Individual Post #4 "George Catlin's Indians"

    In life change is as inevitable as death but, the rate to which we meet change; makes us different. George Catlin between 1830 and 1850 painted many Indian portraits including the famous Pigeon's Egg Head, that all portrayed the rapid changes in Native American culture caused by America's political and industrial revolutions during that time. The United States went through this change upon the conclusion of the War of 1812 and this served as a learning experience to build a stronger country. Industrial changes affected each citizen and social class in some aspect, including Native Americans who also had access to these new innovations. The political revolutions combined with industrial advancements led to the need for more land, and in particular Native American land. As a people, Native Americans were considered problematic with easily moldable minds and because of this inferiority were treated as such.
        George Catlin captured what the American public was thinking about Native American's at the time. In Pigeon's Egg Head on the left side of the canvas is a proud Native American Chief in an ornately decorated outfit with a full headdress. This Indian's pose is erect and seems to be deeply connected with his people. In the background Catlin drew a faint depiction of the Capital building that leads to suggest this Indian is heading to it. The right side of the portrait shows another Indian heading back to a Native American village from the direction of the capital. This Indian is much different from the one just leaving the village. He is wearing American clothes but a mixture of both sexes. He appears to be stumbling due to the large amount of liquor in his pockets and is wearing a top hat with and overly large feather. Catlin is showing how Native American culture and a once proud race of human being was easily stripped of its pride and culture by the influences of American business on an unknowing race not familar with it's tricks (Petirk 12).
          American business did not begin to it's formation until after the War of 1812. According to the Lucas text after the war, "the United States entered a period of unprecedented economic expansion, the economy became varied enough to grow without relying on international trade." This ability lead to a huge expansion of domestic products and services. Thanks to the witnessed War of 1812 New Nationalism became the driving force for United States development. Thanks to James Madison?s involvement, Congress made a second national bank and protective tariff to prevent bankruptcy (Davidson 259). New legislative bills were not the only thing to advance the country to a market revolution; Industrial inventions gave the bills a reason to be effective.
            The invention that gave the United States a first time power in international trade was the cotton gin. This machine was so effective in the mass production of cotton in the "Lower South" in 1840 it produced over 60% of the world's supply (Davidson 259). Factories were also built to process the mass amount of cotton now available in fabrics. Then the fabrics had to be shipped out and sold which lead to the development of the middle man and middle class (Davidson 259,269). The Transportation Revolution was another big step for American industries because it allowed certain goods to reach areas faster and reach where they've never been available before (Davidson 259). Some of the transportation advancements include the building of canals, steamboats, and railroads. All of which now served as a complete linkage to anywhere in the United States. This affected everyone because it was a completely new shift in a new direction that the US had not taken before.
         Every class of people was affected by this tight bond of business that now proved to be the beating heart for America's economy. Lives were changed by the sudden flocking of people to cities to work in factories, women making an income by working in those factories, and the artisan work that pushed many into a new and larger "middle class" (Davidson 256-277). Not only were people flocking toward urbanization, but because of the success of it, people began buying up pieces of the west in hopes of selling it off to make the next New York City (Davidson 266). This was of course a problem due to the 125,000 Native American’s that still lived east of the Mississippi (Davidson 294).
             The fever to for expansion and growth pushed Congress to fund the removal of all four Indian tribes out of the southern states. This process took eight years of delegation and transportation to finally move all tribes west of the Mississippi (Davidson 296). The Cherokees were the tribe to hold out the longest due to their inability to forget that the land they were currently living on was promised as theirs. This sent President Jackson to take military actions to remove over 15,000 by marching them to their new territory. Over one-quarter of the Cherokees died on this march in 1838, known as The Trail of Tears (Davidson 297). Despite this horrible situation of the United States government taking away territory promised by them and then killing thousands in the process of acting out their lies, Catlin in Pigeon's Egg Head, shows how this new way of life is still appealing to its enemies.
          The period of time from 1812-1850 created many great things for the country as a whole. The emergence of America as a top power in foreign trade and technological advancement was a pivotal time for growth because the opportunity for the first time allowed us to do so. The problem Catlin is portraying is how these advancements are being made through lack of identity. If Americans can accomplish all of this and easily make these social shifts simply because one other person can, then who is to say that Americans didn’t lose their cultural identity during this time period as well Catlin is making the point that temptation and corruptibility of Native Americans is higher because of their unfamiliarity with our culture and our now available goods. But what is implied after the combination or analyzing both Catlin's painting and history is that the huge attraction as a basic instinct in the human will to something new or desirable by others, automatically is blended into that person's culture because of the popularity of the item. This item may not be the best thing for society but, because it's considered better by "the masses," it's automatically adapted. The example Catlin is giving in this painting is the Indian or innocent, but proud culture is thrown into the Government's belief that the marketplace and the ethics associated with it had to become dominate and are best (Davidson 257). On page 257 The Nation of Nations text quotes a foreign traveler who describes to what degree the idea of marketplace ethics have affected the country saying the United States had become "one gigantic workshop, over the entrance of which there is the blazing inscription 'No admission here except on business.'"

Davidson, James W., Gienapp, William E., Heyrman, Christine L., Lytle, Mark H., Stoff, Michael B. Nation of Nations. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006
Petrik, Paula. “George Catlin's Indians” HIST 120. Oct 3th.

Comments

[bpatonetz]

Candace,

Your post starts very strong by grabbing the attention of the reader with a statement about change. You continue this strength in your introduction by making a good thesis statement that clearly states what your post is going to be about. I think you also do a good job of discussing the details of the painting and what they mean.

One suggestion I have for you, is to rearrange your introduction. I think it is very strong, but would be better in a different order. I think you should move your thesis statement to the end of the paragraph because it allows the reader to remember what your paper is going to be about instead of getting lost in the background information. I think the background information you provide is important, but would be better in the middle of your introduction so it does not overshadow your thesis.

You do a good job of discussing the details of the painting and making historical references, but try to tie them together to show the significance. It seems like the focus on the painting is lost when you begin discussing industrialization. You regain that focus towards the end though.

Another suggestion would be to explain the last quote you use in your post. It seems out of place to me and confused me a bit. A brief explanation of it would probably help to clear up any confusion.

[Mark Sythammavong]

Great job mentioning reasons why the Native Americans were being forced to change, such as the cotton gin and the growing America. However, it seems your post went off topic when you started talking about how businesses were growing and industrialization began. Although these did affect the Native Americans in a way, you do not need to explain about the industrialization of America, just address the topic. Instead of talking about the history of industrialization, you could have broken down the aspects of the painting more. The aspects were crammed into the first paragraph, without describing them. You did a great job researching the material, though. Staying on topic with some background information will allow you to surely succeed.