-Aztecan family (Bean, 1972). They used native plants excessively in their lifestyle for eating and building purposes. Modern anthropologists divide the Cahuilla tribe into "Mountain," "Desert," and "Pass" groups. Today different families from Cahuilla tribal bands play their role in local economy and local politics; owning and operating various businesses including hotels, casinos, real estate and banks. Some Cahuilla bands have gone extinct and are called Las Palmas Bands (Bean, 1978). Majority of the members belonging to this tribe have modernized themselves with intermarriages with other races while others remain conservative preferring wedlock amongst Native American Tribes only (Bean, 1991).

Question No.3

3a. "We Shall Remain: America Through Native Eyes."

After the Mayflower:

The episode is about a treaty signed between the then sachem of the Wampanoag with weary English colonists. Massasoit had troubles of his own in shape of strange sicknesses and other rival tribes. The Wampanoag thought that with the help of foreigners he would be able to keep his own enemies at bay but his calculations proved wrong as half a century later the son of Wampanoag fought with the same Englishmen.

Tecumseh's Vision:

This episode is about the rise of Tecumseh as one of the most inspired Native American leaders organizing a massive Indian resistance against the foreigners.

Trail of Tears: Based on the massive forced removal of Cherokee tribe from their lands in Southeastern region of United States to eastern Oklahoma. This journey resulted in death of 4,000 members due to sickness and starvation. Cherokee's resisted for years by any means necessary they even adopted western ways and became Christians. They even took their case to the supreme court and won although later the law could not protect them from greed of foreigners.

Geronimo:

Watched Episode: This episode is about the last resistance by Chiricahua Apache who kept fighting even when submission by native Americans was the only option for their survival. On his death bed he confessed to his nephew that he should never have given up and would have died fighting. He was a great warrior and healer but after being subjected to forceful removal he became fierce enemy of whites whose vengeance also bought needless misery upon his tribesmen. In the end he led the last resisting group to formally submit to American Government. His personality exhibited the essential elements of bravery and courage with believe in his cause. The sovereign cause for reclaiming his fore father's land.

Wounded Knee:

The final episode examines how political and economic forces led to creation of American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1960 and how in justice and a murder led to the takeover of few buildings by enraged Native Americans in 1973. This take over remained for 71 days and demanded addressing grievances some as old as 100 years. The armed to the teeth troops tightened the cordon around weak and cold Indians while media compared the event to the massacre at Wounded Knee that took place about a century ago. The takeover ended but the U.S. government failed to fulfill many promises made with the Indians. This event proved that Indians are still a part of American culture and brought attention to their social problems.

Question No. 4

4a. Comments on the Alternative to American Declaration of independence:

The Finnish Government also adopted their inspired declaration of independence after the civil war the document was made a part of constitution giving their Parliament the right to rule. The basic highlights were; safeguarding of independence, Finland's fate as a nation and each individual citizen in his own hands, complete sovereignty and proposition for a new Constitution. It also called for recognizing Finland as an independent and republic state by other states of the world.

My declaration of Independence:

The text calls for a Government that not only guarantees freedom to its people but the Government shall also secure its citizens from the evils of private corporations working only for profits and destroying the economy. It essentially calls for acts of Government to be deemed illegal when interfering in National Matters of other sovereign states. It establishes the principle of "Live and Let Live" with a view that all men hailing from America or from any other continent are made equal. It demands to shift emphasis from capital system of economics and society as it has harmed our society rather there should be an equal distribution of wealth regulated by the government of United States of America.

4b. The most valuable amendment in the U.S. constitution is the 13th amendment where slavery and involuntary servitude was abolished while keep punishing those equally who commit crime. This amendment paved the way for the pluralism and established rights for minorities who now enjoy their lives equally as majority.

Amendment to Constitution against 2nd Amendment: To protect the way of life and increasing violence in the society it is deemed necessary that production of arms be prohibited in all 52 states of America. Manufacturing arms shall only be allowed for military and similar establishments of law enforcement and individual's right to bear arms is deemed unnecessary and uncivil. Such arms include all categories of guns and weapons that can be used against other human beings. The American society shall be de-Weaponised and arms shall be submitted to law enforcement agencies by a date later announced by the government.

Question No. 5

Sand Creek Massacre (1864) and My Lai Massacre (Vietnam War) Compare and Contrast:

Known also as Chivington Massacre, the location of Sand Creek Massacre was Kiowa County reported in 1864. A regiment of 700 men decedent over 500 Cheyennes and few Arapahos and mutilated about 2oo of the Indians including women and children. The Massacre was result of anger and frustration by white settlers due to scattered Indian attacks on the army. The Cheyennes and Arapahos believed that they were protected by a vague amnesty offered to them by a territorial officer.

On March 16th, 1968 the frustrated Charlie Company and men during the Vietnam invasion entered a village there known as My Lai. After a while the killings started leaving 300 unarmed civilians dead including elderly, women and children. The anger was a result of rising death tool of American soldiers in the area where Vietnamese soldiers were provided refuge. The troops, under the command of Lt. William Calley entered in the village firing while no opposition fire was reported. According to survivors the firing was relentless with no mercy or measurement. Most villagers were gathered and shot by a machine gun in a ditch

Both Massacres have one thing in common; it shows us the ugliest portrayal of war and anger that soldiers carry due to frustration of human loss and growing hate for natives which are thought of as enemies. While both are un-humanistic and act of cowards; the Sand Creek Massacre

differs on the ground that Indians thought themselves as protected and were more shocked and surprised being handicapped by both numbers and arms. While My Lai was an ongoing vicious war with American's losing more soldiers then anticipated.

Question 6:

Following is the list of American interventions that took place since 1890 in Asia, North America and Caribbean region (Grossman, 1999):

COUNTRY or STATE

Dates of intervention

SOUTH DAKOTA

ARGENTINA

CHILE

HAITI

IDAHO

HAWAII

CHICAGO

NICARAGUA

CHINA

1894-95

KOREA

1894-96

PANAMA

NICARAGUA

CHINA

1898-1900

PHILIPPINES

1898-1910 (-?)

Afghanistan

1998

Out of these events, the most interesting event would be American invasion in Afghanistan. This intervention by U.S. In a foreign country, in literal words, changed the course of history for the whole world and still its outcomes are yet, to be decided.

The attack on U.S. By Al-Qaeda, on 11th September, 1998, changed the course of American paradigm of Muslims and gave a strong cause for George Bush's "War against Terrorism." Where thousands of American citizens died in Twin Towers, so did the global efforts of maintaining peace between Western and Muslim countries.

Right after, this attack, U.S. invaded Afghanistan initially through Missile attacks and then landed its troops into this land of rocks, physically. Thousands of American soldiers were deputed there and made to fight the mujahids of Al-Qaeda who were rather well-versed with the seasonal feasibility of their land.

Therefore, initially, U.S. army did faced a lot of difficulties, mainly because of weather and foreignness of the war field. However with the support of heavy and most up-to-date artillery, U.S. has successfully managed to erase the name of Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, leading to a civil government over there and also weakening the strength of this group of terrorists, globally.

Despite the success, that the U.S. has enjoyed in this war of terrorism, one cannot neglect the price that it had to pay. America has borne budget deficits in sequence over past few years, mainly because of war expenses. Furthermore, the increasing number of soldiers dying on the battlefield has also created a feeling of insecurity in general public with respect to their government and country. So yes, the war has ended with the desirable consequences, but has U.S. actually won this war, is still a question which remains unanswered.

Question No. 7

The first movie that one might want to show to a foreigner is 9/11, starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn. The story surrounds a family of three with a socially challenged kid. After Tom Hanks dies in the 9 / 11 incident, the fear of socializing with other people penetrates into the kid's mind, who now thinks that one can be killed by anyone whether you talk to them or not. Thus, social interaction becomes more of a challenge for him. How he recovers from his fear, is a great story. The movie elaborates the impacts of 9/11 incident on American psychology. How Americans are afraid of trusting foreigners and why their reasons are, is itself an interesting topic to discuss.

The second best movie is God Bless America which was released in 2011. The story is about two individuals from extremely different social backgrounds who are fed up of intolerance which has deeply penetrated into American Society, against the weak ones and those with different opinions. The cruelty, intolerance, political instability which has infected American society is one of the emerging concerns that Americans now, have to deal with before it's too late.

The Company Men is also one of the great movies that one might want to show to someone unaware of American resilience. The movie is about the strong market crunch and recession that America had to go through and how it affected the lives of millions. We are, all aware of what happened during 2008 and 2010; what is noticeable is the strength that Americans showed during this time of distress and the way it maneuvered itself, on to the path of stability. It is a must watch for anyone who wants to know how to emerge out of trouble as a society.

Question No. 8

After viewing the websites of Autry National Center and National Museum of American Indian, the extracts given in course AMST 301, seem more interesting. As a matter of fact, a particular extract from My Life on the Plains, seems fairly fascinating.

This particular piece is written by General George Armstrong Custer and explains his observation about the native Indians. After going through the websites of above mentioned resources, one can have a fair idea of how the life of native Indiasn was. What sort of clothes they used to wear, what kind of ornaments and ammunition they would have been using; in short, how there life would have been, all these questions are well answered by these websites.

Once, one visit these websites, the sketch of native Indian presented in Custer's work, comes to life. They used to pay a lot of attention to their dresses during meetings and festivals. And after going through the websites, one can easily understand that. Also, the images presented in these websites also explain a great deal about the spiritual affiliation of native Indians to the nature. The kind of figurative speech used in passage clearly reflects the deep spiritual connection between the native Indian character and mother earth.

Also, in the later part of the extract, a fighter insider this fine native Indian character is elaborated by the writer. One's imagination can clearly go wild after viewing the weapons used by native Indian tribes.

Armstrong has managed to explain the character of the native Indian at greater length. And after viewing the objects belonging to the Indian tribes, in these websites, one can easily imagine how the life would have been in those times.

Question 9.

After reviewing the census of 1790, 1890 and 2010, the most interesting elements found out are the abolition of slavery and acceptance of colored citizens as equivalent to the white ones.

In 1790, the emphasis was on finding out the correct headcount of citizens on the basis of race i.e. U.S. citizens and slaves. In fact, the most interesting question out of all six asked, was the color of members other than the family, living in the same house. Due to this rather vague segregation of population, the census of 1790, doesn't provide an accurate data of multi-racial population.

In the census of 1890, there was a further division in the population segregation; the earlier initial groups of three types were now five. Also native Americans were not included in the headcount in 1890. As a matter of fact, a separate counting of tribe members took place as they were quasi-sovereign groups.

The census of 2010 showed an interesting development in the recognition of different ethnic groups and races. Recognition of individuals belonging to multiple race, was also made part of the census. This resulted in providing a rather accurate headcount of citizens adhering to a particular group.

From 1790 till 2010, the census in U.S. has shown a lot of emphasis on providing an accrete data of demographics. It appears as these census tell a story of abolition of slavery and recognition of colored people as citizens enjoying equal rights on American land. It appears as if U.S. is a true secular country with an ability of providing an amiable social environment to people belonging to different social groups and has complete ability of absorbing more colors and variations in its original culture.

Question 10.

The historical traumas of the past -- slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War -- have now emerged as important catalysts of cultural redefinition, evidenced in the extraordinary degree of contestation and debate circulating around current historical films that deal with these events, and in controversies over recent museum exhibitions and commemorative reenactments.