Genocide In America

Throughout world history, many manifestations occurred which led to horrific demeanors. In 1981, Todd Strasser wrote a fictionalized novel known as The Wave, based on a real life event about an experiment. This experiment, conducted in 1969 by Ron Jones in Palo Alto, California, proves how effortlessly fascism can corrupt people. This experiment begins with a student’s question about the Holocaust which Jones cannot answer. The Holocaust was a horrific event that occurred from 1933 to 1945. This atrocity was initiated by Adolf Hitler, who tortured and murdered over eleven million Jewish people in extermination camps.

Throughout the period of colonization, several aspects of genocide can be identified. From the Genocide Convention of 1948, genocide was lawfully defined as any of the following committed with the intent to destroy in whole or part a national ethnical, racial, or religious group as such: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions to bring about its destruction, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and/or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. In what is modern day North America, European settlers began colonizing the area in hopes of achieving their goals of expanding Christianity, acquiring wealth for their countries, and/or gaining personal wealth and power. The European settlers had little care about the indigenous people of the areas they were colonizing, leading to the American Indian Wars (Lasting from 1622 - 1924) and the genocide of Native Americans. During this time period, the Native American population decreased dramatically as a result of brutal war, disease, and torture. The modern day New Mexico area in particular was home to Indian Pueblos, who showed an extreme act of resistance against their Spanish conquerors. What later became known as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 showed how resistance to genocide can be achievable and the impacts it may have.

The slow yet brutal destruction of their population took place from 1492-1891. According to the legal definition by the UN, this act is considered genocide which was perpetrated by both European colonizers and the United States government. Tensions escalated and soon they were dehumanized to the point where massacres such as Wounded Knee, hundreds of innocent Native Americans were slaughtered by American soldiers. A significant precedent of the genocide was when White Americans began making Indians the “other”. By viewing them as uncivilized creatures, it is easy to separate oneself from a group so different.

Genocide is defined as a large killing of a specific group of people, usually ethnic. Although known as the “World’s Police Officer”, the United States is responsible for the longest genocide ever recorded and the most lives lost. According to Dr. Stanton there are eight stages of genocide, and the United States fulfilled most, if not all of those stages. Native Americans were classified as “indians” and “redskins”, both inaccurate and derogatory terms that were commonly used, even by government officials. They were also seen as poor, weak, and uneducated brutes in the public eye. The government and media made natives seemed as they were barbarians who attack innocent Americans so that it would seem justified to take their land and torture

Genocide has been present for thousands of years and has reappeared multiple times throughout global history. The Holocaust and the European removal of the Native Americans are both considered to be genocides. The Holocaust was a mass murdering of people due to discrimination. The victims were those who did not fit what the German leader of the Nazis thought to be the “an adequate human being.” The victims of Hitler’s brutality included anyone who was or looked Jewish, the Roma, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, trade unionists, and anyone opposed to him. (“Holocaust”). The Removal of the Native Americans resulted in numerous deaths and even complete extinction of many tribes. They were forced out of their homes and land by European settlers who sailed to America. Disobedience of the Europeans commands often led to fatal wars, and in most cases the Natives did not end up victorious. This mass murder was not led by one person in particular, but Christopher Columbus acted as a leader (“Guenter”). The Holocaust and the European removal of the Native Americans are alike in many aspects, but can also be contrasted. The goals behind their brutality was much different. They also had different methods of killing. In likeness, each of the perpetrators committed their crimes in attempt to honor their countries and they used their victims as slaves.

Although after World War 1 the Nazis needed someone to blame for the many deaths and poor economy that resulted in losing the war, and the Jews were an easy target to blame, the citizens of Germany should have stopped the genocide, because innocent lives were lost, and they should have been more aware of the horrors and tragedies that were happening within their own backyards.

To understand a genocide, one must know what makes a true genocide. Most know that a genocide is the mass extermination of people of a specific race or ethnicity. Other qualifications are the bodily or mental harm to a specific group of people; changing a group of people's conditions of life; sterilization so cannot reproduce; or the forceful removal of children. The Native American genocide that started with the arrival of Christopher Columbus is one of the most tragic genocides to occur on American soil. Not only were Native Americans brutally murdered, but all of the other qualifications of a genocide occurred in 500 year time period.

In the past 150 years, tens of millions of men, women and children have lost their lives to ethnic cleansing or genocide. Although the definition is often scrutinized, according to Merriam Webster, "Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group". The most notable event associated with the term is the Holocaust. Stated by Judah Gribets, Edward Greenstein and Regina Stein, "nearly six million Jews fell victim to genocide during the years of the Holocaust". Of This number, one million were children who were unable to take care of themselves. People's hopes and dreams for the future were stripped from them, and many families were ripped apart. Many of these people were tortured or raped

I believe that the colonials and early Americans did create a genocide of the Native Americans. Some of my belief comes from the statements that were made during that time period, such as those made by Theodore Roosevelt during a lecture in North Dakota in 1886, comparing the Native Americans to cowboys in the Dakotas and that, “I wouldn’t go as far to say that ‘every good Indian is a dead Indian,’ but I believe nine out of every ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.” This seems to capture a good picture of the era. The fact that even when offered a higher reward for returning Native Americans alive as prisoners, rather that killing and scalping them, there would still be a much higher rate of bounty

males to be precious and more prestigious than the females. The birth of a boy

In Rwanda during 1994 Genocide happened between the Hutus and Tutsis. Hutus and Tutsis had disagreements on who will have power which effected the whole population of Rwanda. This leads to the question why there is Genocide in Rwanda? Genocide happened by two clans who caused mass causalities. Others did little to help which caused Genocide to happen in Rwanda.

Genocide, a dire event, has been recurring time and time again throughout history. In the past, there was the Holocaust, where Hitler exterminated over six million Jews based on his anti-semitic views. Elie Wiesel, a Jewish author, has become a very influential man in educating the world of the true events of the Holocaust due to his involvement in the disaster. Presently, a genocide is occurring in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, in which according to Cheryl Goldmark, “a systematic slaughter of non-Arab residents at the the hands of Arab militiamen called Janjaweed” has been taking place since 2003. (1) Not only is genocide a tragic historical event, it also continuously occurs today.

22,000 years ago the first people set foot in the Americas, and it is not until 1492 that the “first people” make their way as well. The Europeans walked in and saw the Natives as the wildlife of the region and considered themselves the founders, and the Native Americans were heavily influenced and conflicted with the tidal wave of European colonization. Following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, colonization of Native American territory began. Afterwards, life for Native Americans became rather harsh, and genocide is an accurate term to describe this event. Their population dropped and displaced severely over the next couple centuries for various reasons such as conflict, disease, and relocation. Native Americans were treated as foreigners on their own homefront, and those that were spared from enslavement and death were forced to relocate. All in all, Europeans had a devastating impact on Native Americans from the moment they arrived.

When people think of genocide, there are many different occurrences that may think of. A significant example of genocide that happened during World War II was Adolf Hitler’s venture to eliminate the Jewish People. This Occurrence may be the most memorable in history, but this event may not have been the first. Many people may think that genocides only happen in foreign lands, the fact is that the very first genocide known in history happened in the very place we are standing on. When the first colonist arrived to America, they believed they were discovering new land. But it was not so, the truth was they were attempting to take over land that was already occupied by people with their own way of life. What transpired after came to be known as “The American Holocaust” (Stannard). It is obvious by the multitude of death and destruction that came to the Native American tribes when the first colonist arrived. The mass annihilation of the Native American

On April 7th, 1994 in the small East African country of Rwanda the darkest and most brutal tragedy occurred, the Rwandan genocide. 800,000 Tutsi’s and Rwandan men and women were grossly slaughtered by the Hutu government. This was one of the worst genocides in history and yet not many people spoke about it, why? I believe many people did not say anything is because they were scared that they would be caught and then killed. A man by the name of Philippe Gaillard was a part of the Red Cross international committee in Kigali. He was one of the few people who spoke up about the tragedies occurring in Rwanda. He told his friend who was a news reporter for the BBC in France and published his story. By Gaillard not “shutting up” about the situation it made the Hutu extremists embarrassed and this lead to the Hutu government allowing the Red Cross committee to have safe passage throughout Rwanda. “America, the beautiful America, the brave”, was what America was known for being, but after the ethnic cleansing of the Rwandan people it changed.