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The start of the Indian genocide really started with what we talked about in the first week of classes. We discussed how each European imperial power derived its authority in taking over land from the Americas, whether it was from religious authority like the Pope, or being the first one to map a particular area, these things justified these European countries in taking the land and removing the Indians. Like Emma touched on in her most recent post, some interesting points Wolfe brought up were how the Indians likely were not wiped out completely initially, because having alliances with them was a valuable tool in fighting other European nations, like in the 7 years war. He also brought up how countries like the United States would “buy” the land from the Indians in order to once again justify it, but in reality the Indians had no choice but to accept the offer and lose their land.
The other major point Wolfe brought up in regards to the Indians involved the 5 Civilized Tribes. He describes how they were assimilating nicely to United States culture, they had made their own plantations, they owned slaves, and they even had their own constitution, which I had never learned. Wolfe said the United States didn’t consider assimilation a possibility because that would signify permanence. That reminded me of Tuesday’s reading from Wilentz because it related to how the African Americans of the same time were also not given the possibility of assimilation, but instead were trying to be shipped back to Africa.
Wolfe’s closing argument I thought also related to the Frederick Jackson Turner piece on the demise of the frontier. With the Louisiana Purchase, this enabled the United States to kick the Indians to the West. But with the demise of the frontier, they were forced into smaller and smaller plots of land, often with many different tribes, and this was the main cause of the “cultural genocide” that Olivia mentioned in her post.