Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Analyzing the Sand Creek Massacre Letters
To start class today, I’d like you to take just a few minutes and identify three key parts to the rhetorical event that today’s reading covers. First, tell us something important about the context that these letters emerged out of. Second, identify a key moment in the letters themselves that you thought was especially persuasive. Third, what did you think was the most important consequence of these letters?
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Captain Soule's letters emerged out of all of the violence that was directed toward the Native Americans and since he was not comfortable and willing to execute them, he was severly criticized but he only stood up for what he believed in. I believe that letters in general were really persuasive in the sense that Seole utilizes many rhetoric tools in order to make the letters appeal to the readers. A particular instance that was memorable for me was in Soule's first letter where he says "they then declared their intention to massacre the friendly Indians camped on Sand Creek." This sentence is so powerful containing juxtoposed concepts such as "massacre" and "friendly Indians." By using these specific terms, Seole makes the Indians endearing and undeserving to be massacred, if they were "friendly" and just living normally on their land, they do not deserve to be eradicated. The most important consequence of Seole's letters would be the inhumane treatment of Native Americans. He clearly explains what happened at Sand Creek having his letters serve as testemony. His letters establish credibility and prove the events that have taken place at Sand Creek that have been vehemently denied.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting aspect of these letters is that they were so revealing and were thought as lost in history, since they were written a long time ago and weren't introduced in public records. Overall, the depth of detail both letters go into, it shows the gore and the savagery by which a supposedly "civilized" army slaughtered natives who were defenseless and had just made a peace agreement with the white government in Colorado, it's striking how some of these soldiers for example mutilated limbs just to obtain valuable object from these natives such as rings. I was astonish to see that Soule had been a testimony on the trial against Chevington and that by revealing the horrible truth of this crime he was murdered which shows that the letters indeed were important to cataloging this incident as a massacre.
ReplyDeleteThese letters emerged at the same time that the Civil War was going on across the country. I think this is interesting because I have alwasy thought of the Sand Creek Massacre as a major event in the regions history, but when you compare it to the Civil War and consider that these two events were going on at the same time, it doesn't seem as important or influential. I thought the part where Souele explains that he will not kill the friendly Indians, but if they were going after tribes who were fighting against them, he would go with them is interesting and persuassive. It shows that he is not simply someone who hates the Native Americans, but rather a soldier who wants to protect him home and country. I think the most important consequence of these letters is that they give more insight into the event and more specifically, show that what the Amerian army did was an uncontrolled attack that was simply committed because they Indians were not wanted there.
ReplyDeleteThe Sand creek Massacre Letters are documents that are very important to history. The Sand Creek Massacre in and of itself was an
ReplyDeleteevent that, at the time it occurred, was shrouded in mystery and controversy. Two generals were outspoken about the atrocity
of the occurence, but the details of the event were unknown at the time of the investigation. Recently, however, the
Sand Creek Massacre Letters which were written by the two generals, were discovered and the information they contain has
uncovered history and made the events at Sand Creek known to the rest of the world. A key moment in the letters themselves that
I thought was persuasive was the fact that each general mentioned the other. The letters were valid to begin with but the fact
that one story was support for the other and vice versa made for a stronger argument in each of the letters. The most
important consequence of these letters was that eye witness accounts of the Sand Creek Massacres are now available. We are now able
to understand the events that occurred in greater detail as well as have clarification on certain facts or close any loopholes
in any previous arguments or conclusions.
Important contextual information: These letters were correlated to Chivington’s order to attack the Black Kettle Village. Within them are expressed “Vehement objection” from both Cramer and Soul arguing that the government had guaranteed the Indians’ safety.
ReplyDeleteElements of persuasion: One of the most influential means of conjuring up the reader’s emotion was the horrific detail utilized to describe the treatment of the Indians. “ I tell you Ned it was hard to see little children on their knees, have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized.” Using this type of graphic imagery is a vastly effective means of persuasion.
Most important consequence: The most significant consequence of these letters were the fact that they served as direct evidence illuminating the actual manner in which Chivington’s army conducted themselves. It describes an army that had morphed into a vengeful mob, indiscriminately killing inhabitants of Sand Creek.
These letters rose from disapproval of the slaughtering of a peaceful Native American tribe. Black Kettle's Cheyennes had done nothing wrong, but Chivington had. He rose an army in fear of a war that was never going to happen, and so he had to act, so he would not look like such a fool. The line of the letters that gets me the most is "I refused to fire, and swore that none but a coward would, for by this times hundreds of women and children were coming towards us, and getting on their knees for mercy. Anthony shouted, 'kill the sons of bitches'." This showed exactly the mob mentality being started that is spoken of later, sparing none. I think the most important consequence of these letters are, they got out. These letters tell a story about the past, about the truth behind the stories we hear. This shows some justice in a sense, that the story has been told, and it is no longer hidden.
ReplyDeleteSoule was murdered probably because of what he believed about Native Americans. At the time, Native Americans were “savage” people that needed to be killed. It was a volatile time and the two men went against orders and the general consensus because they did what they thought was right. The two articles were very interesting to read. The key moments in both letters that were very persuasive were the descriptions of the murders that took place. The vivid details of the scalping of women and children were very persuasive in arguing that this massacre happened. It was so graphic and detailed that it not only gave shock, but persuaded the reader. These details about the murders of the Indian people convince the reader that these two people are not just over exaggerating or making it up. The most important consequence of the two letters was that it allowed reason to bring up the Sand Creek massacre in the government and they allowed for an investigation to be brought up about the event.
ReplyDeleteThese letters were written after the events of the Sand Creek Massacre by two soldiers who refused to participate and whom wrote their Commanding officer at Fort Lyon in order to report the event. For me the most persuasive part passage came from Silas Soule's letter where he says, "...it was hard to see children on their knees, have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized." The passage shows the irony in the soldiers barbarous act at Sand Creek and how there was no way it could be justified. The most important consequence of these letters was the fact that Colonel Chivington was willing to go so far as to have Soule killed to essentially cover the details of the incident and prevent further investigation into the massacre.
ReplyDeleteThese letters are important in the sense that they refute the very American delusion that our conquest of the west was a noble and civilizing force.
ReplyDeleteWhat really got to me was the accounts of the mutilations. They're so against what it means to be an American, yet so typical of our history, wherein we go into a new area ostensibly to civilize it, and end up committing atrocious acts to other human beings.
I'm glad these letters were found. We as Americans need to come to terms with our history, instead of teaching the idealized verion that we hear in school. Yes, I love my country, but it does have a dark past.
The context these letters emerged out of was post sand creek massacre. These letters were made out of outrage, shock, and anger created by the Sand Creek Massacre. Soule’s letter was very graphic in which he explained the horrors he had bore witness. In this letter I found when he talked about the mutilation and atrocities that bestowed the Indians. He stated, “One woman was cut open, and a child taken out of her, and scalped.” To witness such a horrible act and have the men profess that they were civilized would spike anger in any honest man. This resulting letter employs his anger and he harnesses that as rhetoric to convince the reader that this massacre was wrong. Even though by today’s standards, an act such as this would never be forgiven or forgotten, back then massacres did indeed happen. Soule introduced to the public how grotesque these crimes really are. The fact that the Native Americans were treated so inhumanly was the most significant consequence.
ReplyDeleteThese letters emerged out of the conflict between the settlers and the Native Americans. Captain Soule did not have the negative attitudes towards the Native Americans as most of the settlers did and struggled to treat them in the same inhuman manner. He expresses his positives opinions about the Native Americans in his letters in efforts to alter the recipient’s negative feelings. A key moment that I felt was particularly persuasive was when he spoke about the women and children being scalped. Referring to women and children always evokes strong emotions and is an effective use of pathos. I think the most important consequence of these letters is that they let us, as readers know that although the actions of the soldiers were by all means malicious, not every soldier on the field agreed with their actions. Although he is not justifying their actions he explains the reasoning behind them, which is important.
ReplyDeleteThe letters concerning the Sand Creek Massacre were extremely inspirational. Soule stood up for something he believed in even though at the time it was not the popular view. This is a lesson that can be appreciated at any point in history. The fact that they weren’t discovered until many years later makes them even more interesting because we can see that after all the time that has passed we still are being inhumane to one another. I think that it is easy to say we, as a species, would never do this now but in reality we change very much when we are at war or involved in any conflicts. I think that when Soule described the murders he really appealed to the reader on an emotional level because it is incomprehensible that someone could do this to another human. The most important consequence of discovering these letters now is that we can look at our society’s actions and realize we don’t want to repeat our mistakes.
ReplyDelete