Tecumseh.edited
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Nairobi Institute of Technology - Westlands *
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History
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by DoctorGuanacoPerson736
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Tecumseh
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Tecumseh, brother to Tenskwatawa, influenced an opposition among Indian people and
other Native American tribes in the United States in the 1800s against the Americans and their
way of life. The two Shawnies had a motivation to push the Americans to grant them an
independent Indian state. It all started when Tenskwatawa fell into a deep sleep due to illness,
and when he stirred back, he claimed that he had met the Master of Life. He claimed that he had
been told that his fellow Indians were struggling because they had “rejected traditional spiritual
ways.”
Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, was motivated to act as soon as possible because the
changes in the new United States did not please the Native American tribes.
First, Shawnees had lived in Ohio Valley for a very long time. Tecumseh and his brother
had grown up amidst the American Revolution when Shawnee warriors were in constant battles
to protect their land. This significant change of westward expansion of white settlers, which
encroached upon Native American lands. The United States government implemented policies
that sought to acquire more land for settlement and pushed Native American tribes westward,
often through treaties that were not always fair or honoured. For example, the Treaty of
Greenville (1795) took away large Native American Lands in the Northwest Territory to the
United States. This could have gone better with all Shawnees Tecumseh included because it
threatened them losing their land. He had a natural charisma of leadership that attracted his
friends and haters; then, he was expected to form a protest group against their land invaders.
Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh believed that the Master of Life had allocated the land to the Indian
to light fire for His Glory.
Secondly, was the erosion of Indian culture? The U.S. government sought to assimilate
Shawnees culturally. The American traders exploited the Native Americans, leading to economic
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hardships and cultural disruptions. After Tenskwatawa's dream, where he revealed to God that
Shawnees were suffering because they had neglected their traditional Gods, Tecumseh sought to
change this by forming a
religious movement to unite tribes against American influence and
restore traditional ways of life.
Unfortunately, Tecumseh's dream was not achieved. He faced challenges, and later, his
movement saw a downfall during the Thames War of 1813. Tecumseh sought help from British
soldiers to team up against the American army in the War of 1812. They had won the war.
However, in the Thames War, the British Forces were defeated, and Tecumseh was killed,
leading to the downfall of the Native American Confederation. The following factors attributed
to the downfall of the Confederation and the death of Tecumseh;
First, the Battle of Tippecanoe of 1811 had weakened the Confederation. Tensions were
high between the American forces and the Confederation group. Tecumseh was away recruiting
members into the Confederation Army. He had warned his brother Tenskwatawa against fighting
with the American army while he was away because it could weaken them; his brother defied the
advice and launched an attack against American forces led by William Henry Harrison. As
foreseen, the battle ended with a defeat for Tecumseh's Confederation, weakening their position.
Secondly, following the British defeat in the Thames War and the death of Tecumseh, the
British army, which had supported the Native American Confederation, withdrew from the
conflict. Without British assistance, the Native American resistance weakened immensely.
Conclusively, Tecumseh’s efforts to unite Native American tribes were a response to the
profound changes taking place in the United States, particularly the encroachment on Native
lands and the threat to indigenous cultures. The events of the War of 1812, including the Battle of
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the Thames, marked the decline of Tecumseh's movement and the broader resistance against
American expansion in the region.