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“Earth and the American Dream: This Is a Story of the Dream, the Dream of Land, the Dream of Riches, the American Dream

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“Earth and the American Dream: This Is a Story of the Dream, the Dream of Land, the Dream of Riches, the American Dream Name: Period: “Earth and the American Dream: This is a story of the dream, the dream of land, the dream of riches, the American Dream. This is a story of the price; the price the Earth has paid to make the dream come true.” Warning: As you watch this documentary, you will see disturbing scenes of what Americans have done to Native Americans and to the natural environment of the United States. Voices you hear are actors reading actual quotes from historical figures; they are sometimes racist and offensive. Directions: For each time period, use annotation techniques and write down your thoughts, questions, and observations about each person’s historical perspective of the American Dream. “There is little in common between us. You wander far from the Thoughts, Questions, Observations: graves of your ancestors, and seemingly without regret. Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. When the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead that once filled them, and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone; there is no death, only a change of worlds.” ~ Chief Seattle 1492-1776 “When we began to clear the land...” – (3:57) “Ah Majesty, rivers Majesty filled with gold…a miracle. Mountain Thoughts, Questions, Observations: and hills, plains and pastures are fertile and beautiful. The harbors are unbelievably good, and there are many wide rivers, of which the majority contain gold…rivers, Majesty, filled with gold. Your servant, Christopher Columbus.” “My God, a hideous and desolate wilderness full of wild beasts and wild men, and what multitudes there might be of them? We know not.” ~ Gov. William Bradford, Plymouth Colony “Genesis, the first part, the twenty-eighth verse, the Lord’s words, ‘You shall have dominion over the fish of the sea, dominion over the birds of the heavens, over all the Earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth. Go forth children, multiply, fill the Earth, and subdue it.’” ~ Bible, King James Version “In such a wilderness, when we began to clear the land with fire, with might and strength, trees so thick and strong, we laid them all along, most furiously to ashes did confound. As for the natives, they’re near all dead of the smallpox. So the Lord has cleared our title to what we possess, and we shall be the place where the Lord will create a new heaven and a new Earth.” ~ Gov. John Winthrop, Massachusetts Bay Colony 1 1776-1850 “What good man would prefer a country covered with forests?” – (8:27) “Sir, our lands were originally very good, but use and abuse have Thoughts, Questions, Observations: made them quite otherwise. We ruined the lands that are already cleared and either cut down more wood, or just emigrate; emigrate to the western country.” ~George Washington, President “The American, he fells the forests and drains the marshes. The wilds become villages, and the villages…towns. The American, the daily witness of such wonders, does not see anything astonishing in all this destruction.” ~ Alexis De Tocqueville “What good man would prefer a country covered with forests, and ranged by a few thousand savages, to our extensive republic studded with cities and towns, and prosperous farms, occupied by more than 12 million happy people?” ~ Andrew Jackson, President “Most men, it would seem to me, do not care for nature and would sell their share. Nowadays, almost all men’s so called improvements, as the building of houses and the cutting down of forests, simply deform the landscape. What is the use of a house, I ask, if you haven’t a tolerable planet to put it on?” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Naturalist “When I think of these times and call back to my mind the grandeur and beauty of those almost uninhabited shores, when I picture to myself the dense and lofty summits of the forest, unmolested by the acts of the settler, when I see that the vast herds of elk, deer, and buffalo which once pastured on these hills and in these valleys have ceased to exist, when I remember that these extraordinary changes have all taken place in the short period of twenty years, I pause, wonder, and although I know all to be fact, can scarcely believe it’s reality.” ~ John James Audubon, Artist 1850-1900 “The prairies will be covered with your speckled cattle and festive cowboys.” – (11:56) “The entranced act of destiny of the American people is to subdue Thoughts, Questions, Observations: the continent, to rush over this vast field to the Pacific Ocean, to confirm the destiny of the human race.” ~ William Gilpin, Territorial Governor “There is nothing on the American continent equal to it, folks, timber, soil, fish, climate, no end to the possibilities of wealth here, an inexhaustible goldmine. Take a train, take a wagon, by golly walk if you have to.” ~ Samuel Wilkerson, Railroad Booster “How beautiful would this natural Eden look if parted off with fences into farms, dotted with cities, villages, and farm houses? Each claimant can claim and hold 240 acres of land. My husband, his father and sister are claimants, making 720 acres of land belonging to our family.” ~ Miriam Colt, Homesteader “Yes, the Indians are in evidence everywhere. I am told they are harmless, but I do not like the way they have of stalking into the house unbidden, or looking in at the windows. I do not like it.” ~ Gertrude Burlingame, Homesteader 2 “They will not dig the gold or let others do it. They are too lazy and too much like mere animals to cultivate the fertile soil, mine the coal, develop the salt mines, or wash the gold. What shall be done with these Indian dogs in our manger?” ~ Editor, The Yankton Press & Dakotan “The buffalo hunters have done more to settle the vexed Indian question than the entire regular army has done, because they are destroying the Indians commissary. Indeed for the sake of lasting peace, let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalos are exterminated. Yes, then your prairies will be covered with your speckled cattle and the festive cowboy.” ~ General Philip Sheridan, Commander of the Western Army “I rush my horse into ‘em, pick out the fattest cows, shoot them down. I killed for the railroad company for seventeen months. During that time, the number I brought into camp was kept account of…4,280 buffalo…4,280.” ~ Buffalo Bill Cody, Showman “While the slaughter of the buffalo has been in places needless and brutal, and while from a purely selfish stand point, many, including myself, would rather see it continue to exist. Yet, its destruction was a condition precedent on the advance of white civilization in the west. From the stand point of humanity at large, the extermination of the buffalo has been a blessing.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt, President “Nature has nowhere presented more beautiful and lovely scenes than those of the vast prairies of the west, and of man and beast, no nobler specimens than those who inhabit them, the Indian and the buffalo, joint and original tenants of the soil, and fugitives together from the approach of civilized man. They fled to the Great Plains of the west, and there, under an equal doom, they’ve taken up their last abode, where their race will expire, and their bones will bleach together.” ~ George Catlin, Artist “I love the land and the buffalo and will not part with it. I don’t want to settle. I love to roam the prairies. I want the children raised as I was. A long time ago, this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go to the river, I see soldiers in its banks. They cut down our timber. They kill my buffalo. When I see that, it feels as if my heart would bust with sorrow.” ~ Satanta, Chief of the Kiowa Of 60 million buffalo in the American West less than 500 live to see the 20th century. Of 2 million Native Americans when Columbus arrived less than 390,000 live to see the 20th century. 1900-1920 “Man’s forces will be used to hasten his dominion over nature.” – (21:37) “It is a glorious history our God has bestowed upon his chosen Thoughts, Questions, Observations: people, a history of statesmen, who flung the boundaries of the republic out into unexplored lands and savage wildernesses, a history of a multiplying people, who overran a continent in half a century. Steam joins us. Electricity joins us. The very elements are in league with our destiny.” ~ Albert Beveridge, U.S. Senator 3 “The final victory of man’s machinery over nature’s materials is the Thoughts, Questions, Observations: next logical process in evolution. Machinery, science, and intelligence moving on the face of the Earth may well affect it as the elements do, up building, obliterating, and creating, and they are man’s forces, and will be used to hasten his dominion over nature, and each gain upon nature adds to the quantity of goods to be consumed by society.” ~ Simon Patten, Political Economist Bigger and better than ever, oh what a feeling, you’ve got me feeling, bigger and better than ever… My heart is bumping, you’ve got it bumping, bigger and better than ever…bigger and better than ever. ~ Song “To make one ton of steel, one and a half tons of iron has to be mined, then transported a hundred miles from the mine to the lakes, then carried by boat hundreds of miles, and then transported by rail a hundred and fifty mile into Pittsburgh.
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