To further explore the reasons behind the use of violence in the Black Hawk War, I found a primary source. The source is from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s archives; it contains a series of letters in a newspaper article that has several recollections of settlers who knew Black Hawk at the time of the war and after. I selected to research into this source because after my last source I was left with questions about what led up to the war and after. Getting to know who Black Hawk was before and after the war is essential in order for me to understand why violence was a socially acceptable means of action between the United States and Sauks tribe.
The authors of this source are writers from the Burlington (Iowa) Hawk- Eye. They wrote “Reminiscences of Black Hawk, by People Who Knew Him” in 1907 in order to shed new light onto the character of Black Hawk. Even though the newspaper article is in an Iowa newspaper, its audience was to anyone from Wisconsin or Illinois as well.
The newspaper article “contains two portraits; Black Hawk’s dedication of his autobiography, in Sauk and English; eyewitness descriptions of his appearance, manners and living arrangements…; and an account of his death, burial, and the desecration of his remains.” With the content in the article I was able to gain a better understanding of who Black Hawk was and how people at the time perceived him. There are some accusations that I believe and there are others I do not. I believe that Black Hawk was a chief of the Sauk tribe at the time of the war. Otherwise why would he have such a large following? I don’t believe the people who think Black Hawk was just a famous medicine man.
From this source I gained a good insight into the personality of Black Hawk. This source contributed into me gaining knowledge onto the personality of a leader on one side of the war. This is valuable information for me because I need to know why violence was an acceptable means action between the United States and the Sauks tribe. The source has a lot of different perspectives on Black Hawks personality. However, it doesn’t consider as many as I wanted, so I want to consider more perspective on the personality of Black Hawk before I come to the conclusion of his “true” personality. To continue my research I want to learn more about Black Hawk and about the personalities of United State soldiers and citizens in the 1830’s.
Work Cited
“Reminiscences of Black Hawk, by people who knew him.” Burlington (Iowa) Hawk-Eye, March 24, 1907. Online facsimile at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1145; Visited on: 11/3/2013
This source sounds like it was really beneficial to your research. It sounds like you have a good grasp on this topic and after reading I got the feeling of wanting to look into it more. I look forward to reading more on other sources in the future. Nice job.
This is a very good primary source. It is important to gather credible information and it seems as if this is perfect. Articles, letters and reminiscing with people who knew Black Hawk seems like a great way to begin to understand what was going on and why things were happening and helps in finding out who Black Hawk was. More research is probably ahead but this seems like a solid and credible source for your exploratory essay. Good work, son.