6. Women and the trail of tears
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Indigenous women in the Southeastern and Northwestern frontiers of the United States, found their communities in direct conflict with expansionist Americans eager to displace them and take their lands to expand slave-based plantations. Cherokee women in particular effected and were affected by this conflict and endured despite the violent expansion efforts. Some white women used their positions to speak out against the atrocities, but more often than not, they were complicit.
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Trail of Tears, painting, Public Domain
In the 1830s, Native Americans were killed in the forced removals from the Southeastern and Northwestern United States. The removals in the Southeast became known as the Trail of Tears, but that term could be used to describe events in the Northwest as well. Centuries of Euro-American ideology had transformed the lives of indigenous women, forcing a fundamental shift in Native definitions of womanhood. By the 1830s, Native women had lost some, but not all, of the privileges and responsibilities they previously held. Men were negotiating with men, and women became witnesses to the horrors of removal. Women were responsible for keeping families together during this removal, in spite of experiencing the difficulties they faced.
The Trail of Tears was horrible, so warning, this episode will involve discussions of rape and sexual assault, as these are pervasive when violence is used against a civilian population. Pause now or whenever you need to.
The Trail of Tears was horrible, so warning, this episode will involve discussions of rape and sexual assault, as these are pervasive when violence is used against a civilian population. Pause now or whenever you need to.
American Progress, an idealized painting of Manifest Destiny with both racist and sexist portrayals from a European American perspective
Manifest Destiny: Since the arrival of European settlers in North America, native communities saw gradual and aggressive encroachment on lands they had previously used or inhabited. By the 1800s, the expansion of the United States was intentional, stated, and often in violation of agreements made with Indigenous communities.
Some politicians even made a career out of championing expansionism. Starting with the purchase of Louisiana Territory in 1803 and then Andrew Jackson’s aggressive presidency in the 1830s, the US entered a period of gross and rapid westward movement.
Expansion was fueled by the ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” the idea that it was the fate of the United States to expand and control the land from sea to “shining sea.” In fact, maps made as early as 1815 showed the US controlling as far west as California, even though that land belonged to Mexico at that time!
Although presented well before Manifest Destiny as a term was coined in 1845. The idea was visually symbolized in art by John Gast in his famous painting “American Progress” completed in 1872. In the painting, Columbia, a female symbol representing the United States, sweeps across the western territories bringing “civilization” to the “savages” out west. This piece of American propaganda covered up the wars, massacres, and land theft that in the decades of rapid westward expansion— after all, she’s a beautiful, white woman, what could she possibly do?
Interestingly, there are many other people in the painting and a disproportionate number of them are male. The white men are all seen being productive on farms or operating the wagon trains moving west. White women are presumably passengers in the wagons, although their image is difficult to see. The clearest female figures are of Indigenous women, who are shown fleeing with the other native men, topless, or being dragged along.
Although not pictured, debates over expansion were deeply tied to conversations about slavery for, as the US expanded, would those new territories be slave or free?
Manifest Destiny did not occur by some act of God. Rather it was an entirely man-made occurrence. Male leaders in the United States, spurred on by fearful wives no doubt, took direct action to remove and massacred the Native communities that stood in the way of White, settler migrations. The foremost of these men was Andrew Jackson.
Some politicians even made a career out of championing expansionism. Starting with the purchase of Louisiana Territory in 1803 and then Andrew Jackson’s aggressive presidency in the 1830s, the US entered a period of gross and rapid westward movement.
Expansion was fueled by the ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” the idea that it was the fate of the United States to expand and control the land from sea to “shining sea.” In fact, maps made as early as 1815 showed the US controlling as far west as California, even though that land belonged to Mexico at that time!
Although presented well before Manifest Destiny as a term was coined in 1845. The idea was visually symbolized in art by John Gast in his famous painting “American Progress” completed in 1872. In the painting, Columbia, a female symbol representing the United States, sweeps across the western territories bringing “civilization” to the “savages” out west. This piece of American propaganda covered up the wars, massacres, and land theft that in the decades of rapid westward expansion— after all, she’s a beautiful, white woman, what could she possibly do?
Interestingly, there are many other people in the painting and a disproportionate number of them are male. The white men are all seen being productive on farms or operating the wagon trains moving west. White women are presumably passengers in the wagons, although their image is difficult to see. The clearest female figures are of Indigenous women, who are shown fleeing with the other native men, topless, or being dragged along.
Although not pictured, debates over expansion were deeply tied to conversations about slavery for, as the US expanded, would those new territories be slave or free?
Manifest Destiny did not occur by some act of God. Rather it was an entirely man-made occurrence. Male leaders in the United States, spurred on by fearful wives no doubt, took direct action to remove and massacred the Native communities that stood in the way of White, settler migrations. The foremost of these men was Andrew Jackson.
Wikimedia Commons
Andrew Jackson and the Cherokee: Growing up, Jackson listened to stories of native violence toward settlers and developed prejudices, like many Americans. He called Indigenous people “savages” and believed they should be removed and forced to less fertile land to make room for White settlers.
Jackson would go on to be a war hero from the War of 1812 and found the longest lasting political party in US history, the Democratic Party, but it would be for his treatment of the Cherokee that he would be most remembered.
In 1814, he tried to wipe out the Red Sticks community in modern Alabama (ironically a Native American word meaning “Great Lands”) in a full on assault. Illustrative of the complicated alliances formed between White and Native communities, he only won this conflict because the Cherokee Nation reinforced him. The Red Sticks lost almost 900 warriors. Junaluska, a Cherokee man, saved Jackson from death. Almost immediately their support was forgotten. Jackson confiscated 23 million acres of land in Alabama and Georgia—some of which belonged to the Cherokees.
The Cherokee and other major tribes of the Southeast lived in fertile land that colonial settlers wanted to exploit for the production of cotton on large plantations. Instead of signing bad treaties with the US and moving west like other tribes, they converted to Christianity, developed a written language, printed a newspaper, and sent children to schools for formal education, in what historians call the Cherokee Renaissance.
Like many indigenous cultures, Cherokee women living in the early 1800s held significant positions in their communities, even after centuries of contact with patriarchal Europeans. It’s true, white men, like Jackson, preferred to deal with Native men in trade and political negotiations, despite women sitting at the helm in most Native communities.
Jackson would go on to be a war hero from the War of 1812 and found the longest lasting political party in US history, the Democratic Party, but it would be for his treatment of the Cherokee that he would be most remembered.
In 1814, he tried to wipe out the Red Sticks community in modern Alabama (ironically a Native American word meaning “Great Lands”) in a full on assault. Illustrative of the complicated alliances formed between White and Native communities, he only won this conflict because the Cherokee Nation reinforced him. The Red Sticks lost almost 900 warriors. Junaluska, a Cherokee man, saved Jackson from death. Almost immediately their support was forgotten. Jackson confiscated 23 million acres of land in Alabama and Georgia—some of which belonged to the Cherokees.
The Cherokee and other major tribes of the Southeast lived in fertile land that colonial settlers wanted to exploit for the production of cotton on large plantations. Instead of signing bad treaties with the US and moving west like other tribes, they converted to Christianity, developed a written language, printed a newspaper, and sent children to schools for formal education, in what historians call the Cherokee Renaissance.
Like many indigenous cultures, Cherokee women living in the early 1800s held significant positions in their communities, even after centuries of contact with patriarchal Europeans. It’s true, white men, like Jackson, preferred to deal with Native men in trade and political negotiations, despite women sitting at the helm in most Native communities.
Selu, the Corn Mother, Public Domain
Role of Cherokee Women: Many White, colonial settlers did not comprehend the Cherokee notion of female equality. Women were valued and respected. The most important person in a child’s life was their mother. Father’s had no formal relationship with their offspring. Women could own property and participate in the tribe’s governing councils. In addition, Cherokee women were the guardians of their children, and the culture was matrilineal, with families taking their name and lineage from mothers rather than fathers. Cherokee women were sexually liberated, entering unions by choice and exiting them when they wanted. Sexual relations between consenting adults were always considered natural or spiritual. They did not have the same shame, fear, or sin European women experienced.
Cherokee women were sometimes sought by white men because they controlled the family wealth and belongings. White men were shocked to understand that their wives controlled the children and made decisions about property. The Cherokee passed laws that penalized men who abandoned their wives, revoking their citizenship and forcing them to pay fines.
Men and women performed different types of work–men hunted and women gathered food and farmed the land–but for women their motherhood gave them power, not oppression. Cherokee women were equals of men and were held in high regard. Cherokee “War Women'' even fought in battles alongside men.
The Cherokee also harbored and protected runaway slaves. Hundreds flocked from the plantations onto native territory where they integrated, married, and had children.
Every fall, the Cherokee people held a festival to honor Selu, the Corn Mother, who sacrificed her life so that her sons, and the entire Cherokee people, could live. The festival celebrated the bounty of the harvest and the power of the woman who, according to tribal lore, had saved her people.
But by the 1800s things were looking bad. Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory and committed the federal government to future removal of the Creek and the Cherokee from Georgia. Aggression against the Native Americans began under Jefferson who now committed the federal government to promote future removal of the Creek and the Cherokee from Georgia.
Not all Americans endorsed Native removal and pushed for civilization and assimilation. For Cherokee men and women, becoming “civilized” meant a complete reversal of centuries old gender norms and major changes in attitudes towards sexuality and the body. The government and missionaries introduced Euro-American and Christian values of “true womanhood” and confined the strong Cherokee women to the domestic sphere. Oer time, as marriages and integration between the cultures occurred, this shift happened.
The Cherokee began to feel pressure from all sides and saw civilization as a path to maintaining their traditional homelands. They embraced Euro-American dress and religion, art, and culture. Women ceased farming as that was now men’s work, and men stopped hunting. Women began to lose their sense of what womanhood was as there seemed to be no clear definition. Buck Watie, a missionary among the Cherokee wrote, “A wife! What a sacred name, what a responsible office!... She must be an unspotted sanctuary to which wearied men flow from the crimes of the world, and feel that no sin dare enter there. A wife! She must be the guardian angel of his footsteps on earth, and guide him to Heaven.” This definition of a wife was far removed from the ways of the traditional Cherokee matriarchs. Men’s roles may have felt even more changed than women because they no longer hunted and fought as warriors for the community. Instead they were tied to the land doing what traditional Cherokee saw as “women’s work.” This would have been a big challenge to their masculinity.
Cherokee women were sometimes sought by white men because they controlled the family wealth and belongings. White men were shocked to understand that their wives controlled the children and made decisions about property. The Cherokee passed laws that penalized men who abandoned their wives, revoking their citizenship and forcing them to pay fines.
Men and women performed different types of work–men hunted and women gathered food and farmed the land–but for women their motherhood gave them power, not oppression. Cherokee women were equals of men and were held in high regard. Cherokee “War Women'' even fought in battles alongside men.
The Cherokee also harbored and protected runaway slaves. Hundreds flocked from the plantations onto native territory where they integrated, married, and had children.
Every fall, the Cherokee people held a festival to honor Selu, the Corn Mother, who sacrificed her life so that her sons, and the entire Cherokee people, could live. The festival celebrated the bounty of the harvest and the power of the woman who, according to tribal lore, had saved her people.
But by the 1800s things were looking bad. Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory and committed the federal government to future removal of the Creek and the Cherokee from Georgia. Aggression against the Native Americans began under Jefferson who now committed the federal government to promote future removal of the Creek and the Cherokee from Georgia.
Not all Americans endorsed Native removal and pushed for civilization and assimilation. For Cherokee men and women, becoming “civilized” meant a complete reversal of centuries old gender norms and major changes in attitudes towards sexuality and the body. The government and missionaries introduced Euro-American and Christian values of “true womanhood” and confined the strong Cherokee women to the domestic sphere. Oer time, as marriages and integration between the cultures occurred, this shift happened.
The Cherokee began to feel pressure from all sides and saw civilization as a path to maintaining their traditional homelands. They embraced Euro-American dress and religion, art, and culture. Women ceased farming as that was now men’s work, and men stopped hunting. Women began to lose their sense of what womanhood was as there seemed to be no clear definition. Buck Watie, a missionary among the Cherokee wrote, “A wife! What a sacred name, what a responsible office!... She must be an unspotted sanctuary to which wearied men flow from the crimes of the world, and feel that no sin dare enter there. A wife! She must be the guardian angel of his footsteps on earth, and guide him to Heaven.” This definition of a wife was far removed from the ways of the traditional Cherokee matriarchs. Men’s roles may have felt even more changed than women because they no longer hunted and fought as warriors for the community. Instead they were tied to the land doing what traditional Cherokee saw as “women’s work.” This would have been a big challenge to their masculinity.
Nanyehi, also known as Nancy Ward, Public Domain
Tensions continued to mount. In 1816, the Cherokee sent two young men: John Ross and Major Ridge, to Washington to negotiate with the US government over land that had been taken and were successful so long as they sold the US land in South Carolina. Nanyehi (“She who walks among the spirits”) had lived through the American Revolution and always been a champion of cooperation between settlers and Natives. Nanyehi was a Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nation and once a leader of the Nation. Now, she was 80-years old in a declining community. Time for cooperation was over. She sent her son to read a plea signed by twelve women on the Women’s Council, including her daughter and granddaughter: “Our beloved children and head men of the Cherokee Nation, we address you warriors in council. We have raised all of you on the land which we now have. . . . We know that our country has once been extensive, but by repeated sales has become circumscribed to a small track. . . . Your mothers, your sisters ask and beg of you not to part with any more of our land.” The Council passed a resolution vowing not to give another acre to the United States.
A year later, Jackson, as a Federal Indian Commissioned Officer, worked to expel the Cherokee from Tennessee. He used bribes and threats and was successful in getting many to leave. By 1822, Ross and 16,000 remained, resolved to hold the line.
The Cherokee continued to morph their society to be more Euro-American and maintain their autonomy. In 1827 they adopted a new constitution that included an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The constitution stripped Cherokee women of political involvement. They became disenfranchised and were unable to serve on the Council. Nanheyi’s daughters and granddaughters would have much different lives and roles than she did.
A year later, Jackson, as a Federal Indian Commissioned Officer, worked to expel the Cherokee from Tennessee. He used bribes and threats and was successful in getting many to leave. By 1822, Ross and 16,000 remained, resolved to hold the line.
The Cherokee continued to morph their society to be more Euro-American and maintain their autonomy. In 1827 they adopted a new constitution that included an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The constitution stripped Cherokee women of political involvement. They became disenfranchised and were unable to serve on the Council. Nanheyi’s daughters and granddaughters would have much different lives and roles than she did.
 Rachel Jackson, by Ralph Earl, 1823, Wikimedia Commons
Rachel Jackson: Despite his history as an “Indian Remover,” Jackson eventually won the presidency: an endorsement by the voting American people (white men) of his policies. But Jackson’s path to the Presidency was rough. He lost election in 1824 in a bitter battle with John Quincy Adams. The 1828 rematch, cost Jackson dearly. Up for reelection, Adams was ready for him and decided to focus his ire on Jackson’s wife– Rachel.
Adams argued that Jackson was unfit to be president because of the circumstances surrounding his marriage. Although the Jacksons had lived in matrimonial bliss for nearly 40 years by the time of this election, those years were all erased by the troubled beginning of their marriage. Rachel was a “divorcee,” SCANDAL! And worse, evidence came into Adam’s hands that her divorce from her first husband had never been officially broken because her first-husband never completed the paperwork… sounds like he didn’t have it all together and divorce was probably a good idea. The Adams campaign dug into this scandal and attacked Rachel’s morals. They called her a whore and branded her the “American Jezebel,” (See our Episode on Christianity for the history of that term). Andrew Jackson was accused of wife-stealing at gunpoint! The Jackson’s fought back publishing a pamphlet, renewing their vows, and casting Jackson as a defender of women. He ultimately won the election, but Rachel was devastated by the vile attacks on her character. Quite suddenly, Rachel died of a heart attack. A source close to Jackson later wrote “These slanders, it is thought, hastened the death of Mrs. Jackson, and they certainly roused the devil in her husband’s nature.” A devil indeed. Jackson was a bitter man when he entered the white house as the first Democratic president. Jackson felt women's virtue was worth defending– but what about women of color? How did this softer side extend to his policies toward the Native Americans and the enslaved? It DID NOT. Early in Jackson’s term gold was discovered in Cherokee territory in Georgia. Thousands of whites invaded. |
Peggy Eaton: With Rachel in his mind, Jackson soon came to the defense of another white woman wrapped up in brutal American politics: Margaret “Peggy” O’Neale Timberlake, who had just married his Secretary of war, John Eaton. Peggy’s first husband died at sea and so Peggy married John Eaton– seems legit. But then rumors surfaced that Peggy and John had been having an affair that entire time. So none of the fancy ladies in the Washington elite wanted to socialize with her!
Floride Calhoun, the wife of the Vice President was the ringleader of the society ladies and would not attend events if Peggy was there. Because Peggy’s father owned a tavern, rumors swirled that Peggy had been sexually promiscuous and perhaps even a prostitute! Since a woman’s perceived virtue was so tied to her social status, these women feared Peggy’s potential promiscuity by proxy. Jackson took the Eatons’ side during the “Petticoat Affair,” privately and publicly defending the couple. Ultimately the affair was resolved by Jackson dismissing members of his cabinet and sending them out of Washington to political appointments. When asked about the scandal, Jackson remarked, “I would rather have live vermin on my back than the tongue of one of these Washington women on my reputation.” It’s clear from the Eaton Affair that women in Washington politics could hold incredible power… power to change a presidential cabinet! These women did not extend that power to help the Native Americans. |
Catherine Beecher, Wikimedia Commons
Indian Removal Act: Removal of Native Americans from the southwest was Jackson’s top priority in office. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, giving the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in “Indian Territory” located in present-day Oklahoma.
The Cherokee appealed their forced removal. They appealed their case to the US Supreme Court. In 1832, in the case Worcester v. Georgia the court objected to native removal and affirmed that native nations had “sovereignty.” They wrote, “the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force.” President Andrew Jackson ignored the Court’s decision, saying, “Justice Marshall has made his ruling, Now let him enforce it.” This was a fragrant disregard for the separation of powers foundational to American democracy– so much for the first “Democratic” president!
Not all White Americans approved of removal. In December of 1839, reformer Catharine Beecher wrote a circular, “Addressed to the Benevolent Ladies of the United States.” She exhorted women to appeal to the government to stop the removal policy and protect the natives. Appealing to women, she asked, “Have not then the females of this country have some duties devolving upon them to this helpless race?” Beecher used biblical language from Exodus 22: 21-24 to support her claim that women had a responsibility to try to influence their government.
More than 1,400 women from Monson, Massachusetts to Steubenvill, Ohio signed petitions on behalf of the Native Americans. Women in Hallowell, Maine asserted that they were “unwilling that the church, the school, and the domestic altar should be thrown down before the avaricious god of power.” But American women could not vote and their pleas fell on deaf ears.
The Cherokee took the Supreme Court victory as a chance to argue another pressing case. Many Christian Missionaries in the south, sent to Christianize them preferred life with the Cherokee! The state of Georgia began forcing these White missionaries to swear allegiance to the state. When the missionaries refused, they were arrested. Again the Court ruled with the Cherokee. They ruled that Georgia had no power on Native lands and that the federal government could intervene to protect the Cherokee from state intrusions.
The Cherokee appealed their forced removal. They appealed their case to the US Supreme Court. In 1832, in the case Worcester v. Georgia the court objected to native removal and affirmed that native nations had “sovereignty.” They wrote, “the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force.” President Andrew Jackson ignored the Court’s decision, saying, “Justice Marshall has made his ruling, Now let him enforce it.” This was a fragrant disregard for the separation of powers foundational to American democracy– so much for the first “Democratic” president!
Not all White Americans approved of removal. In December of 1839, reformer Catharine Beecher wrote a circular, “Addressed to the Benevolent Ladies of the United States.” She exhorted women to appeal to the government to stop the removal policy and protect the natives. Appealing to women, she asked, “Have not then the females of this country have some duties devolving upon them to this helpless race?” Beecher used biblical language from Exodus 22: 21-24 to support her claim that women had a responsibility to try to influence their government.
More than 1,400 women from Monson, Massachusetts to Steubenvill, Ohio signed petitions on behalf of the Native Americans. Women in Hallowell, Maine asserted that they were “unwilling that the church, the school, and the domestic altar should be thrown down before the avaricious god of power.” But American women could not vote and their pleas fell on deaf ears.
The Cherokee took the Supreme Court victory as a chance to argue another pressing case. Many Christian Missionaries in the south, sent to Christianize them preferred life with the Cherokee! The state of Georgia began forcing these White missionaries to swear allegiance to the state. When the missionaries refused, they were arrested. Again the Court ruled with the Cherokee. They ruled that Georgia had no power on Native lands and that the federal government could intervene to protect the Cherokee from state intrusions.
Trail of Tears Map, Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Elizur Butler was one such missionary. He moved with his first wife to serve the Cherokee as a missionary and stayed for decades. When his first wife died, Dr. Butler then married Mrs. Lucy Ames who had served as a teacher at the Brainard Mission. In the tensions over Cherokee lands, Butler was arrested with other men by the Georgia Militia for residing in the Cherokee Nation without a permit. Butler was eventually released early by the Georgian Governor after two years of hard labor. What his wife did and thought during this time is lost– but remember her… we are coming back to her.
Jackson was intent on enforcing the Indian Removal Act. A few tribes negotiated treaties that promised that they would be well-treated, but they were nevertheless forcibly removed from their land. In the winter of 1831, with the US Army at their doorstep, the Choctaw became the first Native nation forced from their home. They marched 1,000 miles on foot, some in chains without food or supplies. Along the way, they were subjected to brutal treatment, including the rape of many women.
Although some of the generals directly tasked with removing the Indigenous communities tried to treat them humanely, advocating for more resources and time, Jackson actively intervened on behalf of haste and economic efficiency– directly resulting in the greater suffering of the indigenous people.
Trail of Tears: In 1836, the Creeks were driven from their homes. An estimated 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks died from diseases such as whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera as well as fatigue.
By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had complied with removal orders so Jackson’s former Vice President, now President Martin Van Buren ordered 7,000 soldiers to speed up the process, marching the Native families, the elderly and children included, at bayonet point.
Major Ridge, who had been negotiating with the US for decades, saw the situation as it was and tried to convince his tribe to leave, without sounding like a traitor to their cause– a difficult line to walk. In 1838, Ridge signed a conciliatory treaty with the US, a decision he described as his, “death warrant.”
His former partner in negotiations, John Ross, worked to overturn the treaty. Ridge was considered a traitor. In May 1838, the US Army herded 16,000 or more Cherokees into holding camps and began marching them west. Worse, Natives who fled were shot. Women in these camps and along the trail were sexually assaulted by US soldiers imprisoning them– a gendered strategy to humiliate not only the women, but their male family members. Sexual assault served as a way of emasculating the men and reminding them of their weakness and failures. It is also the result of unequal power. So many Cherokee died that the Army postponed until the fall– forcing them to march through the frigged winter months.
Major Ridge moved westward with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Divisions within the Cherokee tribes were deep and Ridge was murdered by his own people.
One Cherokee woman, Wahnenauhi, recalled her experience, as well as many other Cherokee people, during the beginning of the Trail of Tears and forced removal of the Cherokee people. “They were gathered up and driven, at the point of the bayonet, into camp with the others. [T]hey were not allowed to take any of their household stuff, but were compelled to leave as they were, with only the clothes which they had on. One old, very old man, asked the soldiers to allow him time to pray once more, with his family in the dear old home, before he left it forever. The answer was, with a brutal oath, ‘No! no time for prayers. Go!’ at the same time giving him a rude push toward the door. Indians were evicted, the whites entered, taking full possession of everything left.”
Jackson was intent on enforcing the Indian Removal Act. A few tribes negotiated treaties that promised that they would be well-treated, but they were nevertheless forcibly removed from their land. In the winter of 1831, with the US Army at their doorstep, the Choctaw became the first Native nation forced from their home. They marched 1,000 miles on foot, some in chains without food or supplies. Along the way, they were subjected to brutal treatment, including the rape of many women.
Although some of the generals directly tasked with removing the Indigenous communities tried to treat them humanely, advocating for more resources and time, Jackson actively intervened on behalf of haste and economic efficiency– directly resulting in the greater suffering of the indigenous people.
Trail of Tears: In 1836, the Creeks were driven from their homes. An estimated 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks died from diseases such as whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera as well as fatigue.
By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had complied with removal orders so Jackson’s former Vice President, now President Martin Van Buren ordered 7,000 soldiers to speed up the process, marching the Native families, the elderly and children included, at bayonet point.
Major Ridge, who had been negotiating with the US for decades, saw the situation as it was and tried to convince his tribe to leave, without sounding like a traitor to their cause– a difficult line to walk. In 1838, Ridge signed a conciliatory treaty with the US, a decision he described as his, “death warrant.”
His former partner in negotiations, John Ross, worked to overturn the treaty. Ridge was considered a traitor. In May 1838, the US Army herded 16,000 or more Cherokees into holding camps and began marching them west. Worse, Natives who fled were shot. Women in these camps and along the trail were sexually assaulted by US soldiers imprisoning them– a gendered strategy to humiliate not only the women, but their male family members. Sexual assault served as a way of emasculating the men and reminding them of their weakness and failures. It is also the result of unequal power. So many Cherokee died that the Army postponed until the fall– forcing them to march through the frigged winter months.
Major Ridge moved westward with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Divisions within the Cherokee tribes were deep and Ridge was murdered by his own people.
One Cherokee woman, Wahnenauhi, recalled her experience, as well as many other Cherokee people, during the beginning of the Trail of Tears and forced removal of the Cherokee people. “They were gathered up and driven, at the point of the bayonet, into camp with the others. [T]hey were not allowed to take any of their household stuff, but were compelled to leave as they were, with only the clothes which they had on. One old, very old man, asked the soldiers to allow him time to pray once more, with his family in the dear old home, before he left it forever. The answer was, with a brutal oath, ‘No! no time for prayers. Go!’ at the same time giving him a rude push toward the door. Indians were evicted, the whites entered, taking full possession of everything left.”
Trail of Tears, Public Domain
Butler accompanied the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Lucy described the scene in a letter to a friend: “When these companies arrive in their new country, the greatest part will be without shelters as they were in this [place], after they were prisoners; and it is to be feared many will be cut down by death, as has been the case with new emigrants in the country… Will not the people in whose power it is to redress Indian wrongs awake to their duty? Will they not think of the multitudes among the various tribes that have within a few years been swept into Eternity by the cupidity of the ‘white man’ who is in the enjoyment of wealth and freedom on the original soil of these oppressed Indians?”
Eliza Whitmire was about five years old when she and her parents, who were enslaved to a Cherokee family, were forced to leave Georgia. She later described the process of removal: “The women and children were driven from their homes, sometimes with blows and close on the heels of the retreating Indians came greedy whites to pillage the Indian's homes, drive off their cattle, horses, and pigs, and they even rifled the graves for any jewelry, or other ornaments that might have been buried with the dead… The aged, sick and young children rode in the wagons, which carried provisions and bedding, while others went on foot… all who lived to make this trip, or had parents who made it, will long remember it, as a bitter memory.”
Rachel Dodge recalled the stories of her Grandmother, Aggie Silk, from the Trail of Tears, giving a look into the harsh conditions that faced the men, women, and children on the trail. “Aggie Silk was my grandmother and she has told me of the many hardships of the trip to this country. Many had chills and fever from the exposure, change of country and they didn't have too much to eat. When they would get too sick to walk or ride, they were put in the wagons and taken along until they died. The Indian doctors couldn't find the herbs they were used to and didn't know the ones they did find, so they couldn't doctor them as they would have at home. Some rode in wagons, some rode horses and some had to walk. There was a large bunch when she came; she was sixteen years old. They were Cherokees and stopped close to Muldrow where they built log houses or cabins but they didn't like this country at first as everything was so strange.”
Elizabeth Watts, the daughter of a woman who was born along the Trail of Tears, recounted her mother’s story of the removal in an oral history: “Even before they were loaded in wagons, many of them got sick and died… The trail was more than tears, it was death.
Eliza Whitmire was about five years old when she and her parents, who were enslaved to a Cherokee family, were forced to leave Georgia. She later described the process of removal: “The women and children were driven from their homes, sometimes with blows and close on the heels of the retreating Indians came greedy whites to pillage the Indian's homes, drive off their cattle, horses, and pigs, and they even rifled the graves for any jewelry, or other ornaments that might have been buried with the dead… The aged, sick and young children rode in the wagons, which carried provisions and bedding, while others went on foot… all who lived to make this trip, or had parents who made it, will long remember it, as a bitter memory.”
Rachel Dodge recalled the stories of her Grandmother, Aggie Silk, from the Trail of Tears, giving a look into the harsh conditions that faced the men, women, and children on the trail. “Aggie Silk was my grandmother and she has told me of the many hardships of the trip to this country. Many had chills and fever from the exposure, change of country and they didn't have too much to eat. When they would get too sick to walk or ride, they were put in the wagons and taken along until they died. The Indian doctors couldn't find the herbs they were used to and didn't know the ones they did find, so they couldn't doctor them as they would have at home. Some rode in wagons, some rode horses and some had to walk. There was a large bunch when she came; she was sixteen years old. They were Cherokees and stopped close to Muldrow where they built log houses or cabins but they didn't like this country at first as everything was so strange.”
Elizabeth Watts, the daughter of a woman who was born along the Trail of Tears, recounted her mother’s story of the removal in an oral history: “Even before they were loaded in wagons, many of them got sick and died… The trail was more than tears, it was death.
Cherokee woman of later generations with child, Library of Congress
Another oral history told the story of an old woman: “Sin-e-cha… had left her home and with shattered happiness she carried a small bundle of her few belongings and reopening and retying her pitiful bundle she began a sad song… ‘I have no more land. I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters, let us all go, let us all die together and somewhere upon the banks we will be there.’”
Josephine Usray Lattimer was interviewed by Amelia Harris. She said, “Even for all the well and strong, the journey was almost beyond human endurance. Many were weak and broken-hearted, and as night came there were new graves dug beside the way… While they were camped here, Ezekiel Roebuck, father of my grandfather, William Roebuck, became ill but said nothing. When the river was low enough to cross, everyone got in the wagons and started on the journey but Ezekiel was so sick he became unconscious and fell over. Someone told the driver and he said, ‘I will have to stop and put him out as we can't afford to have any one with the Cholera along.’ So they stopped by the road side and put him out. My great grandmother said, ‘You can put the children and me out too,’ and the driver replied, ‘All right, but he will soon be dead and you and your three children will have to walk the balance of the way.’ Each child had a small blanket. My great-grandmother had a paisley shawl she had brought along a bucket of honey and some cold flour from their home. This flour is made by parching corn and grinding it in a coffee mill until pulverized. This food she carried along for her six months old baby. She begged the driver for food and a blanket for Great-grandfather, and he grudgingly gave the blanket and one days supply of food. Great-grandfather was conscious at times. He had dubbed Great-grandmother ‘Little Blue Hen’ and when he became conscious of their plight, he would say, ‘Dear Little Blue Hen, why didn't you take the children and go on, I can't last much longer, and my Soul will rest much easier if I knew you were safe. My body is just dust and will be all right any place.’ She replied, ‘As long as you live I'll be with you, Dear.’”
At least 4,000, but maybe 8,000 Cherokees alone did not survive the Trail of Tears. Those figures don’t include the thousands more Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and other natives who died.
Josephine Usray Lattimer was interviewed by Amelia Harris. She said, “Even for all the well and strong, the journey was almost beyond human endurance. Many were weak and broken-hearted, and as night came there were new graves dug beside the way… While they were camped here, Ezekiel Roebuck, father of my grandfather, William Roebuck, became ill but said nothing. When the river was low enough to cross, everyone got in the wagons and started on the journey but Ezekiel was so sick he became unconscious and fell over. Someone told the driver and he said, ‘I will have to stop and put him out as we can't afford to have any one with the Cholera along.’ So they stopped by the road side and put him out. My great grandmother said, ‘You can put the children and me out too,’ and the driver replied, ‘All right, but he will soon be dead and you and your three children will have to walk the balance of the way.’ Each child had a small blanket. My great-grandmother had a paisley shawl she had brought along a bucket of honey and some cold flour from their home. This flour is made by parching corn and grinding it in a coffee mill until pulverized. This food she carried along for her six months old baby. She begged the driver for food and a blanket for Great-grandfather, and he grudgingly gave the blanket and one days supply of food. Great-grandfather was conscious at times. He had dubbed Great-grandmother ‘Little Blue Hen’ and when he became conscious of their plight, he would say, ‘Dear Little Blue Hen, why didn't you take the children and go on, I can't last much longer, and my Soul will rest much easier if I knew you were safe. My body is just dust and will be all right any place.’ She replied, ‘As long as you live I'll be with you, Dear.’”
At least 4,000, but maybe 8,000 Cherokees alone did not survive the Trail of Tears. Those figures don’t include the thousands more Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and other natives who died.
Black Hawk War, Public Domain
Northwestern Removal: Similar tensions played out in the Northwestern Territory at the same time. Again, treaties were mishandled, arguably fraudulent, and it resulted in war and the eventual migration and forced removal of Native Americans westward. The brief and bloody Black Hawk War in 1832 opened new territory for white settlement. Millions of acres of land was taken from the Sauk, Fox and other nations and turned into the territories and eventual states of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
In this region too, women played an important role. Sauk and Mesquakie women held positions of power in their communities. These communities thrived on sustainable systems of land use cycling through hunting, gathering, farming, fishing, and sugar making as the seasons directed. Men and women were essential to this subsistence labor, much to the chagrin of European onlookers, who claimed these “laboring women” were slaves to their men. Men and women spent portions of the year apart, as men left to follow game, trap, and hunt. Women, children, and the elderly didn’t just hang about– they went to “sugar camps” where they processed maple sugar for sustenance… sing me up for sugar camp anyday!
Mixed race women (called Metis by the French Canadians) in these communities often serve as liaisons with the intruding white settlers, often because their heritage ensure they spoke the languages. Seen as “public mothers” they helped bridge cultural barriers and negotiate between groups.
Metis women resisted colonization in their own ways. Elizabeth Thérèse Fisher Baird wrote a memoir describing her experiences. Others aligned themselves with resistance groups.
When Black Hawk organized a rebellion against an unjust treaty, women were behind him. Women were some of his strongest allies because their contributions to the communal economy relied on their familiarity with the land. Violating a treaty they deemed unjust, Black Hawk and his followers crossed the river into Illinois to harvest crops from their fields. The settlers responded by requesting troops to reinforce them. Bloody skirmishes erupted, people were scalped and massacred. Two white teenage girls were kidnapped and ransomed back, but the Sauk were losing. Retreating quickly they abandoned the slow and weary, leaving children and the elderly to be picked off by the US Army– yes, they killed helpless and starving old women and children.
Like the Natives of the Southeast, the communities of the Northwest were also forced further west. By 1837, their lands, farms, and territory were being used by white families.
In this region too, women played an important role. Sauk and Mesquakie women held positions of power in their communities. These communities thrived on sustainable systems of land use cycling through hunting, gathering, farming, fishing, and sugar making as the seasons directed. Men and women were essential to this subsistence labor, much to the chagrin of European onlookers, who claimed these “laboring women” were slaves to their men. Men and women spent portions of the year apart, as men left to follow game, trap, and hunt. Women, children, and the elderly didn’t just hang about– they went to “sugar camps” where they processed maple sugar for sustenance… sing me up for sugar camp anyday!
Mixed race women (called Metis by the French Canadians) in these communities often serve as liaisons with the intruding white settlers, often because their heritage ensure they spoke the languages. Seen as “public mothers” they helped bridge cultural barriers and negotiate between groups.
Metis women resisted colonization in their own ways. Elizabeth Thérèse Fisher Baird wrote a memoir describing her experiences. Others aligned themselves with resistance groups.
When Black Hawk organized a rebellion against an unjust treaty, women were behind him. Women were some of his strongest allies because their contributions to the communal economy relied on their familiarity with the land. Violating a treaty they deemed unjust, Black Hawk and his followers crossed the river into Illinois to harvest crops from their fields. The settlers responded by requesting troops to reinforce them. Bloody skirmishes erupted, people were scalped and massacred. Two white teenage girls were kidnapped and ransomed back, but the Sauk were losing. Retreating quickly they abandoned the slow and weary, leaving children and the elderly to be picked off by the US Army– yes, they killed helpless and starving old women and children.
Like the Natives of the Southeast, the communities of the Northwest were also forced further west. By 1837, their lands, farms, and territory were being used by white families.
Muskogee before Trail of Tears, Public Domain
Migration to the West of the Muskogee: Another personal account of the migration of indigenous people comes from Mary Hill, who recounts her grandmother, Sallie Farney’s experience of forced migration from Alabama to the western continental U.S. Just prior to the beginning of the Trail of Tears, the Muskogee people were located in Alabama and believed “Alabama was to be the permanent home of the Muskogee tribe. But many different rumors of a removal to the far west was often heard.”
Sallie told of how these rumors or removal suddenly became a reality to Sallie and her people. Sallie recounts how one day the Muskogee people were commanded to forcibly leave their homes: “Wagons stopped at our home and the men in charge commanded us to gather what few belongings could be crowded into the wagons. We were to be taken away and leave our homes never to return. This was just the beginning of much weeping and heartaches.”
Sallie explains how people were often “penned up,” put into closed quarters with other tribes, and separated from family and loved ones, before even beginning the dangerous forced migration west. Once they began moving west, Sallie elaborates on what faced the indigenous people that became sick during the forced migration. “Many fell by the wayside, too faint with hunger or too weak to keep up with the rest. The aged, feeble, and sick were left to perish by the wayside. A crude bed was quickly prepared for these sick and weary people. Only a bowl of water was left within reach, thus they were left to suffer and die alone.
The little children piteously cried day after day from weariness, hunger, and illness. Many of the men, women, and even the children were forced to walk. They were once happy children - left without mother and father - crying could not bring consolation to those children. The sick and the births required attention, yet there was no time or no one was prepared. Death stalked at all hours, but there was no time for proper burying of ceremonies. My grandfather died on this trip.”
Sallie notes in her oral history how it was many of the women of the Muskogee people that were able to encourage the continued perseverance of their tribe. “Some of the older women sang songs that meant, "We are going to our homes and land; there is One who is above and ever watches over us; He will care for us." This song was to encourage the ever downhearted Muskogees.”
Sallie’s telling of the horrors, sadness and despair of the forced removal of her people shows the subhuman treatment that was forced upon the tribes and indigenous people removed during the Trail of Tears. However, Sallie’s own recount also shows the bravery and honor of many women in the Muskogee.
Women of the Muskogee tribe exhibited immense perseverance, strength, and resilience in the face of oppression and suffering. Their continued strength, support, and sense of community helped the Muskogee people to survive the terror and horror of their forced removal and migration. Sallie’s oral history is one of the many stories that showed the resilience of these women and how they contributed to the prosperity of their tribes.
Aftermath: Traumatized, with few resources women in these communities found the strength and resilience to rebuild. They built new homes, churches, and schools. Ross and their leadership ensured the reluctant government paid them for their lands in the east. Women raised their families and did the important work of enduring and surviving. They shared their stories and told the history of what happened to their people.
Dr. Butler and his wife Lucy continued to serve as Missionaries with the Cherokee. He was a teacher at the Cherokee Female Seminary prior to his death in Arkansas in 1857. This work helped Cherokee women find strength and have economic opportunities moving forward.
Not all missionary work was embraced however. The long history of Euro-American and Christian ideology left bitter resentments. Sophia Sawyer, a female Christian missionary, apparently chased a local woman hoping to convince her to send her child into the missionary school. The Cherokee woman responded that she would “as soon see her child in hell as in the mission classroom.”
Sallie told of how these rumors or removal suddenly became a reality to Sallie and her people. Sallie recounts how one day the Muskogee people were commanded to forcibly leave their homes: “Wagons stopped at our home and the men in charge commanded us to gather what few belongings could be crowded into the wagons. We were to be taken away and leave our homes never to return. This was just the beginning of much weeping and heartaches.”
Sallie explains how people were often “penned up,” put into closed quarters with other tribes, and separated from family and loved ones, before even beginning the dangerous forced migration west. Once they began moving west, Sallie elaborates on what faced the indigenous people that became sick during the forced migration. “Many fell by the wayside, too faint with hunger or too weak to keep up with the rest. The aged, feeble, and sick were left to perish by the wayside. A crude bed was quickly prepared for these sick and weary people. Only a bowl of water was left within reach, thus they were left to suffer and die alone.
The little children piteously cried day after day from weariness, hunger, and illness. Many of the men, women, and even the children were forced to walk. They were once happy children - left without mother and father - crying could not bring consolation to those children. The sick and the births required attention, yet there was no time or no one was prepared. Death stalked at all hours, but there was no time for proper burying of ceremonies. My grandfather died on this trip.”
Sallie notes in her oral history how it was many of the women of the Muskogee people that were able to encourage the continued perseverance of their tribe. “Some of the older women sang songs that meant, "We are going to our homes and land; there is One who is above and ever watches over us; He will care for us." This song was to encourage the ever downhearted Muskogees.”
Sallie’s telling of the horrors, sadness and despair of the forced removal of her people shows the subhuman treatment that was forced upon the tribes and indigenous people removed during the Trail of Tears. However, Sallie’s own recount also shows the bravery and honor of many women in the Muskogee.
Women of the Muskogee tribe exhibited immense perseverance, strength, and resilience in the face of oppression and suffering. Their continued strength, support, and sense of community helped the Muskogee people to survive the terror and horror of their forced removal and migration. Sallie’s oral history is one of the many stories that showed the resilience of these women and how they contributed to the prosperity of their tribes.
Aftermath: Traumatized, with few resources women in these communities found the strength and resilience to rebuild. They built new homes, churches, and schools. Ross and their leadership ensured the reluctant government paid them for their lands in the east. Women raised their families and did the important work of enduring and surviving. They shared their stories and told the history of what happened to their people.
Dr. Butler and his wife Lucy continued to serve as Missionaries with the Cherokee. He was a teacher at the Cherokee Female Seminary prior to his death in Arkansas in 1857. This work helped Cherokee women find strength and have economic opportunities moving forward.
Not all missionary work was embraced however. The long history of Euro-American and Christian ideology left bitter resentments. Sophia Sawyer, a female Christian missionary, apparently chased a local woman hoping to convince her to send her child into the missionary school. The Cherokee woman responded that she would “as soon see her child in hell as in the mission classroom.”
Helen Hunt Jackson, Wikimedia Commons
At the end of the century, Helen Hunt Jackson published an important book, A Century of Dishonor, that exposed the treatment of the indigenous population. She wrote, “There is no escape from the inexorable logic of facts. The history of the Government connections with the Indians is a shameful record of broken treaties and unfulfilled promises. The history of the border, white man’s connection with the Indians is a sickening record of murder, outrage, robbery, and wrongs committed by the former, as the rule, and occasional savage outbreaks and unspeakably barbarous deeds of retaliation by the latter, as the exception… The testimony of some of the highest military officers of the United States is on record to the effect that, in our Indian wars, almost without exception, the first aggressions have been made by the white man.” She spoke the truth.
Conclusion: The federal government promised that their new lands in Oklahoma would remain untouched by Americans forever, but of course the US continued expansion westward. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian Territory was considered lost. Native women struggled alongside other American women in a quest for rights they had once held but had been revoked by intrusions of Euro-American ideals.
Ironically, this “barren land” reserved for Native Americans so that the more fertile lands in the east could be cultivated for cash crops and the expansion of slavery held a secret. In 1859 the Ross family discovered oil. In a great twist of fate, native families who owned the headrights to the oil would become incredibly wealthy as the need for oil to fuel the industrial revolution took off. Headrights could not be bought or sold, only inherited– and since traditional communities were matrilineal, this meant this wealth passed from mother to daughter for generations.
Nonetheless the Cherokee Women endured. At the end of the 20th century, many Cherokee women re-entered the public stage. Their achievements from service to their community outweighed any personal achievements. In Oklahoma, 1985, Wilma Mankiller succeeded a male banker and became the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.
Similarly, in 1995, women from the Eastern range of Cherokees from North Carolina impeached Joyce Dugan, a corrupt chief. The success of these Cherokee women is a testament to their ability to embody the values exhibited by Cherkoee women as well as showing how the Cherkoee nation is not a history of decline and loss of culture, but of perseverance, change, tragedy, and ultimate survival.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. What would happen to the remaining native tribes west of the Mississippi? Would Native people ever be considered US Citizens? And if so, would they want to be?
Conclusion: The federal government promised that their new lands in Oklahoma would remain untouched by Americans forever, but of course the US continued expansion westward. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian Territory was considered lost. Native women struggled alongside other American women in a quest for rights they had once held but had been revoked by intrusions of Euro-American ideals.
Ironically, this “barren land” reserved for Native Americans so that the more fertile lands in the east could be cultivated for cash crops and the expansion of slavery held a secret. In 1859 the Ross family discovered oil. In a great twist of fate, native families who owned the headrights to the oil would become incredibly wealthy as the need for oil to fuel the industrial revolution took off. Headrights could not be bought or sold, only inherited– and since traditional communities were matrilineal, this meant this wealth passed from mother to daughter for generations.
Nonetheless the Cherokee Women endured. At the end of the 20th century, many Cherokee women re-entered the public stage. Their achievements from service to their community outweighed any personal achievements. In Oklahoma, 1985, Wilma Mankiller succeeded a male banker and became the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.
Similarly, in 1995, women from the Eastern range of Cherokees from North Carolina impeached Joyce Dugan, a corrupt chief. The success of these Cherokee women is a testament to their ability to embody the values exhibited by Cherkoee women as well as showing how the Cherkoee nation is not a history of decline and loss of culture, but of perseverance, change, tragedy, and ultimate survival.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. What would happen to the remaining native tribes west of the Mississippi? Would Native people ever be considered US Citizens? And if so, would they want to be?
Draw your own conclusions
Library of Congress
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How did indigenous women demonstrate their agency through resistance and resilience before, during, and after the Trail of Tears?
In this inquiry, students explore primary sources and oral histories related to the Trail of Tears to understand the history more deeply and explore women's roles in holding communities together through the most disgraceful period of US History. 
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Ah Toy, Public Domain
Fanny Wright, Wikimedia Commons
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How did Gold Rush women continue the Cult of Domesticity and how did they stretch or change it?
In this inquiry, students explore the primary and secondary sources related to women's roles in the Gold Rush.
Should 19th century women speak publicly and about women's rights?
In this inquiry, students explore the prolific writing about the Cult of True Womanhood by 19th century authors. Their vision for women was one of submission, modesty, humility, and domesticity... but was the literature reflective of real women? Of the women writers, were they models of this vision? Students will explore the writings of Theodore Weld, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Catherine Beecher, and Margaret Fuller.
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Lesson Plans from Other Organizations
- The National Women's History Museum has lesson plans on women's history.
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History has lesson plans on women's history.
- The NY Historical Society has articles and classroom activities for teaching women's history.
- Unladylike 2020, in partnership with PBS, has primary sources to explore with students and outstanding videos on women from the Progressive era.
- The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media has produced recommendations for teaching women's history with primary sources and provided a collection of sources for world history. Check them out!
- The Stanford History Education Group has a number of lesson plans about women in World History.
Nanyehi: Address to US Treaty Commissioners at the Long Island Negotiations of 1781
You know that women are always looked upon as nothing; but we are your mothers; you are our sons. Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever. Let your women’s sons be ours; our sons are yours. Let your women hear our words.
Quoted in Virginia Carney. Eastern Band Cherokee Women: Cultural Persistence in Their Letters and Speeches. United States: University of Tennessee Press, 2005, 36.
Questions:
Quoted in Virginia Carney. Eastern Band Cherokee Women: Cultural Persistence in Their Letters and Speeches. United States: University of Tennessee Press, 2005, 36.
Questions:
- What is she advocating for?
Colonel William Christian: Response to Nanyehi at the 1781 Negotiations
“Mothers, we have listened well to your talk... Our women shall hear your words... We will not quarrel with you, because you are our mothers.
Quoted in Virginia Carney, “‘Women Is the Mother of All’ : Nanye’hi and Kitteuha: War Women of the Cherokees,” in Native American Speakers of the Eastern Woodlands, ed. Barbara Alice Mann (Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2001), 134.
Questions:
Quoted in Virginia Carney, “‘Women Is the Mother of All’ : Nanye’hi and Kitteuha: War Women of the Cherokees,” in Native American Speakers of the Eastern Woodlands, ed. Barbara Alice Mann (Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2001), 134.
Questions:
- What is the Colonel stating?
- Who is the audience?
Nanyehi: Address to US Treaty Commissioners at the Hopewell Negotiations
of 1785
of 1785
I am fond of hearing that there is a peace, and I hope you have now taken us by the hand in real friendship. I have a pipe and a little tobacco to give the commissioners to smoke in friendship. I look on you and the red people as my children... I am old, but I hope yet to bear children, who will grow up and people our nation, as we are now to be under the protection of Congress, and shall have no more disturbance. The talk I have given is from the young warriors I have raised in my town, as well as myself. They rejoice that we have peace, and we hope the chain of friendship will never more be broke.
Quoted in Virginia Carney, “‘Women Is the Mother of All’ : Nanye’hi and Kitteuha: War Women of the Cherokees,” in Native American Speakers of the Eastern Woodlands, ed. Barbara Alice Mann (Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2001), 127.
Questions:
Quoted in Virginia Carney, “‘Women Is the Mother of All’ : Nanye’hi and Kitteuha: War Women of the Cherokees,” in Native American Speakers of the Eastern Woodlands, ed. Barbara Alice Mann (Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2001), 127.
Questions:
- What is she advocating for?
- Why is it significant that Nanyehi tells the U.S. Treaty Commissioners to “let your women hear our words”? Did settler (white) women have a voice in American politics at this point?
Nanyehi: Final Address to the Cherokee Chiefs and Warriors in 1817
The Cherokee ladys now being present at the meeting of the Chiefs and warriors in council have thought it their duty as mothers to address their beloved chiefs and warriors now assembled.
Our beloved children and head men of the Cherokee nation we address you warriors in council we have raised all of you on the land which we now have, which God gave us to inhabit and raise provisions we know that our country has once been extensive but by repeated ales has become circumscribed to a small tract, and never have thought it our duty to interfere in the disposition of it till now, if a father or mother was to sell all their lands which they had to depend on which their children had to raise their living on which would be indeed bad and to be removed to another country we not wish to go to an unknown country which we have understood some of our children wish to go over the Mississippi but this act of our children would be like destroying your mothers. Your mothers and sisters ask and beg of you not to part with any more of our lands, we say ours and you are descendants and take pity on our request, but keep it for our growing children for it was the good will of our creator to place us here and you know our father the great president will not allow his white children to take our country away, only keep your hands off of paper talks for it is our own country for it was not they would not ask you to put your hands to paper for it would be impossible to remove us all, for as soon as one child is raised we have others in our arms for such is our situation and will consider our circumstance.
Therefore children don’t part with any more of our lands but continue on it and enlarge your farms and cultivate and raise corn and cotton and we your mothers and sisters will make clothing for you which our father the president has recommended to us all we don’t charge anybody for selling any lands, but we have heard such intentions of our children but your talks become true at last and it was our desire top forewarn you all not to part with our lands.
[Nanye’hi] to her children Warriors to take pity and listen to the talks of your sisters, although I am very old yet cannot but pity the situation in which you will hear of their minds, I have great many grandchildren which I wish them to do well on our land.
Quoted in Virginia Carney. Eastern Band Cherokee Women: Cultural Persistence in Their Letters and Speeches. United States: University of Tennessee Press, 2005, 38.
Questions:
Our beloved children and head men of the Cherokee nation we address you warriors in council we have raised all of you on the land which we now have, which God gave us to inhabit and raise provisions we know that our country has once been extensive but by repeated ales has become circumscribed to a small tract, and never have thought it our duty to interfere in the disposition of it till now, if a father or mother was to sell all their lands which they had to depend on which their children had to raise their living on which would be indeed bad and to be removed to another country we not wish to go to an unknown country which we have understood some of our children wish to go over the Mississippi but this act of our children would be like destroying your mothers. Your mothers and sisters ask and beg of you not to part with any more of our lands, we say ours and you are descendants and take pity on our request, but keep it for our growing children for it was the good will of our creator to place us here and you know our father the great president will not allow his white children to take our country away, only keep your hands off of paper talks for it is our own country for it was not they would not ask you to put your hands to paper for it would be impossible to remove us all, for as soon as one child is raised we have others in our arms for such is our situation and will consider our circumstance.
Therefore children don’t part with any more of our lands but continue on it and enlarge your farms and cultivate and raise corn and cotton and we your mothers and sisters will make clothing for you which our father the president has recommended to us all we don’t charge anybody for selling any lands, but we have heard such intentions of our children but your talks become true at last and it was our desire top forewarn you all not to part with our lands.
[Nanye’hi] to her children Warriors to take pity and listen to the talks of your sisters, although I am very old yet cannot but pity the situation in which you will hear of their minds, I have great many grandchildren which I wish them to do well on our land.
Quoted in Virginia Carney. Eastern Band Cherokee Women: Cultural Persistence in Their Letters and Speeches. United States: University of Tennessee Press, 2005, 38.
Questions:
- Throughout her three addresses, what does Nanyehi consistently advocate for?
Wahnenauhi: Recollection of the Trail of Tears
[P]erish or remove! It might be,-—remove and perish! [A] long journey through the Wilderness,—-could the little ones endure? [A]nd how about the sick? [T]he old people and infirm, could they possibly endure the long tedious journey; Should they leave? This had been the home of their Ancestors from time out of mind. Everything they held dear on earth was here, must they leave?
The graves of their kindred forsaken would be desecrated by the hand of the White Man. The very air seemed filled with an undercurrent of inexpressible sadness and regret.... Some of the Cherokees, remained in their homes, and determined not to leave.
For these soldiers were sent, by Gorgia [sic], and they were gathered up and driven, at the point of the bayonet, into camp with the others. [T]hey were not allowed to take any of their household stuff, but were compelled to leave as they were, with only the clothes which they had on. One old, very old man, asked the soldiers to allow him time to pray once more, with his family in the dear old home, beforehe left it forever. The answer was, with a brutal oath, “No! no time for prayers. Go!” at the same time giving him a rude push toward the door. Indians were evicted, the whites entered, taking full possession of every thing left.
Wahnenauhi (Cherokee). “A Witness Remembers the Removal,” 1889. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=1147.
Questions:
The graves of their kindred forsaken would be desecrated by the hand of the White Man. The very air seemed filled with an undercurrent of inexpressible sadness and regret.... Some of the Cherokees, remained in their homes, and determined not to leave.
For these soldiers were sent, by Gorgia [sic], and they were gathered up and driven, at the point of the bayonet, into camp with the others. [T]hey were not allowed to take any of their household stuff, but were compelled to leave as they were, with only the clothes which they had on. One old, very old man, asked the soldiers to allow him time to pray once more, with his family in the dear old home, beforehe left it forever. The answer was, with a brutal oath, “No! no time for prayers. Go!” at the same time giving him a rude push toward the door. Indians were evicted, the whites entered, taking full possession of every thing left.
Wahnenauhi (Cherokee). “A Witness Remembers the Removal,” 1889. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=1147.
Questions:
- What did the Trail of Tears look like for Indigenous women?
- Despite the terrible conditions, how did Indigenous women resist and persevere?
Rachel Dodge: Recollection of the Trail of Tears
Aggie Silk was my grandmother and she has told me of the many hardships of the trip to this country. Many had chills and fever from the exposure, change of country and they didn't have too much to eat. When they would get too sick to walk or ride, they were put in the wagons and taken along until they died. The Indian doctors couldn't find the herbs they were used to and didn't know the ones they did find, so they couldn't doctor them as they would have at home. Some rode in wagons, some rode horses and some had to walk. There was a large bunch when she came; she was sixteen years old. They were Cherokees and stopped close to Muldrow where they built log houses or cabins but they didn't like this country at first as everything was so strange. She married at twenty years of age.
Dodge, Rachel. Trail of Tears, May 14, 1937. American Native Press Archives Sequoyah Research Center. https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of-Tears.html#AgnewMaryCobb.
Questions:
Dodge, Rachel. Trail of Tears, May 14, 1937. American Native Press Archives Sequoyah Research Center. https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of-Tears.html#AgnewMaryCobb.
Questions:
- What did the Trail of Tears look like for Indigenous women?
- Despite the terrible conditions, how did Indigenous women resist and persevere?
Mary Hill: The Migration to the West of the Muskogee
Many years ago, my grandmother, Sallie Farney, who was among those, that made the trip to the West from Alabama, often told of the trip as follows:
"In every way we were abundantly blessed in our every day life in the old country. We had our hunting grounds and all the things that are dear to the heart or interest of an Indian. A council meeting was mostly composed of men, but there were times when every member of a town (tulwa) was requested to attend the meetings. Many of the leaders, when unrest was felt in the homes, visited the different homes and gave encouragement to believe that Alabama was to be the permanent home of the Muskogee tribe. But many different rumors of a removal to the far west was often heard.
The command for a removal came unexpectedly upon most of us. There was the time that we noticed that several overloaded wagons were passing our home, yet we did not grasp the meaning. However, it was not long until we found out the reason. Wagons stopped at our home and the men in charge commanded us to gather what few belongings could be crowded into the wagons. We were to be taken away and leave our homes never to return. This was just the beginning of much weeping and heartaches.
We were taken to a crudely built stockade and joined others of our tribe. We were kept penned up until everything was ready before we started on the march. Even here, there was the awful silence that showed the heartaches and sorrow at being taken from the homes and even separation from loved ones. Most of us had not foreseen such a move in this fashion or at this time. We were not prepared, but times became more horrible after the real journey was begun. Many fell by the wayside, too faint with hunger or too weak to keep up with the rest. The aged, feeble, and sick were left to perish by the wayside. A crude bed was quickly prepared for these sick and weary people. Only a bowl of water was left within reach, thus they were left to suffer and die alone.
The little children piteously cried day after day from weariness, hunger, and illness. Many of the men, women, and even the children were forced to walk. They were once happy children - left without mother and father - crying could not bring consolation to those children. The sick and the births required attention, yet there was no time or no one was prepared. Death stalked at all hours, but there was no time for proper burying of ceremonies. My grandfather died on this trip. A hastily cut piece of cotton wood contained his body. The open ends were closed up and this was placed along a creek. This was not the only time this manner of burying was held nor the only way. Some of the dead were placed between two logs and quickly covered with shrubs, some were shoved under the thickets, and some were not even buried but left by the wayside.
There were several men carrying reeds with eagle feathers attached to the end. These men continually circled around the wagon trains or during the night around the camps. These men said the reeds with feathers had been treated by the medicine men. Their purpose was to encourage the Indians not to be heavy hearted nor to think of the homes that had been left. Some of the older women sang songs that meant, "We are going to our homes and land; there is One who is above and ever watches over us; He will care for us." This song was to encourage the ever downhearted Muskogees.
Hill, Mary. The Migration to the West of the Muskogee, April 19, 1937. American Native Press Archives Sequoyah Research Center. https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of- Tears.html#AgnewMaryCobb.
Questions:
"In every way we were abundantly blessed in our every day life in the old country. We had our hunting grounds and all the things that are dear to the heart or interest of an Indian. A council meeting was mostly composed of men, but there were times when every member of a town (tulwa) was requested to attend the meetings. Many of the leaders, when unrest was felt in the homes, visited the different homes and gave encouragement to believe that Alabama was to be the permanent home of the Muskogee tribe. But many different rumors of a removal to the far west was often heard.
The command for a removal came unexpectedly upon most of us. There was the time that we noticed that several overloaded wagons were passing our home, yet we did not grasp the meaning. However, it was not long until we found out the reason. Wagons stopped at our home and the men in charge commanded us to gather what few belongings could be crowded into the wagons. We were to be taken away and leave our homes never to return. This was just the beginning of much weeping and heartaches.
We were taken to a crudely built stockade and joined others of our tribe. We were kept penned up until everything was ready before we started on the march. Even here, there was the awful silence that showed the heartaches and sorrow at being taken from the homes and even separation from loved ones. Most of us had not foreseen such a move in this fashion or at this time. We were not prepared, but times became more horrible after the real journey was begun. Many fell by the wayside, too faint with hunger or too weak to keep up with the rest. The aged, feeble, and sick were left to perish by the wayside. A crude bed was quickly prepared for these sick and weary people. Only a bowl of water was left within reach, thus they were left to suffer and die alone.
The little children piteously cried day after day from weariness, hunger, and illness. Many of the men, women, and even the children were forced to walk. They were once happy children - left without mother and father - crying could not bring consolation to those children. The sick and the births required attention, yet there was no time or no one was prepared. Death stalked at all hours, but there was no time for proper burying of ceremonies. My grandfather died on this trip. A hastily cut piece of cotton wood contained his body. The open ends were closed up and this was placed along a creek. This was not the only time this manner of burying was held nor the only way. Some of the dead were placed between two logs and quickly covered with shrubs, some were shoved under the thickets, and some were not even buried but left by the wayside.
There were several men carrying reeds with eagle feathers attached to the end. These men continually circled around the wagon trains or during the night around the camps. These men said the reeds with feathers had been treated by the medicine men. Their purpose was to encourage the Indians not to be heavy hearted nor to think of the homes that had been left. Some of the older women sang songs that meant, "We are going to our homes and land; there is One who is above and ever watches over us; He will care for us." This song was to encourage the ever downhearted Muskogees.
Hill, Mary. The Migration to the West of the Muskogee, April 19, 1937. American Native Press Archives Sequoyah Research Center. https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of- Tears.html#AgnewMaryCobb.
Questions:
- What did the Trail of Tears look like for Indigenous women?
- Despite the terrible conditions, how did Indigenous women resist and persevere?
catherine Haun: account of the gold rush
Catherine Haun was young and newly married when she and a group of goldseekers headed west. She wrote this abbreviated account of her journey.
Early in January of 1849 we first thought of emigrating to California... At that time the "gold fever" was contagious and few, old or young, escaped the malady. On the streets, in the fields, in the workshops and by the fireside, golden California was the chief topic of conversation. Who were going? How was best to "fix up" the "outfit"? What to take as food and clothing? Who would stay at home to care for the farm and womenfolks? Who would take wives and children along? Advice was handed out quite free of charge and often quite free of common sense. However, as two heads are better than one, all proffered ideas helped as a means to the end. The intended adventurers dilligently collected their belongings and after exchanging such articles as were not needed for others more suitable for the trip, begging, buying or borrowing what they could, with buoyant spirits started off.
Some half dozen families of our neighborhood joined us and probably about twenty-five persons constituted our little band... Our caravan had a good many women and children and although we were probably longer on the journey owing to their presence—they exerted a good influence, as the men did not take such risks with Indians and thereby avoided conflict; were more alert about the care of the teams and seldom had accidents; more attention was paid to cleanliness and sanitation and, lastly but not of less importance, the meals were more regular and better cooked thus preventing much sickness and there was less waste of food...
During the entire trip Indians were a source of anxiety, we being never sure of their friendship. Secret dread and alert watchfulness seemed always necessary... One night after we had retired, some sleeping in blankets upon the ground, some in tents, a few under the wagons and others in the wagons, Colonel Brophy gave the men a practice drill. It was impromptu and a surprise. He called: "Indians, Indians!" We were thrown into great confusion and excitement but he was gratified at the promptness and courage with which the men responded. Each immediately seized his gun and made ready for the attack. The women had been instructed to seek shelter in the wagons at such times of danger, but some screamed, others fainted, a few crawled under the wagons and those sleeping in wagons generally followed their husbands out and all of us were nearly paralized with fear. Fortunately, we never had occasion to put into actual use this maneuver, but the drill was quite reassuring and certainly we womenfolk would have acted braver had the alarm ever again been sounded...
[O]ne day found a post with a cross board pointing to a branch road which seemed better than the one we were on. . . . We decided to take it but before many miles suddenly found ourselves in a desolate, rough country that proved to be the edge of the "Bad Lands" I shudder yet at the thought of the ugliness and danger of the territory...
To add to the horrors of the surroundings one man was bitten on the ankle by a venemous snake. Although every available remidy was tried upon the wound, his limb had to be amputated with the aid of a common handsaw. Fortunately, for him, he had a good, brave wife along who helped and cheered him into health and usefulness; for it was not long before he found much that he could do and was not considered a burden, although the woman had to do a man's work as they were alone. He was of a mechanical turn, and later on helped mend wagons, yokes and harness; and when the train was "on the move" sat in the wagon, gun by his side, and repaired boots and shoes. He was one of the most cheery members of the company and told good stories and sang at the campfire, putting to shame some of the able bodied who were given to complaining or selfishness...
During the day we womenfolk visited from wagon to wagon or congenial friends spent an hour walking, ever westward, and talking over our home life back in "the states" telling of the loved ones left behind; voicing our hopes for the future in the far west and even whispering a little friendly gossip of emigrant life.
High teas were not popular but tatting [intricate knotwork], knitting, crocheting, exchanging recipes for cooking beans or dried apples or swapping food for the sake of variety kept us in practice of feminine occupations and diversions.
We did not keep late hours but when not too engrossed with fear of the red enemy [a racist phrase used by white people to describe Native peoples] or dread of impending danger we enjoyed the hour around the campfire. The menfolk lolling and smoking their pipes and guessing or maybe betting how many miles we had covered the day. We listened to readings, story telling, music and songs and the day often ended in laughter and merrymaking...
Across this drear country I used to ride horseback several hours of the day which was a great relief from the continual jolting of even our spring wagon. I also walked a great deal and this lightened the wagon. One day I walked fourteen miles and was not very fatigued...
The men seemed more tired and hungry than were the women. Our only death on the journey occurred in this desert. The Canadian woman, Mrs. Lamore, suddenly sickened [after childbirth] and died, leaving her two little girls and grief stricken husband. We halted a day to bury her and the infant that had lived but an hour, in this weird, lonely spot on God's footstool away apparently from everywhere and everybody...
[W}e reached Sacramento on November 4, 1849, just six months and ten days after leaving Clinton, Iowa, we were all in pretty good condition...
Haun, Catherine. "A Woman's Trip Across the Plains in 1849." From Lillian Schlissel, Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey. New York: Schocken Books, 1992. 166–85.
Questions:
Early in January of 1849 we first thought of emigrating to California... At that time the "gold fever" was contagious and few, old or young, escaped the malady. On the streets, in the fields, in the workshops and by the fireside, golden California was the chief topic of conversation. Who were going? How was best to "fix up" the "outfit"? What to take as food and clothing? Who would stay at home to care for the farm and womenfolks? Who would take wives and children along? Advice was handed out quite free of charge and often quite free of common sense. However, as two heads are better than one, all proffered ideas helped as a means to the end. The intended adventurers dilligently collected their belongings and after exchanging such articles as were not needed for others more suitable for the trip, begging, buying or borrowing what they could, with buoyant spirits started off.
Some half dozen families of our neighborhood joined us and probably about twenty-five persons constituted our little band... Our caravan had a good many women and children and although we were probably longer on the journey owing to their presence—they exerted a good influence, as the men did not take such risks with Indians and thereby avoided conflict; were more alert about the care of the teams and seldom had accidents; more attention was paid to cleanliness and sanitation and, lastly but not of less importance, the meals were more regular and better cooked thus preventing much sickness and there was less waste of food...
During the entire trip Indians were a source of anxiety, we being never sure of their friendship. Secret dread and alert watchfulness seemed always necessary... One night after we had retired, some sleeping in blankets upon the ground, some in tents, a few under the wagons and others in the wagons, Colonel Brophy gave the men a practice drill. It was impromptu and a surprise. He called: "Indians, Indians!" We were thrown into great confusion and excitement but he was gratified at the promptness and courage with which the men responded. Each immediately seized his gun and made ready for the attack. The women had been instructed to seek shelter in the wagons at such times of danger, but some screamed, others fainted, a few crawled under the wagons and those sleeping in wagons generally followed their husbands out and all of us were nearly paralized with fear. Fortunately, we never had occasion to put into actual use this maneuver, but the drill was quite reassuring and certainly we womenfolk would have acted braver had the alarm ever again been sounded...
[O]ne day found a post with a cross board pointing to a branch road which seemed better than the one we were on. . . . We decided to take it but before many miles suddenly found ourselves in a desolate, rough country that proved to be the edge of the "Bad Lands" I shudder yet at the thought of the ugliness and danger of the territory...
To add to the horrors of the surroundings one man was bitten on the ankle by a venemous snake. Although every available remidy was tried upon the wound, his limb had to be amputated with the aid of a common handsaw. Fortunately, for him, he had a good, brave wife along who helped and cheered him into health and usefulness; for it was not long before he found much that he could do and was not considered a burden, although the woman had to do a man's work as they were alone. He was of a mechanical turn, and later on helped mend wagons, yokes and harness; and when the train was "on the move" sat in the wagon, gun by his side, and repaired boots and shoes. He was one of the most cheery members of the company and told good stories and sang at the campfire, putting to shame some of the able bodied who were given to complaining or selfishness...
During the day we womenfolk visited from wagon to wagon or congenial friends spent an hour walking, ever westward, and talking over our home life back in "the states" telling of the loved ones left behind; voicing our hopes for the future in the far west and even whispering a little friendly gossip of emigrant life.
High teas were not popular but tatting [intricate knotwork], knitting, crocheting, exchanging recipes for cooking beans or dried apples or swapping food for the sake of variety kept us in practice of feminine occupations and diversions.
We did not keep late hours but when not too engrossed with fear of the red enemy [a racist phrase used by white people to describe Native peoples] or dread of impending danger we enjoyed the hour around the campfire. The menfolk lolling and smoking their pipes and guessing or maybe betting how many miles we had covered the day. We listened to readings, story telling, music and songs and the day often ended in laughter and merrymaking...
Across this drear country I used to ride horseback several hours of the day which was a great relief from the continual jolting of even our spring wagon. I also walked a great deal and this lightened the wagon. One day I walked fourteen miles and was not very fatigued...
The men seemed more tired and hungry than were the women. Our only death on the journey occurred in this desert. The Canadian woman, Mrs. Lamore, suddenly sickened [after childbirth] and died, leaving her two little girls and grief stricken husband. We halted a day to bury her and the infant that had lived but an hour, in this weird, lonely spot on God's footstool away apparently from everywhere and everybody...
[W}e reached Sacramento on November 4, 1849, just six months and ten days after leaving Clinton, Iowa, we were all in pretty good condition...
Haun, Catherine. "A Woman's Trip Across the Plains in 1849." From Lillian Schlissel, Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey. New York: Schocken Books, 1992. 166–85.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- According to Haun, how did women contribute to the journey?
- According to Haun, how did these women continue the cult of domesticity and how did they stretch or change it?
Luzena Stanley Wilson: excerpt
This excerpt comes from Luzena Stanley Wilson’s account of her family’s 1849 overland journey and life in early California as dictated to her daughter.
At last we were near our journey's end. We had reached the summit of the Sierra, and had begun the tedious journey down the mountain side... The first man we met was about fifty miles above Sacramento... The sight of his white shirt, the first I had seen for four long months, revived in me the languishing spark of womanly vanity; and when he rode up to the wagon where I was standing, I felt embarrassed, drew down my ragged sun-bonnet over my sunburned face, and shrank from observation. My skirts were worn off in rags above my ankles; my sleeves hung in tatters above my elbows; my hands brown and hard, were gloveless; around my neck was tied a cotton square, torn from a discarded dress... and my husband and children and all the camp, were habited like myself in rags...
My poor tired babies were asleep on the mattress in the bottom of the wagon, and I peered out into the gathering gloom, trying to catch a glimpse of our destination. The night before I had cooked my supper on the camp fire, as usual, when a hungry miner, attracted by the unusual sight of a woman, said to me, "I'll give you five dollars, ma'am, for them biscuit." It sounded like a fortune to me, and I looked at him to see if he meant it. And as I hesitated at such, to me, a very remarkable proposition, he repeated his offer to purchase, and said he would give ten dollars for bread made by a woman, and laid the shining gold piece in my hand... The next day when I looked for my treasure it was gone. The little box where I had put it rolled empty on the bottom of the wagon, and my coin lay hidden in the dust, miles back, up on the mountains. So we came, young, strong, healthy, hopeful, but penniless, into the new world... A wilderness of canvas tents glimmered in the firelight; the men cooked and ate, played cards, drank whisky, slept rolled in their blankets, fed their teams, talked, and swore all around; and a few, less occupied than their comrades, stared at me as at a strange creature, and roused my sleeping babies, and passed them from arm to arm to have a look at such a novelty as a child.
Wilson, Luzena Stanley. Luzena Stanley Wilson, 49er: Her Memoirs as Taken Down by her Daughter in 1881. Mills College, Calif.,: Eucalyptus Press, 1937.
Questions:
At last we were near our journey's end. We had reached the summit of the Sierra, and had begun the tedious journey down the mountain side... The first man we met was about fifty miles above Sacramento... The sight of his white shirt, the first I had seen for four long months, revived in me the languishing spark of womanly vanity; and when he rode up to the wagon where I was standing, I felt embarrassed, drew down my ragged sun-bonnet over my sunburned face, and shrank from observation. My skirts were worn off in rags above my ankles; my sleeves hung in tatters above my elbows; my hands brown and hard, were gloveless; around my neck was tied a cotton square, torn from a discarded dress... and my husband and children and all the camp, were habited like myself in rags...
My poor tired babies were asleep on the mattress in the bottom of the wagon, and I peered out into the gathering gloom, trying to catch a glimpse of our destination. The night before I had cooked my supper on the camp fire, as usual, when a hungry miner, attracted by the unusual sight of a woman, said to me, "I'll give you five dollars, ma'am, for them biscuit." It sounded like a fortune to me, and I looked at him to see if he meant it. And as I hesitated at such, to me, a very remarkable proposition, he repeated his offer to purchase, and said he would give ten dollars for bread made by a woman, and laid the shining gold piece in my hand... The next day when I looked for my treasure it was gone. The little box where I had put it rolled empty on the bottom of the wagon, and my coin lay hidden in the dust, miles back, up on the mountains. So we came, young, strong, healthy, hopeful, but penniless, into the new world... A wilderness of canvas tents glimmered in the firelight; the men cooked and ate, played cards, drank whisky, slept rolled in their blankets, fed their teams, talked, and swore all around; and a few, less occupied than their comrades, stared at me as at a strange creature, and roused my sleeping babies, and passed them from arm to arm to have a look at such a novelty as a child.
Wilson, Luzena Stanley. Luzena Stanley Wilson, 49er: Her Memoirs as Taken Down by her Daughter in 1881. Mills College, Calif.,: Eucalyptus Press, 1937.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- How does Wilson feel about her appearance at the end of the journey? Why?
- According to Wilson, how did Gold Rush women continue the cult of domesticity and how did they stretch or change it? Give examples from her experience.
mrs. a c. Hunt: diary
Feel tired out. Could not make my work go off well at all and did not get through till late; stewed peaches, cooked beans and rice, made eight loaves of bread and Dutch cheese. Bertie very unwell with his teeth [?] and exceedingly fretful, [Written crosswise on page]: Bad news from the mountains, fire and Indians destroying mines.
First Week of July. Cam and John have bought an eating house, will open next week. Have been very busy preparing fruit to make pies.
I was homesick and could have cryed [sic], but Cam feels so sadly when I get discouraged that I try hard to be cheerful when he is about. He helps me all he can about my work, but there is much to do with so many boarders, and all being out of money we cannot get rid of them. Board is $12.00 per week here in advance and almost all lodge on the ground in the open air.
I have made some $30.00 out of the butter and cheese smearcase [cottage cheese] I have made since we arrived, in fact have made all the money Cam and John have had, as their last copper was spent at Council Grove in Eastern Kansas, but the work made me sick and now I sell the milk at 10cts per quart and make $2.75 a day. My butter brought $1.00 per lb and balls of smearcase 40cts per doz.
Second third and fourth weeks. Weary days of labor and pain. Have made 175 loaves of bread and 450 pies. Taken all the care of the children and done all the house work but the washing. Ho hum[?]
Hafen, LeRoy. “Diary of Mrs. A C. Hunt,” Colorado Magazine, 21 (September 1944): 161-170.
Questions:
First Week of July. Cam and John have bought an eating house, will open next week. Have been very busy preparing fruit to make pies.
I was homesick and could have cryed [sic], but Cam feels so sadly when I get discouraged that I try hard to be cheerful when he is about. He helps me all he can about my work, but there is much to do with so many boarders, and all being out of money we cannot get rid of them. Board is $12.00 per week here in advance and almost all lodge on the ground in the open air.
I have made some $30.00 out of the butter and cheese smearcase [cottage cheese] I have made since we arrived, in fact have made all the money Cam and John have had, as their last copper was spent at Council Grove in Eastern Kansas, but the work made me sick and now I sell the milk at 10cts per quart and make $2.75 a day. My butter brought $1.00 per lb and balls of smearcase 40cts per doz.
Second third and fourth weeks. Weary days of labor and pain. Have made 175 loaves of bread and 450 pies. Taken all the care of the children and done all the house work but the washing. Ho hum[?]
Hafen, LeRoy. “Diary of Mrs. A C. Hunt,” Colorado Magazine, 21 (September 1944): 161-170.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- How did Hunt contribute to her family's income?
- According to Hunt, how did Gold Rush women continue the cult of domesticity and how did they stretch or change it?
unknown: gold mountain wives
In China, folk songs sung by women reflected their longing for their husbands who left to seek their fortunes in California, which they referred to as “Gold Mountain.” This song reflects the pros and cons of marrying a gold miner.
O, just marry all the daughters to men from Gold Mountain:
All those trunks from Gold Mountain– you can demand as many as you want!
O, don’t ever marry your daughter to men from Gold Mountain: Lonely and sad– a cooking pot is her only companion!
Hom, Marlon K. “Gold Mountain Wives: Rhapsodies in Blue.”Chinese America: History and Perspectives. Berkeley: University of California, 1987. 46.
Questions:
O, just marry all the daughters to men from Gold Mountain:
All those trunks from Gold Mountain– you can demand as many as you want!
O, don’t ever marry your daughter to men from Gold Mountain: Lonely and sad– a cooking pot is her only companion!
Hom, Marlon K. “Gold Mountain Wives: Rhapsodies in Blue.”Chinese America: History and Perspectives. Berkeley: University of California, 1987. 46.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- According to this song, was marrying a miner desirable?
- According to this song, how did the Gold Rush impact women across the ocean?
Elisha Crosby: excerpt
Elisha Crosby was an early California pioneer, lawyer, politician, diplomat, and civil servant. He wrote autobiographical essays about his official life in early California, including his experience as a delegate at the constitutional convention that created the state, his time as a state senator from 1848 until 1852, and his work managing land claims by Spanish-speaking Californios. He wrote briefly about Ah Toy, the famous brothel owner in San Francisco.
The first Chinese courtesan who came to San Francisco was Ah Toy. She arrived I think in 1850 and was a very handsome Chinese girl. She was quite select in her associates was liberally patronized by the white men and made a great amount of money.
Crosby, Elisha. 1878. https://noelccilker.medium.com/the-strangely-alluring-ah-toy- 8bf70d8333ba.
Questions:
The first Chinese courtesan who came to San Francisco was Ah Toy. She arrived I think in 1850 and was a very handsome Chinese girl. She was quite select in her associates was liberally patronized by the white men and made a great amount of money.
Crosby, Elisha. 1878. https://noelccilker.medium.com/the-strangely-alluring-ah-toy- 8bf70d8333ba.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- What words does he use to describe Ah Toy?
- According to Crosby, was Ah Toy limited by her sex?
sing kum: memoir
Brothels offered women wealth and funds, but they often were exploitative and women were coerced into sexual slavery. This letter written by a Chinese girl who fled to a Christian Mission home in California after a life in sexual slavery describes her experience.
Miss B,--
You ask me to write about my life. I can not write very well, but will do the best I can.
I was born in Sin Lam, China, seventeen years ago. My father was a weaver and my mother had small feet. I had a sister and brother younger than myself. My father was an industrious man, but we were very poor. My feet were never bound; I am thankful they were not. My father sold me when I was about seven years old; my mother cried. I was afraid, and ran under the bed to hide. My father came to see me once... He seemed very sad, and when he went away he gave me some cash and wished me prosperity. That was the last time I saw him. I was sold four times. I came to California about five years ago. My last mistress was very cruel to me. She used to whip me, pull my hair, and pinch the inside of my cheeks. A friend of mine told me about this place and that night I ran away... I was afraid my mistress was coming after me. I rang the bell twice, and when the door was opened I ran in quickly. I thank God that he led me to this place...
Yours Truly,
Sing Kum
San Francisco January 4, 1876
Kum, Sing. “Letter by a Chinese Girl (1876).” In Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present, edited by Judy Yung, Gordon H. Chang, and Him Mark Lai, 1st ed., 15– 16. University of California Press, 2006. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pppwn.10.
Questions:
Miss B,--
You ask me to write about my life. I can not write very well, but will do the best I can.
I was born in Sin Lam, China, seventeen years ago. My father was a weaver and my mother had small feet. I had a sister and brother younger than myself. My father was an industrious man, but we were very poor. My feet were never bound; I am thankful they were not. My father sold me when I was about seven years old; my mother cried. I was afraid, and ran under the bed to hide. My father came to see me once... He seemed very sad, and when he went away he gave me some cash and wished me prosperity. That was the last time I saw him. I was sold four times. I came to California about five years ago. My last mistress was very cruel to me. She used to whip me, pull my hair, and pinch the inside of my cheeks. A friend of mine told me about this place and that night I ran away... I was afraid my mistress was coming after me. I rang the bell twice, and when the door was opened I ran in quickly. I thank God that he led me to this place...
Yours Truly,
Sing Kum
San Francisco January 4, 1876
Kum, Sing. “Letter by a Chinese Girl (1876).” In Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present, edited by Judy Yung, Gordon H. Chang, and Him Mark Lai, 1st ed., 15– 16. University of California Press, 2006. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pppwn.10.
Questions:
- What type of source is this?
- How old was Sing when she came to California?
- According to Sing, were women free or rich during the Gold Rush?
Theodore Weld: Letter to Sarah and Angelina Grimké, 1837
Theodore Weld was a fellow abolitionist and later married Angelina Grimké. He wrote this letter to the sisters while they were out on speaking tour. He was doubtful that they would be effective.
My dear sisters
I had it in my heart to make a suggestion to you in my last letter about your course touching the “rights of women”, but it was crowded out by other matters perhaps of less importance...
As to the rights and wrongs of women, it is an old theme with me. It was the first subject I ever discussed. In a little debating society when a boy, I took the ground that sex neither qualified nor disqualified for the discharge of any functions mental, moral or spiritual; that there is no reason why woman should not make laws, administer justice, sit in the chair of state, plead at the bar or in the pulpit, if she has the qualifications, just as much as tho she belonged to the other sex... Now as I have never found man, woman or child who agreed with me in the “ultraism” of woman’s rights... What I advocated in boyhood I advocate now, that woman in EVERY particular shares equally with man rights and responsibilities... Now notwithstanding this, I do most deeply regret that you have begun a series of articles in the Papers on the rights of woman. Why, my dear sisters, the best possible advocacy which you can make is just what you are making day by day. Thousands hear you every week who have all their lives held that woman must not speak in public. Such a practical refutation of the dogma as your speaking furnishes has already converted multitudes... Besides you are Southerners, have been slaveholders; your dearest friends are all in the sin and shame and peril. All these things give you great access to northern mind, great sway over it...You can do more at convincing the north than twenty northern females, tho’ they could speak as well as you. Now this peculiar advantage you lose the moment you take another subject...
Let us all first wake up the nation to lift millions of slaves of both sexes from the dust, and turn them into MEN and then when we all have our hand in, it will be an easy matter to take millions of females from their knees and set them on their feet, or in other words transform them from babies into women... I pray our dear Lord to give you wisdom and grace and help and bless you forever.
Your brother T. D. Weld
*ultraism: holding of extreme opinions
Weld, Theodore. “The Letters of Theodore Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld and Sarah M. Grimké, 1822−1844.” New York: Da Capo Press, 1970. 425−432.
Questions:
My dear sisters
I had it in my heart to make a suggestion to you in my last letter about your course touching the “rights of women”, but it was crowded out by other matters perhaps of less importance...
As to the rights and wrongs of women, it is an old theme with me. It was the first subject I ever discussed. In a little debating society when a boy, I took the ground that sex neither qualified nor disqualified for the discharge of any functions mental, moral or spiritual; that there is no reason why woman should not make laws, administer justice, sit in the chair of state, plead at the bar or in the pulpit, if she has the qualifications, just as much as tho she belonged to the other sex... Now as I have never found man, woman or child who agreed with me in the “ultraism” of woman’s rights... What I advocated in boyhood I advocate now, that woman in EVERY particular shares equally with man rights and responsibilities... Now notwithstanding this, I do most deeply regret that you have begun a series of articles in the Papers on the rights of woman. Why, my dear sisters, the best possible advocacy which you can make is just what you are making day by day. Thousands hear you every week who have all their lives held that woman must not speak in public. Such a practical refutation of the dogma as your speaking furnishes has already converted multitudes... Besides you are Southerners, have been slaveholders; your dearest friends are all in the sin and shame and peril. All these things give you great access to northern mind, great sway over it...You can do more at convincing the north than twenty northern females, tho’ they could speak as well as you. Now this peculiar advantage you lose the moment you take another subject...
Let us all first wake up the nation to lift millions of slaves of both sexes from the dust, and turn them into MEN and then when we all have our hand in, it will be an easy matter to take millions of females from their knees and set them on their feet, or in other words transform them from babies into women... I pray our dear Lord to give you wisdom and grace and help and bless you forever.
Your brother T. D. Weld
*ultraism: holding of extreme opinions
Weld, Theodore. “The Letters of Theodore Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld and Sarah M. Grimké, 1822−1844.” New York: Da Capo Press, 1970. 425−432.
Questions:
- What is Weld most concerned with? See the underlined line. Why?
Sarah and Angelina Grimké: letter to Weld and Whittier, 1837
*ultraism: holding of extreme opinions
Brethren beloved in the Lord.
As your letters came to hand at the same time and both are devoted mainly to the same subject we have concluded to answer them on one sheet and jointly. You seem greatly alarmed at the idea of our advocating the rights of woman ...These letters have not been the means of arousing the public attention to the subject of Womans rights, it was the Pastoral Letter which did the mischief... This Letter then roused the attention of the whole country to enquire what right we had to open our mouths for the dumb; the people were continually told “it is a shame for a woman to speak in the churches.” Paul suffered not a woman to teach but commanded her to be in silence. The pulpit is too sacred a place for woman’s foot etc. Now my dear brothers this invasion of our rights was just such an attack upon us, as that made upon Abolitionists generally when they were told a few years ago that they had no right to discuss the subject of Slavery. Did you take no notice of this assertion? Why no! With one heart and one voice you said, We will settle this right before we go one step further. The time to assert a right is the time when that right is denied. We must establish this right for if we do not, it will be impossible for us to go on with the work of Emancipation ...
And can you not see that women could do, and would do a hundred times more for the slave if she were not fettered? Why! we are gravely told that we are out of our sphere even when we circulate petitions; out of our “appropriate sphere” when we speak to women only; and out of them when we sing in the churches. Silence is our province, submission our duty. If then we “give no reason for the hope that is in us”, that we have equal rights with our brethren, how can we expect to be permitted much longer to exercise those rights?... If we are to do any good in the Anti Slavery cause, our right to labor in it must be firmly established...What then can woman do for the slave when she is herself under the feet of man and shamed into silence? ...
With regard to brother Welds ultraism on the subject of marriage, he is quite mistaken if he fancies he has got far ahead of us in the human rights reform. We do not think his doctrine at all shocking: it is altogether right...
May the Lord bless you my dear brothers...
A. E. G.
[P.S.] We never mention women’s rights in our lectures except so far as is necessary to urge them to meet their responsibilities...
Weld, Theodore. “The Letters of Theodore Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld and Sarah M. Grimké, 1822−1844.” New York: Da Capo Press, 1970. 425−432.
Questions:
Brethren beloved in the Lord.
As your letters came to hand at the same time and both are devoted mainly to the same subject we have concluded to answer them on one sheet and jointly. You seem greatly alarmed at the idea of our advocating the rights of woman ...These letters have not been the means of arousing the public attention to the subject of Womans rights, it was the Pastoral Letter which did the mischief... This Letter then roused the attention of the whole country to enquire what right we had to open our mouths for the dumb; the people were continually told “it is a shame for a woman to speak in the churches.” Paul suffered not a woman to teach but commanded her to be in silence. The pulpit is too sacred a place for woman’s foot etc. Now my dear brothers this invasion of our rights was just such an attack upon us, as that made upon Abolitionists generally when they were told a few years ago that they had no right to discuss the subject of Slavery. Did you take no notice of this assertion? Why no! With one heart and one voice you said, We will settle this right before we go one step further. The time to assert a right is the time when that right is denied. We must establish this right for if we do not, it will be impossible for us to go on with the work of Emancipation ...
And can you not see that women could do, and would do a hundred times more for the slave if she were not fettered? Why! we are gravely told that we are out of our sphere even when we circulate petitions; out of our “appropriate sphere” when we speak to women only; and out of them when we sing in the churches. Silence is our province, submission our duty. If then we “give no reason for the hope that is in us”, that we have equal rights with our brethren, how can we expect to be permitted much longer to exercise those rights?... If we are to do any good in the Anti Slavery cause, our right to labor in it must be firmly established...What then can woman do for the slave when she is herself under the feet of man and shamed into silence? ...
With regard to brother Welds ultraism on the subject of marriage, he is quite mistaken if he fancies he has got far ahead of us in the human rights reform. We do not think his doctrine at all shocking: it is altogether right...
May the Lord bless you my dear brothers...
A. E. G.
[P.S.] We never mention women’s rights in our lectures except so far as is necessary to urge them to meet their responsibilities...
Weld, Theodore. “The Letters of Theodore Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld and Sarah M. Grimké, 1822−1844.” New York: Da Capo Press, 1970. 425−432.
Questions:
- Why does Grimle feel she needs to speak on women's rights first?
catherine beecher: excerpt
Catharine Beecher, the older sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, was an avid writer and reformer. She opposed the Grimke sisters' public speaking efforts.
My Dear Friend ...
It is the grand feature of the Divine economy, that there should be different stations of superiority and subordination, and it is impossible to annihilate this beneficent and immutable law... In this arrangement of the duties of life, Heaven has appointed to one sex the superior, and to the other the subordinate station, and this without any reference to the character or conduct of either. It is therefore as much for the dignity as it is for the interest of females, in all respects to conform to the duties of this relation. And it is as much a duty as it is for the child to fulfil [sic] similar relations to parents, or subjects to rulers. But while woman holds a subordinate relation in society to the other sex, it is not because it was designed that her duties or her influence should be any the less important, or all−pervading...
Woman is to win every thing by peace and love; by making herself so much respected, esteemed and loved, that to yield to her opinions and to gratify her wishes will be the free−will offering of the heart... But the moment woman begins to feel the promptings of ambition, or the thirst for power, her [protection] is gone...
Whatever... throws a woman into the attitude of a combatant... throws her out of her appropriate sphere. If these general principles are correct, they are entirely opposed to the plan of arraying females in any Abolition movement: because it enlists them in an effort... it brings them forward as partisans in a conflict that has been begun and carried forward by measures that are any thing rather than peaceful in their tendencies; because it draws them forth from their appropriate retirement, to expose themselves to the ungoverned violence of mobs, and to sneers and ridicule in public places; because it leads them into the arena of political collision, not as peaceful mediators to hush the opposing elements, but as combatants...
If petitions from females will operate to exasperate... if they will increase, rather than diminish the evil which it is wished to remove; if they will be the opening wedge, that will tend eventually to bring females as petitioners and partisans into every political measure that may tend to injure and oppress their sex... then it is neither appropriate nor wise, nor right, for a woman to petition for the relief of oppressed females...
In this country, petitions to congress, in reference to the official duties of legislators, seem, IN ALL CASES, to fall entirely[outside] the sphere of female duty.
Beecher, Catherine. "An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, in Reference to the Duty of American Females." Philadelphia: Henry Perkins, 1837. 96−107.
Questions:
My Dear Friend ...
It is the grand feature of the Divine economy, that there should be different stations of superiority and subordination, and it is impossible to annihilate this beneficent and immutable law... In this arrangement of the duties of life, Heaven has appointed to one sex the superior, and to the other the subordinate station, and this without any reference to the character or conduct of either. It is therefore as much for the dignity as it is for the interest of females, in all respects to conform to the duties of this relation. And it is as much a duty as it is for the child to fulfil [sic] similar relations to parents, or subjects to rulers. But while woman holds a subordinate relation in society to the other sex, it is not because it was designed that her duties or her influence should be any the less important, or all−pervading...
Woman is to win every thing by peace and love; by making herself so much respected, esteemed and loved, that to yield to her opinions and to gratify her wishes will be the free−will offering of the heart... But the moment woman begins to feel the promptings of ambition, or the thirst for power, her [protection] is gone...
Whatever... throws a woman into the attitude of a combatant... throws her out of her appropriate sphere. If these general principles are correct, they are entirely opposed to the plan of arraying females in any Abolition movement: because it enlists them in an effort... it brings them forward as partisans in a conflict that has been begun and carried forward by measures that are any thing rather than peaceful in their tendencies; because it draws them forth from their appropriate retirement, to expose themselves to the ungoverned violence of mobs, and to sneers and ridicule in public places; because it leads them into the arena of political collision, not as peaceful mediators to hush the opposing elements, but as combatants...
If petitions from females will operate to exasperate... if they will increase, rather than diminish the evil which it is wished to remove; if they will be the opening wedge, that will tend eventually to bring females as petitioners and partisans into every political measure that may tend to injure and oppress their sex... then it is neither appropriate nor wise, nor right, for a woman to petition for the relief of oppressed females...
In this country, petitions to congress, in reference to the official duties of legislators, seem, IN ALL CASES, to fall entirely[outside] the sphere of female duty.
Beecher, Catherine. "An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, in Reference to the Duty of American Females." Philadelphia: Henry Perkins, 1837. 96−107.
Questions:
- Why does Beecher feel women's role is special?
- What concerns her about public speaking and women's rights?
sarah moore grimké: series of letters
Sarah Grimke published the following series of letters in 1837 in order to further promote her ideas.
LETTER III. THE PASTORAL LETTER OF THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. No one can desire more earnestly than I do, that woman may move exactly in the sphere which her Creator has assigned her; and I believe her having been displaced from that sphere has introduced confusion into the world... The New Testament has been referred to [as justifying the inferiority of women], and I am willing to abide by its decision, but must enter my protest against the false translation of some passages by the MEN who did that work...
‘Her influence is the source of mighty power.’ This has ever been the flattering language of man since he laid aside the whip as a means to keep woman in subjection. He spares her body; but the war he has waged against her mind, her heart, and her soul, has been no less destructive to her as a moral being. How monstrous, how anti-christian, is the doctrine that woman is to be dependent on man! Where, in all the sacred Scriptures, is this taught? Alas, she has too well learned the lesson which MAN has labored to teach her. She has surrendered her dearest RIGHTS, and been satisfied with the privileges which man has assumed to grant her...
LETTER X. INTELLECT OF WOMAN. It will scarcely be denied, I presume, that, as a general rule, men do not desire the improvement of women. There are few instances of men who are magnanimous enough to be entirely willing that women should know more than themselves, on any subjects except dress and cookery; and, indeed, this necessarily flows from their assumption of superiority...
LETTER XII. LEGAL DISABILITIES OF WOMEN. Woman has no political existence... That the laws which have been generally adopted in the United States, for the government of women, have been framed almost entirely for the exclusive benefit of men, and with a design to oppress women, by depriving them of all control over their property... Men frame the laws, and, with few exceptions, claim to execute them on both sexes... Although looked upon as an inferior, when considered as an intellectual being, woman is punished with the same severity as man, when she is guilty of moral offences...
Thine in the bonds of womanhood, SARAH M. GRIMKÉ
Sarah M. Grimké, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1838), 12, 15-17, 23, 27, 33, 40-41, 45, 54-55, 61, 74, 81, 83, 86- 87, 121-123.
Questions:
LETTER III. THE PASTORAL LETTER OF THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. No one can desire more earnestly than I do, that woman may move exactly in the sphere which her Creator has assigned her; and I believe her having been displaced from that sphere has introduced confusion into the world... The New Testament has been referred to [as justifying the inferiority of women], and I am willing to abide by its decision, but must enter my protest against the false translation of some passages by the MEN who did that work...
‘Her influence is the source of mighty power.’ This has ever been the flattering language of man since he laid aside the whip as a means to keep woman in subjection. He spares her body; but the war he has waged against her mind, her heart, and her soul, has been no less destructive to her as a moral being. How monstrous, how anti-christian, is the doctrine that woman is to be dependent on man! Where, in all the sacred Scriptures, is this taught? Alas, she has too well learned the lesson which MAN has labored to teach her. She has surrendered her dearest RIGHTS, and been satisfied with the privileges which man has assumed to grant her...
LETTER X. INTELLECT OF WOMAN. It will scarcely be denied, I presume, that, as a general rule, men do not desire the improvement of women. There are few instances of men who are magnanimous enough to be entirely willing that women should know more than themselves, on any subjects except dress and cookery; and, indeed, this necessarily flows from their assumption of superiority...
LETTER XII. LEGAL DISABILITIES OF WOMEN. Woman has no political existence... That the laws which have been generally adopted in the United States, for the government of women, have been framed almost entirely for the exclusive benefit of men, and with a design to oppress women, by depriving them of all control over their property... Men frame the laws, and, with few exceptions, claim to execute them on both sexes... Although looked upon as an inferior, when considered as an intellectual being, woman is punished with the same severity as man, when she is guilty of moral offences...
Thine in the bonds of womanhood, SARAH M. GRIMKÉ
Sarah M. Grimké, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1838), 12, 15-17, 23, 27, 33, 40-41, 45, 54-55, 61, 74, 81, 83, 86- 87, 121-123.
Questions:
- What topics on women's rights does Grimké tackle?
margarett fuller: woman in the nineteenth century
Margarett Fuller was a writer and an editor. In the 1840’s she was an editor for the Transcendentalist journal, Dial. In the July 1843 issue she wrote an article titled "The Great Lawsuit: Man Versus Men: Woman Versus Women." This piece is considered a classic among feminist literature. The larger version discusses controversial topics such as prostitution and slavery, marriage, employment, and reform.
Much has been written about woman's keeping within her sphere, which is defined as the domestic sphere. As a little girl she is to learn the lighter family duties, while she acquires that limited acquaintance with the realm of literature and science that will enable her to superintend the instruction of children in their earliest years. It is not generally proposed that she should be sufficiently instructed and developed to understand the pursuits or aims of her future husband; she is not to be a help-meet to him in the way of companionship and counsel, except in the care of his house and children. Her youth is to be passed partly in learning to keep house and the use of the needle, partly in the social circle, where her manners may be formed, ornamental accomplishments perfected and displayed, and the husband found who shall give her the domestic sphere for which she is exclusively to be prepared.
Were the destiny of Woman thus exactly marked out; did she invariably retain the shelter of a parent's or guardian's roof till she married; did marriage give her a sure home and protector; were she never liable to remain a widow, or, if so, sure of finding immediate protection of a brother or new husband, so that she might never be forced to stand alone one moment; and were her mind given for this world only, with no faculties capable of eternal growth and infinite improvement; we would still demand for her a far wider and more generous culture, than is proposed by those who so anxiously define her sphere.
Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Greeley & McElrath, 160 Nassau Street, 1845.
Questions:
Much has been written about woman's keeping within her sphere, which is defined as the domestic sphere. As a little girl she is to learn the lighter family duties, while she acquires that limited acquaintance with the realm of literature and science that will enable her to superintend the instruction of children in their earliest years. It is not generally proposed that she should be sufficiently instructed and developed to understand the pursuits or aims of her future husband; she is not to be a help-meet to him in the way of companionship and counsel, except in the care of his house and children. Her youth is to be passed partly in learning to keep house and the use of the needle, partly in the social circle, where her manners may be formed, ornamental accomplishments perfected and displayed, and the husband found who shall give her the domestic sphere for which she is exclusively to be prepared.
Were the destiny of Woman thus exactly marked out; did she invariably retain the shelter of a parent's or guardian's roof till she married; did marriage give her a sure home and protector; were she never liable to remain a widow, or, if so, sure of finding immediate protection of a brother or new husband, so that she might never be forced to stand alone one moment; and were her mind given for this world only, with no faculties capable of eternal growth and infinite improvement; we would still demand for her a far wider and more generous culture, than is proposed by those who so anxiously define her sphere.
Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Greeley & McElrath, 160 Nassau Street, 1845.
Questions:
- What concerns Fuller about the idea that women need male protection?
Remedial Herstory Editors. "6. WOMEN AND THE TRAIL OF TEARS." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 20, 2022. www.remedialherstory.com.
Primary AUTHOR: |
Kelsie Brook Eckert
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Primary ReviewerS: |
Matthew Cerjak, Dr. Barbara Tischler
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Consulting TeamKelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University Dr. Barbara Tischler, Consultant Professor of History Hunter College and Columbia University Dr. Alicia Gutierrez-Romine, Consultant Assistant Professor of History at La Sierra University Jacqui Nelson, Consultant Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University Dr. Deanna Beachley Professor of History and Women's Studies at College of Southern Nevada |
EditorsNye Adamkowski
ReviewersColonial
Dr. Margaret Huettl Hannah Dutton Dr. John Krueckeberg 19th Century Dr. Rebecca Noel Michelle Stonis, MA Annabelle L. Blevins Pifer, MA Cony Marquez, PhD Candidate 20th Century Dr. Tanya Roth Dr. Jessica Frazier Mary Bezbatchenko, MA |
Survey's on U.S. Women's History
Berry and Gross tell a survey of black women in the United States.
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Susan Ware tells a short introduction to women's history in the United States.
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Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz tells a survey of indigenous people in the United States.
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Jill Lepore tells a survey of the United States.
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Gail Collins tells a survey of Women in the United States.
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Daina Ramey Berry and Leslie M. Harris place sexuality at the center of slavery studies, spanning early colonialism through the civil war.
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In From Back Alley to the Border, Alicia Gutierrez-Romine examines the history of criminal abortion in California.
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Jan Manion tells the history of women in male clothing who married other women between the Colonial Era and WWI.
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Native American Cultures
Stockel interviews Apache women and stories are told of women warrior ancestors.
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A collection of essays examining power and gender status in native cultures.
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Dive into the history of Cherokee women, and their long standing traditions.
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A collection of historical and contemporary women of Indigenous heritage who have contributed to the survival and success of their families, communities--and the United States of America.
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Colonial Era 1600-1775
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By examining the lives of six specific women in the Salem Witch Trials, Marilynne Roach shows readers what it was like to be present throughout this horrific time and how it was impossible to live through it unchanged. Roach believes that the individuals involved are too often reduced to stock characters and stereotypes when accuracy is sacrificed to indignation.
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In The Jamestown Bride, Jennifer Potter recounts the lives of the women in Jamestown, but without the resource of letters or journals she turns to the Virginia Company's merchant lists -- which were used as a kind of sales catalog for prospective husbands -- as well as censuses, court records, the minutes of Virginia's General Assemblies, letters to England from their male counterparts, and other such accounts of the everyday life of the early colonists.
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Kathleen Brown examines the origins of racism and slavery in British North America from the perspective of gender. Both a basic social relationship and a model for other social hierarchies, gender helped determine the construction of racial categories and the institution of slavery in Virginia.
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Carol Berkin's multicultural history reconstructs the lives of American women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-women from European, African, and Native backgrounds-and examines their varied roles as wives, mothers, household managers, laborers, rebels, and, ultimately, critical forces in shaping the new nation's culture and history.
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Revolutionary Period 1763-1783
Women of all classes and races were not only supporters and opponents of the American Revolution, they actively promoted, engaged, wrote, fought, and were deeply impacted by the outcome of the American Revolution. There are a lot of perspectives to consider, and we can only brush the surface.
Liberty's Daughters is widely considered a landmark book on the history of American women and on the Revolution itself. Norton brilliantly portrays a dramatic transformation of women's private lives in the wake of the Revolution. This fascinating human story includes lively anecdotes and revealing details from the personal papers of 450 eighteenth-century families.
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Holton describes the origins and crucial battles of the Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown, always focusing on marginalized Americans—enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, women, and dissenters—and on overlooked factors such as weather, North America’s unique geography, chance, misperception, attempts to manipulate public opinion, and (most of all) disease.
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They baked New England's Thanksgiving pies, preached their faith to crowds of worshippers, spied for the patriots during the Revolution, wrote that human bondage was a sin, and demanded reparations for slavery. Black women in colonial and revolutionary New England sought not only legal emancipation from slavery but defined freedom more broadly to include spiritual, familial, and economic dimensions.
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The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American. In this book, Carol Berkin shows us how women played a vital role throughout the conflict. This incisive and comprehensive history illuminates a fascinating and unknown side of the struggle for American independence.
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Mercy Otis Warren’s book is one of the earliest histories of the American Revolution, and the first to be written by a woman. It charts the progress of the entire revolution, from the imposition of the Stamp Act in 1765 through to ratification of the Constitution in 1787.This book provides brilliant insight into the history of the American Revolution from the perspective of a contemporary who was able to talk to the key figures involved. This book should be essential reading for anyone interested in the Revolutionary period and how the United States was founded.
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Early Republic 1783-1815
Following the American Revolution, US culture morphed and shifted. Women in this new republic found new roles and expectations as mothers: for to give power to the masses in a democracy, meant men needed to be educated, and their mothers needed to do it. The ideal of a Republican Mother emerged and the dynamic women of the colonial and revolutionary eras became a thing of the past.
"A New England Girlhood" is the autobiography of poet Lucy Larcom. Arriving in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s after the death of her shipmaster father, eleven-year-old Lucy Larcom went to work in a textile mill to help her family make ends meet. Originally published in 1889, her engaging autobiography offers glimpses of the early years of the American factory system as well as of the social influences on her development.
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In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to “Miss Adorable,” the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence―and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships―in American history.
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In Mere Equals, Lucia McMahon narrates a story about how a generation of young women who enjoyed access to new educational opportunities made sense of their individual and social identities in an American nation marked by stark political inequality between the sexes.
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Antebellum 1815-1861
The Antebellum Period is full of historical events and movements. From the rise of the abolitionist movement, the Mexican-American War, and the Trail of Tears.
In Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies, John M. Belohlavek tells the story of women on both sides of the Mexican-American War (1846-48) as they were propelled by the bloody conflict to adopt new roles and expand traditional ones.
American women "back home" functioned as anti-war activists, pro-war supporters, and pioneering female journalists. Others moved west and established their own reputations for courage and determination in dusty border towns or bordellos. |
Bridging women's history, the history of the South, and African American history, this book makes a bold argument about the role of white women in American slavery. Historian Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers draws on a variety of sources to show that slave‑owning women were sophisticated economic actors who directly engaged in and benefited from the South's slave market.
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This book traces the lived experiences of women lawbreakers in the state of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1860 through the records of more than six thousand criminal court cases. By following these women from the perpetration of their crimes through the state’s efforts to punish and reform them, Erica Rhodes Hayden places them at the center of their own stories.
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The brave pioneers who made a life on the frontier were not only male—and they were not only white. The story of African-American women in the Old West is one that has largely gone untold until now. The stories of ten African-American women are reconstructed from historic documents found in century-old archives. Some of these women slaves, some were free, and some were born into slavery and found freedom in the old west.
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Native American women
Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.
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In this haunting and groundbreaking historical novel, Danielle Daniel imagines the lives of women in the Algonquin territories of the 1600s, a story inspired by her family’s ancestral link to a young girl who was murdered by French settlers.
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Daunis Fontaine must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
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Colonial Women
Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and fortunate enough to live in a beautiful village, it never occurred to her that it could all be taken away in an instant. But that was what happened when her village was invaded by slave traders. Her family was brutally murdered as she was dragged away to a slave ship and sent to be sold in the Carolinas. There she was bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a "birthday present".
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A riveting historical novel about Peggy Shippen Arnold, the cunning wife of Benedict Arnold and mastermind behind America’s most infamous act of treason.
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A young Puritan woman—faithful, resourceful, but afraid of the demons that dog her soul—plots her escape from a violent marriage in this riveting and propulsive novel of historical suspense.
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Revolutionary Era Women
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Rebellious Frannie Tasker knows little about the war between England and its thirteen colonies in 1776, until a shipwreck off her home in Grand Bahama Island presents an unthinkable opportunity. The body of a young woman floating in the sea gives Frannie the chance to escape her brutal stepfather--and she takes it.
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Antebellum Women
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world.
Twelve-year-old Mary and her Cherokee family are forced out of their home in Georgia by U.S. soldiers in May 1838. From the beginning of the forced move, Mary and her family are separated from her father. Facing horrors such as internment, violence, disease, and harsh weather, Mary perseveres and helps keep her family and friends together until they can reach the new Cherokee nation in Indian Territory.
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The House Girl, the historical fiction debut by Tara Conklin, is an unforgettable story of love, history, and a search for justice, set in modern-day New York and 1852 Virginia.
It all begins when Soft Rain's teacher reads a letter stating that as of May 23, 1838, all Cherokee people are to leave their land and move to what many Cherokees called "the land of darkness". . .the west. Soft Rain is confident that her family will not have to move, because they have just planted corn for the next harvest but soon thereafter, soldiers arrive to take nine-year-old, Soft Rain, and her mother to walk the Trail of Tears, leaving the rest of her family behind.
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Moments after Lisbeth is born, she’s taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come.
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How to teach with Films:
Remember, teachers want the student to be the historian. What do historians do when they watch films?
- Before they watch, ask students to research the director and producers. These are the source of the information. How will their background and experience likely bias this film?
- Also, ask students to consider the context the film was created in. The film may be about history, but it was made recently. What was going on the year the film was made that could bias the film? In particular, how do you think the gains of feminism will impact the portrayal of the female characters?
- As they watch, ask students to research the historical accuracy of the film. What do online sources say about what the film gets right or wrong?
- Afterward, ask students to describe how the female characters were portrayed and what lessons they got from the film.
- Then, ask students to evaluate this film as a learning tool. Was it helpful to better understand this topic? Did the historical inaccuracies make it unhelpful? Make it clear any informed opinion is valid.
Documentaries
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Ascent of Woman: is a documentary about prehistoric and Ancient women's history across cultures.
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Witches: A Century of Murder is about the witch trials that plagued England under Kings James IV and I and Charles I.
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Taking Root is a documentary about the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai. She was from Kenya and her work was on environmental protection.
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Feature Length Movies
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The Last Duel highlights the way that rape was handled in medieval Europe. It barely passes the Bechdel Test, with main actors being the male characters, but the whole theme of sex, sexuality, and gender dynamics cannot be ignored.
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Elizabeth tells the story of Elizabeth's Golden era.
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Mary Queen of Scots is a film about the relationship between the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England and her Catholic cousin Mary Queen of Scots who challenged her throne.
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Catherine the Great is about the career of Catherine of Russia and her challenges as a female leader.
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The Favorite is about the interesting palace life of Queen Anne and her closest female confidants. This film expands upon rumors of lesbianism within the court.
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The Woman King is a film about the Dahomey "Amazons," women warriors who fought European imperialism in West Africa.
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Albert Nobbs is a film about the life of a poor woman living in 19th century Ireland who cross dresses in order to improve her station.
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Victoria and Abdul is a film about the interesting relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, an Indian man who earned her confidence.
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Suffragette tells the stories of English women who grappled with a way to have their voices heard in the early movement.
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The Danish Girl is historical fiction based losely on the life and marriage of a transgender pioneer.
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A Call to Spy is about the first British and American women spies that worked on the ground in France during WWII.
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Frida is a film about the first Mexican woman to have her work displayed at the Louvre in Paris, FR.
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Television Series
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The White Queen and the series that follow are based on a historical fiction novel about the rise of the Tudor family in England. The main characters are the women, who through marriage gain and lose the crown.
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The Serpent Queen tells the story of Queen Catherine de Medici of France and the complexities of being a queen regent.
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The Tudors tells the story of Henry VIII and each of his six wives. Remember the old school tale: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
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Victoria is a TV series about the rise and career of Queen Victoria, whose reign spanned much of the 19th century.
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The Crown is a TV series that shows the rise and career of the current Queen of England, Elizabeth II. Her reign began shortly after WWII.
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Bibliography
Collins, Gail, America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York, William Morrow, 2003.
Clemmons, Linda. "La Framboise: A pioneer trader." Northern Illinois University Libraries. Last modified March 2003. https://www.lib.niu.edu/2003/iht1020302.html.
DuBois, Ellen Carol, 1947-. Through Women's Eyes : an American History with Documents. Boston :Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Indians Editors. “NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN.” Indians. N.D. http://indians.org/articles/Native-american-women.html.
Lewis, James. "Black Hawk War." In Encyclopedia Britannica, September 2, 2014. https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Hawk-War.
ICT Staff Editors. "The Power of Cherokee Women: A tragic story of European conquest and resulting spiritual confusion." Indian Country Today, September 13, 2018. https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-power-of-cherokee-women.
Butler, Lucy. "Letter to Drusilla Burnap." January 2, 1839. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/fosm/learn/historyculture/impact-of-cherokee-removal.htm.
Edwards, Elsie. Interview by [interviewer's name]. Indian-Pioneer History (Oklahoma Historical Society) 23 (1937): 255.
Hicks, Brian. "The Cherokees vs. Andrew Jackson: John Ross and Major Ridge tried diplomatic and legal strategies to maintain autonomy, but the new president had other plans." Smithsonian Magazine, March 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-cherokees-vs-andrew-jackson-277394/.
Georgia History Editors. "Dr. Elizur Butler Missionary to the Cherokees." Georgia History. https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/dr-elizur-esther-butler-missionaries-to-the-cherokees/.
History Editors. "Trail of Tears." History. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears.
Projects MSU. "The Petticoat Affair." Accessed March 24, 2023. http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/racheljackson/the-petticoat-affair.
Projects MSU. "Rachel Jackson's Death." Accessed March 24, 2023. http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/racheljackson/death.
Longley, Robert. "The Petticoat Affair: Scandal in Jackson's Cabinet." ThoughtCo. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-petticoat-affair-scandal-in-jackson-s-cabinet-5225390.
Ware, Susan. American Women’s History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Clemmons, Linda. "La Framboise: A pioneer trader." Northern Illinois University Libraries. Last modified March 2003. https://www.lib.niu.edu/2003/iht1020302.html.
DuBois, Ellen Carol, 1947-. Through Women's Eyes : an American History with Documents. Boston :Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Indians Editors. “NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN.” Indians. N.D. http://indians.org/articles/Native-american-women.html.
Lewis, James. "Black Hawk War." In Encyclopedia Britannica, September 2, 2014. https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Hawk-War.
ICT Staff Editors. "The Power of Cherokee Women: A tragic story of European conquest and resulting spiritual confusion." Indian Country Today, September 13, 2018. https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-power-of-cherokee-women.
Butler, Lucy. "Letter to Drusilla Burnap." January 2, 1839. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/fosm/learn/historyculture/impact-of-cherokee-removal.htm.
Edwards, Elsie. Interview by [interviewer's name]. Indian-Pioneer History (Oklahoma Historical Society) 23 (1937): 255.
Hicks, Brian. "The Cherokees vs. Andrew Jackson: John Ross and Major Ridge tried diplomatic and legal strategies to maintain autonomy, but the new president had other plans." Smithsonian Magazine, March 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-cherokees-vs-andrew-jackson-277394/.
Georgia History Editors. "Dr. Elizur Butler Missionary to the Cherokees." Georgia History. https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/dr-elizur-esther-butler-missionaries-to-the-cherokees/.
History Editors. "Trail of Tears." History. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears.
Projects MSU. "The Petticoat Affair." Accessed March 24, 2023. http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/racheljackson/the-petticoat-affair.
Projects MSU. "Rachel Jackson's Death." Accessed March 24, 2023. http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/racheljackson/death.
Longley, Robert. "The Petticoat Affair: Scandal in Jackson's Cabinet." ThoughtCo. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-petticoat-affair-scandal-in-jackson-s-cabinet-5225390.
Ware, Susan. American Women’s History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
