Native Americans and the First U.S. Settlers

Major American Writers has been much more interesting in these first two weeks than I would ever have thought. I like the historical aspect of the class and how we’ve been focusing on what “really” happened when Europeans discovered America. Specifically, I enjoy the two pieces we read about the Native Americans’ experiences with the Europeans. The Momaday and James’ pieces do a phenomenal job of illustrating the Native American experience among the new settlers. A recurring theme I have taken from the stories is that the Europeans have caused the Native Americans to have a poor image of them. This is mainly due to the Europeans considering the “new world” as an uninhabited place in which they were entitled to settle. The Native Americans felt invaded and soon their way of life would be changed dramatically. Nomaday speaks specifically about an instance where a Native American shoots a white man through the heart. The problem, however, was not that the Native American felt under attack, but that the white man did not know his language.  In the James piece, he is speaking about how the white man has done things that cannot be taken back. These two pieces have changed my perception of how the United States came to be. While I love my country dearly, I do wish that we incorporated the Native American ways of life into the development of the U.S. At the very least this would have been a more humane way to deal with the Native Americans.

American Identity

Our discussion of the readings for class did not change my idea of what it means to be American. Americans are individuals that are enslaved to the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit of happiness often involves the pursuit of money. Americans realize the abundance of money means that they can do more of what they please. Ultimately, we all want to do what we want to do. Anything else is less of a priority. I do not think money is the most important thing in life by any means; but I do know that we have to have money to eat, travel, and have all the fun we want to have. The readings from class emphasized, to me, the importance of understanding that everyone in America has a different economic and social standing, but that has no bearing on how “American” someone is. For instance, Langston Hughes wrote in I, Too, Sing America that even though he is forced to eat in the kitchen, away from company, he is still just as American as those eating in the dining room. I must admit that my view of Americans has changed over time. When I was younger, I thought of Americans as financially well-off people who always enjoyed themselves. I know this couldn’t be further from the truth. I now understand that there are a variety of different types of people in this great country. My idea that Americans must all seek some type of monetary gain is, indeed, debatable. But I don’t believe this idea to irritate people; it’s simply the truth that we are all separated by economic standard.