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The Last of the Mohicans
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The Last of the Mohicans
Courtney Erickson
HIS-FPX1150
Assessment 5: History in the Movies: Fact or Fiction
Capella University
February, 2023
The Last of the Mohicans
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The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
The Last of the Mohicans was a movie depicting the start of the interracial relationship
between Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) and Cora (Madeleine Stowe) during the time of the Seven
Years War in 1757. The movie begins with the statement of the story based on the last three men
of a vanishing people, The Mohican tribe. During this time the British are fighting the French
over control of North America.
During this time two sisters set out to join their father, Colonel Munro of the British
Army. While on their way, their guide Magua betrays them and they are attacked by savages. The
Mohicans were following the tracks of the band of Native Americans that were killing along
their, and run into the sisters and traveling group of British military. During the fight only one of
the military members and the two sisters survive. Hawkeye decides to help lead them to their
father at their encampment. When they reach their father, they are in the middle of attacks from
the French. Hawkeye requests help from the British to save the lives of Native Americans and
other settlers who are being killed by the band of Native Americans ravaging the countryside.
Colonel Munro declines to offer this assistance and therefore will not let anyone leave. Hawkeye
arranges for some people to leave, which results in him being imprisoned. At the same time,
Cora has become attached to Hawkeye and disapproves of her father keeping him prisoner and
prosecuting him to die. The next day the French and British come to an agreement where the
French will allow the British to leave without losing anymore lives. However, Magua still wants
to kill the British Colonel as revenge for the death of his family and his wife moving on to a new
husband. While the British are on their leave, they are attacked by Magua and many people die,
including the Colonel Munro. Cora, her sister and the three Mohicans all escape but are being
pursued through the forest by Magua and other Native Americans wanting revenge on the two
The Last of the Mohicans
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daughters. They get corned and are forced to separate. Magua takes the two sisters to another
tribe and the chief decides that Cora must die and Magua can remarry Alice. Hawkeye enters the
camp in order to offer peace due to his family. The chief does not accept and decides there
should still be payment made for Magua’s losses. Hawkeye offers to die instead, however, so
does the British soldier. In the end Cora is allowed to leave with Hawkeye, while the soldier is
burned to death, and Magua takes Alice. Everyone leaves the camp and they follow Magua
where Uncas tries to save Alice, who he has fallen for. Magua ends up killing him which results
in Alice throwing herself to death off the mountain. When they see this, Uncas’s father,
Chingachgook fights Magua and kills him in retribution. The last ones standing are Hawkeye,
Chingachgook, and Cora.
Fact from Fiction
When determining the fact from fiction with this movie it is important to understand that
it is based on a book that was never intended to portray true events. However, within this story
there are events and themes that played a real part in history. The main storyline is fiction
because the characters of this love story are not real, or verified. However, the British Colonel
Monro and the French Commander Montcalm were real and fought each other during the Seven
Year’s war and French and Indian War (History.com, 2019). The main battle portrayed was the
Siege at Fort William Henry in New York.
According to historian, Joyce Appleby, an incorrectly portrayed part of the movie was
that the Native Americans were not eager to separate from Britain at this time (Galbraith, 1992).
She also states that the love story has some issues, as the likelihood of a British diplomat’s
daughter falling in love with a Native American would be highly unlikely because they would
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have considered them to be of much lower class. However, she noted that the depiction of the
scenery in the Ohio Valley and woodlands of New York were shown to be very visually accurate.
Another key aspect of the battles portrayed is that they were not necessarily shown to be
as gruesome as they were in real life. The true nature of the battle was more so of a massacre
which involved the French allied Native Americans secretly attacking the British and scalping
them along the way (Starbuck, 2008).
Impact on Audience
The impact of this movie on the general audience is likely pretty positive simply due to
the fact that people love a hero and they love a love story. In the case of this movie, it has both. It
also depicts real Native Americans in Native American roles, which was new for the time in
movies, and people like to see representation. There is also the aspect of showing that not all
Native Americans were savages. Historian Joyce Appleby was notably impressed by the
adaptation even with the exceptions listed previously. The Last of the Mohicans was and still is a
very popular movie choice for people who enjoy historical movies. One possible issue with the
impact on the audience would be that it is not accurately displaying the relationships of Native
Americans and the British. This is a common issue with movies of that time, such as Pocahontas,
portraying love during the time between colonists and Native Americans, when that type of love
did not exist and usually was forces.
Changes to Improve Accuracy
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If I were to personally alter the story in any way, it would be to better show the story of
how the Native Americans, British and French were fighting against each other during the
French and Indian War. This movie was obviously not meant to depict much of this war or to
show how accurate that battle was. However, if this movie were changed from its theme of a love
story, the most logical way of altering the storyline, would be to make the story about how the
Native Americans were fighting on both sides and how that affected the war between the French
and the British. A notable thing to add to the movie would be to show that the Native Americans
sided with the French and not the British (Venditta and O'Connell, 2006). With the help of the
Native Americans, the French consistently defended their forts during the Seven Years War, also
known as the French and Indian War.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although the movie was not meant to be a very accurate portrayal of real
life events from history with the Native Americans, it does have many similar aspects from that
time. With certain aspects of the war and battles being not quite as accurately depicted and the
love story being fiction, it is an interesting portrayal for a movie. If the story were changed in
many ways to depict more truthful to history events, the story and movie itself would change
drastically, removing the love story appeal that audiences tend to enjoy. However, it would be
very interesting to depict more of the battle in a more realistic light.
References
David Venditta and Linda O'Connell. (2006, Nov 26). How the war began: The French & Indian
War (1754-63).
McClatchy - Tribune Business News
http://library.capella.edu/login?
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qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fwire-feeds%2Fhow-war-began-french-
amp-indian-1754-63%2Fdocview%2F463139673%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D27965
Galbraith, J. (1992, October 10). Facts of the 'Mohicans': A historian is impressed by the details
in the movie but sees inaccuracies in the depiction of frontier life. Los Angeles Times.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-10-ca-753-story.html
History.com. (2009, November 12). Seven Years’ War. HISTORY.
https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/seven-years-war
Starbuck, D. R. (2008, March 15). The “Massacre” at Fort William Henry History Archaeology,
and Re-Enactment. Penn Museum. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-
massacre-at-fort-william-henry/
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