What's Love Got To Do With It?
In Chief Seattle's letter to President Pierce, Seattle showed as much love to his land as does many people do to their own families. To Seattle, it wasn't just land that the President was asking him to give up, it was also a piece of himself.
Many Americans today do not realize how much sweat and tears was put into making this country what it is today. Most of those tears came from people just like Seattle. Seattle, a Native American, was asked to give up his land and part of his life for our country.
How many people could give up something they loved to someone who wasn't as passionate about it as they were? I couldn't. To know that the "white men" basically abused the land and took it and its inhabitants for granted worsened the situation.
Seattle showed much decency when he agreed to give the land away. All that he asked for in return was that the "white men" treat [his] land as they do their own brothers.
I, personally, applaud Seattle for taking such a big risk because without the land that he gave up, this country might not be as good as it is today. So again I say, "What does love really have to do with it and if it was you, could/would you have done the same thing?"
3 comments:
There are many times that someone could start to feel that love. When I start to think about it, maybe he gave that land up for his people because of the forceful way that the government was taking the land. I mean, do you think the Indians that were tricked into selling Manhattan for $24 respect that decision as them helping build the country of America? Or how about the droves and droves of Cherokee that had much of the Carolinas taken from them and forced to move across the country.
I think that the love that they felt was for the people that they were with that they chose to save as opposed to continue fighting, which was happening before this. And funny enough, the people called the savages were actually more civilized than the people that were trying to assimilate them. I think that a part of Seattle wanted him to help the white men understand his (as well as most other Native Americans) outlook on the world.
I agree. I wouldn't give up something that I loved to someone who only wants it and doesn't love it. Chief Seattle was extremely generous to give up what he loved to the white men.
I do agree that he was very generous to give up his land. I feel the main reason he did it was to prevent something violent from occuring.Brandon, it is very ironic that "the people called the savages were actually more civilized that the people that were trying to assimilate them." I think the word usage of "savage" was more of a sympathetic appeal to the audience though.
Post a Comment