Native American Sovereignty

I decided to go to the Native American speaker on Thursday, November 17th and expecting to be bored I was actually surprised at how energetic the speaker was. I went in with the mindset of "Oh boy here it goes, an hour of some guy talking about Indian rights and other things I could care less about". The topic he talked about was, to put it bluntly, terribly boring; However he sparked life into this bland and boring subject on Indian Sovereignty by his fervor and energy by which he spoke. He brought up one interesting point in the very beginning and it was somewhere along the lines of within 150 miles of here, in the eight cardinal directions, is a Native American tribe. He was from Oregon and was... Shawnee I think? I forgot to write that part down. however I thought that was interesting that we have such a diverse population of Indians within a 150 mile radius.

One thing he brought up was his card stating that he was a Native American. He had an interesting story about this card. He and his family went to Canada for a couple of days and had no trouble getting into Canada. They had fun and did whatever Native Americans in Canada (which I am sure is very much the same as any other person visiting our "friends" across the northern border). However, after their vacation, they realized that they did not have a birth certificate or any other form of documentation to show that his daughter is a citizen of the United States. As they were about to clap his daughter in irons and cart her off to prison (dramatization), he had the brilliant idea to show them her Indian card thingy. After seeing this card, they allowed her to cross the border back into the United States with no trouble.

I thought that was interesting and came to find out it is because Indian Tribes are sovereign groups with their own rights and these cards that they carry are sufficient to cross the border. All I can say is i wish i was part Indian. I could carry a cool card to get be across the border and I could get money from the government. Cool!

The American Uprising and the battles of Breed and Bunker hills.

The textbook "America a Concise History" gives a very small explanation of the battles of Breed's Hill and Bunker's Hill. This is a very exciting time in history for me because I love the battles of the revolutionary war and America's independence. This battle, mainly called the battle of Bunker Hill took place mostly on Breed's Hill and had a set of interesting circumstances. The rebels built fortifications on Breed's hill and the British knew. Had the British acted quickly and decisively, they could have routed the rebel army but didn't attack until 3pm the next day. The 1,500 rebels were up against 2,400 trained British soldiers and had minimal weapons and ammunition. This lack of ammunition led to the famous quote "Don't shoot until you see the white's of their eyes". The meaning of this was to keep from firing until when their ammo would do the most damage. The rebels were able to repel the British soldiers three times before running out of ammo and having to retreat. Although this battle was an American loss, the British had 1,150 soldiers killed or wounded and the rebels suffered 450 killed and wounded. This battle to me is remarkable and i wonder why the British didn't act sooner. I also wonder what would have happened if the rebels had more ammunition during the fight. I dunno but i feel that although the British 'won' i feel that the rebels did more damage to Britain.

Could the Poor Achieve Some Success in England?

Alexander MacAllister seems to be the poor man who "struck it rich" by moving to North Carolina. His success brings others to come to North Carolina which at first was alright to those already living there. However in 1765, towns were overcrowded due to too many immigrants coming from Europe. This made me wonder;

"If so many people were leaving from Europe, many of them with nothing, why not stay behind in England and pillage and plunder the houses of those that leave for America?"

That's definitely something I would consider if i lived back then. They must hear of the disease and "native savages" that kill many who travel across the Atlantic. Instead of doing it myself i would simply take any items and land that those who had left might have had and then turned around and sold it for a pretty penny. Aside from this, there would be more room and common land to use for the growing and grazing of animals which i would take full advantage of. Maybe many did this and in my opinion, they seem like the smart lads by doing so.