On Tuesday in class, we exercised the fishbowl activity. There were four different groups in class that represented different groups regarding the Trail of Tears. The point of the fishbowl was to have a discussion about the Trail of Tears and to come up with an answer to the question of its morality. Was it right to essentially force the Amerindians out of their homes and into the foreign west? Three of the groups, the Christian missionaries, the Cherokee, and the Congress all argued against Andrew Jackson who, in actual history, disregarded everyone else and continued to push the Indians out west. Even though his acts were unconstitutional, he was never impeached. I do not think that is fair at all. The Amerindians had every right to stay on their own land, and our own classroom fishbowl showed that the majority of people in the U.S. did not care either way or believed strongly in letting them stay.
Today in class, we partnered up with someone, in my case it was my buddy Laurel, and read a primary and secondary source regarding the chief Red Cloud. He had a lot to say about what the whites are doing to the Native Americans. It was interesting to read his speech and try to understand his motives when he got up and spoke to the crowd. Laurel and I finished answering the questions with time to spare. We ended class with a discussion about Red Cloud and a prelude to the end of the Indian Wars.
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