Students

Please note: This title has recently been acquired by Taylor & Francis. Due to rights reasons, any multimedia resources will no longer be available.

Learning Objectives

  1. How do Native American origin stories differ from scientific theories on the first humans in North America?
  2. How did the development of fluted projectiles change the early Clovis and Folsom societies?
  3. Why did the hunter-gatherer tribes of the American northwest develop complex social and political hierarchies?
  4. What were the short- and long-term impacts of maize's introduction to Native tribes in the American southwest?
  5. What social and economic changes did the “Chaco phenomenon” produce for Native tribes living in Chaco Canyon.
  6. What factors contributed to the Hokoham tribe's exceptional cultural diversity?
  7. How did religion contribute to the rise and fall of the Hopewell culture?
  8. What effects did increasingly organized societies have on the Moundville and Cahokia cultures?
  9. How did political and social factors contribute to the formation of the Iroquois Federation in New York and Canada?
  10. What information about Navajo and Iroquois culture can you infer from each tribe's origin stories?
  1. What did the Spanish hope to achieve by exploring and colonizing the “New World”?.
  2. What unique role did women play in Mayan social and religious life?
  3. How did religion impact Aztec actions toward the tribes surrounding the Aztec empire?
  4. How did the Inca's complex government impact everyday life for its people?
  5. What factors allowed Spanish conquistadors to conquer the great South American native empires with relative ease?
  6. How did French and English motivations for exploring North America differ?
  1. How did the Spanish succeed in establishing a lasting presence in La Florida while the French failed?
  2. How did Hernando De Soto's misconceptions about North America and its native peoples influence his exploration campaign?
  3. How did the unique role of women in Caddoan culture disrupt relations between the tribe and Spanish explorers?
  4. Why did the Pueblo in New Mexico violently resist Spanish attempts to relocate them to Catholic missions?
  5. How did religious divisions among the Spanish occupiers of Sonora impact life for its native residents?
  6. How did the introduction of the horse change life for Native American tribes in southern North America?
  1. How did Iroquois violence toward other tribes impact both European and native settlements in the North American midwest?
  2. How did the Powhatan social and political rituals influence their relationships with English settlers at Jamestown?
  3. How did different European groups' varied understandings of Native American culture alter their actions in the New England colonies?
  4. How did trade, disease and military conflict change Iroquois and Huron lifestyles?
  5. How did class and race intersect during the periods of violence characterized by King Philip's War and Bacon's Rebellion?
  1. Why was Deerfield a suitable target for the French and Indian troops that raided it in 1704?
  2. How did the English system of debt and servitude affect Native Americans in New England?
  3. How did native converts to Christianity change their lives and beliefs to suit their new belief system?
  4. How did violent Indian uprisings in southern North America influence French policy toward native cultures?
  5. How did the Seven Years' War affect its British, French and Native American participants?
  1. How did the outbreak of war between the British and some of their North American colonists?
  2. What factors ultimately decided whether a native tribe would side with the English or Americans during the American Revolution?
  3. How did alliances amongst Native American peoples impact their struggle to stop American expansion?
  4. How did the American “civilization program” affect Native American politics, religion and society?
  5. Why were captured slaves such a valuable commodity in the Spanish-controlled North American southwest?
  6. How did Spanish missionaries alter life for Native Americans in the North American southwest during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
  1. How did the Indian Removal Act of 1830 affect life for Indian tribes in the American South?
  2. How did Supreme Court decisions concerning Native American rights impact Indian efforts to resist forced relocation?
  3. To what extent were Native American efforts to violently oppose American expansion successful?
  4. Why was the Seneca experience resisting removal more successful than other tribes' attempts?
  5. What political issues divided Native American tribes that relocated to the Indian Territory?
  1. How successful were Lewis and Clark in exploring, mapping and opening the Louisiana Territory for future U.S. expansion?
  2. How did interaction with European and American traders fundamentally alter life for natives in the Pacific Northwest?
  3. Why were the Tlingit more successful at resisting European aggression than other Northern Indian tribes?
  4. How did the fall of the Franciscan missionary system change life for Native Americans in the Southwestern United States?
  5. Why did both native tribes and settlers resist efforts to bring increased “law and order” to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico?
  1. What factors contributed to various Indian tribes' decisions to ally themselves with the Union or the Confederacy during the Civil War?
  2. Why did the U.S. government take a violent approach to the “Indian problem” posed by the Shantee in the Upper Midwest?
  3. Why did some Navajo leaders attempt to reconcile with the U.S. government and sign relocation treaties?
  4. How did the Bosque Redondo reservation change life for both Indians and white Americans?
  5. How did public perception of the Sand Creek Massacre change in the months following the attack?
  1. How were native tribes that allied themselves with the Confederacy treated after the Civil War ended?
  2. Why did the United States make a major shift in its policies toward Native Americans after the Civil War?
  3. How effective were President Grant's policies aimed at peacefully acculturating Indian tribes?
  4. What factors contributed to the start of Red Cloud's War in the Black Hills?
  5. How did the Nez Perce change between the end of the Civil War and Chief Joseph's eventual surrender to American forces?
  1. How did the Progressive movement alter the traditional American view of Native Americans?
  2. Why was the Ghost Dance movement so popular amongst Indians and so scary to white Americans?
  3. To what extent did the Indian Rights Association represent the views of all Native Americans?
  4. How was Indian traditional spirituality fundamentally different from Christian beliefs?
  5. What positives and negatives characterized American attempts to transform Indians into “true Americans” through education?
  1. What differentiated the Indian Progressives from similar white American activists?
  2. How did Indian Progressives' attitudes about assimilation conflict with their experiences with both Christianity and native religions?
  3. Why were many Indian tribes allowed to withdraw their members from the military draft during World War I?
  4. How did American and German perceptions of Native Americans impact the roles Indians played during World War I?
  5. What positive and negative effects did World War I have on Indians who remained on reservations?
  1. How did World War I alter life on Indian reservations in both the short and long-term?
  2. Why did the question of citizenship for Native Americans cause such controversy between Native and white Americans?
  3. How did the Harding administration alter U.S. federal Indian policy?
  4. What did the debate over the Bursum Bill demonstrate about Americans' changing attitudes regarding Indians?
  5. How did Indians'-rights organizations founded after World War I differ from earlier pro-native groups?
  6. What impact did the Meriam Report have on U.S. policy and popular opinion toward Native Americans?
  1. What impact did the Great Depression have on the lifestyle of Native Americans living on reservations?
  2. Why were federal efforts to reform healthcare and education on reservations more successful than general economic support programs?
  3. How effective were New Deal reforms, specifically the Indian New Deal, at bettering life on Indian reservations?
  4. How did government misunderstanding of Native American culture hinder efforts to revitalize native economies?
  5. What were the positive and negative effects of the Indian Reorganization Act for Native Americans on reservations?
  1. What factors contributed to Native American eagerness to join the U.S. military during World War II?
  2. How was Native American identity challenged both before and during World War II?
  3. What impact did stereotypes regarding Native Americans have on both Native and white American soldiers during World War II?
  4. To what extent did Native Americans sacrifice their own resources in support of the war effort?
  5. How did Indian women’s work in factories during World War II alter traditional gender roles?
  1. How did changing American financial priorities during World War II impact Native Americans?
  2. How did World War II’s end create economic problems for Native Americans?
  3. What social problems faced returning Indian World War II veterans and their families on reservations?
  4. Why was termination such a disastrous policy from a Native American perspective?
  5. To what extent did American attitudes toward Indians change during the 1940s and 1950s?
  1. How did larger American social trends impact pro-Indian activist groups during the 1960s?
  2. What political and racial contradictions faced Native American soldiers serving in Vietnam?
  3. Why did many young Indians turn to more aggressive, sometimes violent, groups to protect Indian rights and interests during the 1960s?
  4. How did violent Indian protests affect mainstream white America’s perceptions of Indian-rights activists and their causes?
  5. How did the Kennedy Report affect attitudes toward Native American policy amongst members of Congress?
  1. How did Reagan’s “hands off” policy affect life for Indians on reservations?
  2. To what extent were George H.W. Bush’s policies toward Native Americans different from Reagan’s?
  3. How did casinos and tourism fundamentally alter Indian lifestyles on many reservations?
  4. What conflicts over Indian identity arose when natives used NAGPRA to secure the return of their ancestors’ bodies to the tribe?
  5. How has Native American art and literature reflected changing Indian experience during the 20th century?

Weblinks

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  • Language Tip of the Week
    June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies. This site offers a useful language, usage and style tips on a weekly basis.
  • Dave's ESL Café
    Professor Dave Sperling This site offers a wide range of resources for students and teachers of English as a second language, including language learning resources, job postings, and discussion forums.
  • MLA Style
    This page includes a description of Modern Language Association (MLA) style guidelines for documenting a research paper with a link to frequently asked questions about the style.
  • CMS Style
    This site includes a description of Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) guidelines for documenting with a comprehensive Q&A section.
  • Research and Documenting Sources
    Purdue University Online Writing Lab This section of the Purdue University OWL offers guidelines for finding, evaluating, and documenting sources, as well as advice on writing research papers.
  • Internet Public Library
    University of Michigan School of Information This site offers an interactive tutorial on identifying the argument of an essay.
  • Librarians' Index to the Internet
  • The Library of California Created and maintained by librarians, this site offers a searchable annotated subject directory of Web resources that have been selected and evaluated.
  • American Memory
  • Library of Congress This site offers links to the digital versions of selected holdings relevant to American history and culture, including photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, and recorded sound and moving pictures.
  • NYPL Digital Gallery
    New York Public Library This site offers access to more than 275,000 digitized images from the collections of the New York Public Library. You can search collections or browse by topic to find illustrations, photographs, posters, maps, and manuscripts.
  • The New York Times
    This online version of the The New York Times includes searchable archives.
  • Online Writing Lab
    Purdue University A well-respected online resource, this site features handouts with examples of the writing process, from planning and drafting to proofreading.
  • Writing CSU Writing Guides
    The Writing Center at Colorado State University This site offers a wide range of resources for students and teachers of English as a second language, including language learning resources, job postings, and discussion forums.
  • Identifying the Argument of an Essay: A Tutorial in Critical Reasoning
    Dr. Frank Edler, Metropolitan Community College This site offers an interactive tutorial on identifying the argument of an essay.