American Revolution Maintained Power for the Powerful
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Summary of reading on “Mary Jamison”
There are many ways in which the American Revolution failed to honor the efforts and position of the native Indians and women in the fight for independence. Reading through the memory of Mary Jamison gives an insight of their position and view of the experiences they went through because of the revolutionary war. The memory of Mary Jamison illustrates that Indians were living in peace up to the time that the revolution started. The story of Mary Jamison presents the deep feelings of the native Indians about the experiences during the American Revolution. She explains how the native Indians were alarmed of fear and suffered fear as their previous peace was destroyed (Hurtado & Iverson, 2000)..
Reading the memory of Mary Jamison gives the impact of the American Revolution from the honest perspective of native Indians, particularly native Indian women. The conflict in the revolution saw the death of the close relatives of Mary Jamison’s family, leaving her at the mercy of the Seneca guardians (Hurtado & Iverson, 2000).. This shows the impact of the revolution on the general social peace and the setup of the native Indians. The story and memory of Mary Jamison about the revolution experiences of the native Indians indicates the impact of the American Revolution on them. The fear and disregard show how the American Revolutionists failed to uphold the humanity of the native Indian communities.
Reflection on the reading and the course
The disregard of the Native Americans in the period during the revolution proves that the American Revolution was more of a transfer of power from power to power. The transfer of power from the colonialists to the successful revolutionist’s did not change things to a number of groups of people in America. The speech by the congress to Speech to Iroquois showed that the revolution was anticipated to provide freedom for all as brothers (Speech to Iroquois 1776). However, most of the expected changes that were being fought by the revolution did not materialize on the side of the affected groups. It is therefore rational to reflect on the groups that did not experience any change after the revolution that is hailed to give birth to a democratic country.
One of these groups as represented in the story of Mary Jamison is the native Indians who had a complex experience of the American Revolution. The native Indian Americans were actually requested by the congress for assistance and cooperation, as brothers in the revolution (Speech to Iroquois 1776). The speech recognized them as brothers in the struggle against the British dominance (Speech to Iroquois 1776). However, their position was not later honored. According to Jamison, the French revolutionist forces robbed them the peace that they had enjoyed for a long time, up to the time of the revolution (Hurtado & Iverson, 2000). Mary Jamison also remembers that they were routed out of Little Beard Town and were deprived of their housing and comfort of home. At the same time, the results of the revolution war did not give them the expected change.
Another group is the American women who did not find any change in the revolution and the results of the struggle. The story of Mary Jamison appropriately illustrates the impact of the American Revolution on women, especially the native Indian women. According to Pearsall (2013), the Indian women fared even worse than the way the Indians faired as discussed above. Indian women were not even considered to have any role in the American Revolution, and were treated as the low level group that had no contribution (pearsall, 2013).
Their experiences during the revolution indicate the problems that they had to go through as a result of a cause that was supposed to honor them. This shows that the role of women in the American Revolution was not particularly appreciated by both the historians and the revolutionists. In general, women were not highly regarded as significant in the revolutionary war. Jane Mecom is also another victim of the negative treatment by the revolutionists and history for no recognition of the role she played (Lapore, 2011). She was never educated and represented the way women were neglected despite having a genuine search for prosperity and escape from poverty through education (Lapore, 2011). The story of Jane Mecom also presents the same disregard of women, even American women who contributed in the revolution.
The American Revolution did not have any change in the native Indian women, despite the role they played in the revolution period. According to Pearsall (2013) some Indian women played the role of mediators, captives and laborers, mostly for the revolutionists. According to the memory of Mary Jamison, such women were not serving in these roles voluntarily. Instead, they were forced to do what they did, such as in her case, where her family was killed. Despite the brutal methods of their engagement to the revolution, the role is never appreciated and shows no change in the way they were recognized.
The third group that did not experience any change in the revolution and after the revolution in America was the African Americans. African Americans were treated as inferior and characteristically called the Negroes, which did not change with the success of the revolution. According to Hurtado and Iverson (2000), Mary Jamison describes her experience with the Negroes and sharing the residential homes. She explains that the Negroes were kind and friendly, as they were equally treated badly with the native Indians (Hurtado & Iverson, 2000).
Personal Thoughts
The readings give an insight that sparks the need to reflect on the real cost of the American Revolution, more than what is recognized by history. This shows that the effect of the revolution was different among the different social groups in America. The significance of the American Revolution seems to be felt by the American white men, as the powerful group. Others were either neglected after the revolution, despite the deep role they had played during the war. While all the groups were differently involved, most of them were treated in a similar way in that they did not feel any change of the American Revolution.
However, women were the most affected group that did not see any change during the American Revolution, they were treated a inferior, before the revolution, during and after the revolution. This shows that the American Revolution maintained power for the powerful group in the country. The dominance of the American white men and the lack of change for women, native Indians and African Americans show the insignificance of the revolution on American minorities. This shows that the American Revolution did not have any significant change on these groups, and so power was maintained for the powerful rather than for the powerless.
References
Hurtado, A., & Iverson, P. (2000). Mary Jamison’s (Seneca) Memory of the Revolution. Major Problems In American Indian History 1775-1779, Retrieved From, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Memory-of-the-Revolution.pdf> July 21, 2015
Lapore, J. (2011). Poor Jane’s Almanac. Retrieved From, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/poor-janes-almanac> July 21, 2015
Pearsall, M.S. (2013). Recentering Indian Women in the American Revolution. Retrieved From, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Indian-Women-in-Revolution.pdf> July 21, 2015
Speech to Iroquois 1776, Speech of Congress to Visiting Iroquois, in Hurtado A., & Iverson, P. (2000), Major Problems In American Indian History 1775-1779, Retrieved From, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Memory-of-the-Revolution.pdf> July 21, 2015