Throughout my research I’ve been trying to find an answer to the question about why violence was a socially acceptable means of action between United States and Sauks tribe in 1832.  I’ve searched through websites, books, and archives to try and find the answer.  I started with Wisconsin Historical Society’s website; this informed me on what happened in the Black Hawk War. This source gave me a better idea about what the war was about, but didn’t help me understand why violence was a socially acceptable means of action. The next source that I researched was a primary source, which contained 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 gained a better understanding of who Black Hawk was during the war. To learn more about Black Hawk and why he thought violence was acceptable means of action against the United States, I read a firsthand account that he had on a major battle. This enabled me to get into Black Hawks head during a battle and allows me to understand why he thought violence was acceptable.

When I started my research I thought that the war started because of the Native Americans, but throughout my research I realized they weren’t the cause of the war.  From these sources I’ve gained a better understanding of Souk’s reason on why they thought violence was needed, but I still cannot answer my question. The reason I can’t answer my question is because I don’t have a clear understanding about why the United States thought violence was socially acceptable means of action against the Sauks. In order for me to answer this question I need to look at more sources that show me the United States perspectives on the Sauk tribe (specifically the ones affected by the 1804 treaty). Once I do this I believe I will be able to answer my research question.

Continuing my research I decided to look into the major battles in the Black Hawk War. So the source that I decided to use is Black Hawk’s firsthand account on what happened during the Battle of Bad Axe also known as Massacre of Bad Axe. This was a battle between Suak Native Americans and the United States Army regulars and militia, which occurred on the 1st and 2nd of August in 1832. The battle took place near present day Victory, Wisconsin.

The author of this source is unknown. However, you do know that they’re likely to be a credible source because most of the authors on this website either have a PhD in history or they have  extensive knowledge of it. This source is almost word for word of Black Hawk’s account of the battle, with little words added in by the author to allow readers to gain a better understanding of the content. This source is meant for readers who are interest in the Black Hawk War, so generally they will live in Wisconsin. The purpose of this peace is to give Black Hawk’s account of the massacre that occurred.

In “The Massacre At Bad Axe: Black Hawk’s Account”, Black Hawk, informs American people (specifically the army) on his account of what happened on the 1st and 2nd of August in 1832. Black Hawk starts by saying he saw an American ship on the Mississippi river and that he wanted to give himself up, allowing his people to cross the river safely. Shortly after he continues and says the Americans wrongfully fired upon him and his people, so they fired back. Then he said that he retreated with a small group of his people and had the rest of his people cross the river once the ship was gone.The next day he got news that the people crossing the river were slaughtered for no reason, regardless of age or sex. He then explains the way he turned himself in to end the fighting.

I believe that this source gives me good insight onto what Black Hawk was thinking during a major battle of the war. I believe that most of Black Hawk’s group was killed wrongfully and out of spite. However, I do have some doubts upon the credibility of his entire story because I can’t imagine Americans shooting at Native Americans who are surrendering. This source helped expand my knowledge on Black Hawk’s personality. This source allows me to further understand how Black Hawk thinks during major battles. The source doesn’t contain what General Atkinson was thinking during the battle, so I need to research into his account next. This source helps me understand my question more because I have an idea why Native Americans might have seen violence as a socially acceptable means of action. To further my research I need to look into what Americans at the time thought of Native Americans and why violence was socially acceptable back in that time period. From all of my sources I’m gaining a better understanding of my research question, but I still have a long way to go and I’ve yet to come across any more questions.

Work Cited

“Teachers.” Massacre at Bad Axe Lesson Plans from the Wisconsin Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

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

The initial source that I used to start my research is Wisconsin Historical Society’s official website, www.wisconsinhistory.org. I started with this source because it has a plethora of information on the Black Hawk War. The information gave me a general understanding on what happened in the Black Hawk War.  Also, this website contains many primary sources that I can use later as I go in depth into my research.

In order to make sure my source was credible, I learned more about the authors. I read the “About This Site” portion on the web site. The authors of this website include archivist, professors, and museum educators.  These individuals collaboratively worked together in order to make a website that teaches and informs “…teachers, students, and lifelong learners….”  The authors of this website held a ballot in 2004 to see what experts believed as “pivotal moments in Wisconsin’s history.” They did this because they wanted to be a very informative site that people could use to research Wisconsin’s history.

Some of the content that is included on the website regarding the Black Hawk War include an informative summary, a variety of links that go to different websites to further inform the reader, there are books, and there are also a selection of primary sources such as: articles, images, books, manuscript, etc. I believe that the content on this website is very accurate and I have no reason to doubt the credibility of this website. This is because the authors are credible individuals that cite their sources.

From analyzing most of the content (excluding the primary sources) of Wisconsin Historical Society’s website, I’ve learned a general understanding of what the Black Hawk War is, how it started, and how it ended. The website didn’t answer my initial question because  it didn’t give me information on what might have led up to the war and why violence was the only option. This source is going to be very valuable to me once I start to analyze the different primary sources that it has. The main things that this source is missing is what led up to the war and what happened after the war, this source also doesn’t go into depth into any of the battles or locations. From here I’m going to start to analyze the different primary sources on this website and get a perspective of individuals that saw and experience this war.

Source:

“Turning Points.” About in Wisconsin. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

The topic that I’m researching is the Black Hawk War. I’ve gained interest into this topic because I’ve always found Native American history interesting. Since I’m from Minnesota, I have little to no knowledge on Wisconsin’s Native American history and I wanted to learn more. To fully understand why the war happened I need to explore the root cause of the problem, violence. Through my research, the question I wish to understand is why violence was a socially acceptable means of action between United States and Sauks tribe in 1832. I don’t understand why the situation warranted violence because it seemed like it only needed another conversation about the treaty they formed.