PW Jeff's Blog

Textbooks are heavy, thick, and a bore to most kids in middle school. The question is: Do they give you all the facts? I did a little research on a certain person we learned about and the events that led to his importance.

Backround:

-White settlers expanded rapidly to present-day Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

-Indian villages were burned by militiamen, so the Indians had no choice but to fight.

Tecumseh:

Textbook Facts summarized:

-British tried to stop US expansion, helped Indians fight US. Indians were angry about losing 2/3 of Ohio.

-Tecumseh warned tribes about the danger of the settlers.

-Dream was to unite all Indian tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains.

-1810: Tecumseh informed Harrison that they were angry about the treaty that made the Indians lose 2/3 of Ohio.

-1811: Tecumseh met Harrison and they got into a big argument.

-Tecumseh left to ask the Creeks to join the confederation.

-Harrison attacked and they won the Battle of Tippecanoe.

-1814: Tecumseh dies in Battle of the Thames

Articles on Internet about Tecumseh summarized:

Tecumseh

-Born March 9, 1768 in Shawnee Tribe (Ohio), named “Shooting Star” because as he was born, a meteor went across the sky.

-Trained to be a warrior by older brother

-When 14, Tecumseh ran away from a battle. Was ashamed and was determined to become a braver warrior.

-1789: Washington tried to negotiate, but Indians wanted no less than for the “white people” to leave Indian land.

-1790: Battle at Fort Wayne, Indiana resulted in US: 918 men lost Indians: 61 casualties

-1791: Became Shawnee leader, led battle in 1791 and won. Gained trust and admiration.

-1794: US decides to get better equipped force, spends $1 million

1794: Lost in Battle of Fallen Timbers (Tecumseh was in it), Indians were forced to give 2/3 of land.

-Early 1800′s: Tecumseh  organized Indian tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains. Organized most tribes.

-1811: Tecumseh was off organizing tribes. Told the Creek that there would be signs of power. That day, there was a comet that flew across the sky and several earthquakes hit southern Missouri. Gave orders to brother, The Prophet, to not attack. William Harrison took advantage of situation and attacked.

-Brother had vision from “The Master of Life” to attack the “white people”. “The Master of Life” said that the American bullets wouldn’t harm the Indians.

-The Master of Life was wrong. The Battle of Tippecanoe was won by William Harrison.

-1812: The US was in war with England and the Indians were allied with the British.

-1813: In The Battle of the Thames, Tecumseh was killed and it symbolized the end of the Indians fighting against the white people.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/pevi/html/tecumseh.html

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=373

Which do you think is more interesting? It’ pretty obvious that the internet includes more juicy details about Tecumseh, like the origin of his name. The textbook gives all the dates and events, but briefly tells about them in a boring fashion. They could’ve included visions that “The Prophet” had, leading to the Indian defeat, or other details like that. The most interesting thing I read about was “The Prophet” having a vision that the US bullets wouldn’t wound the Indians. The vision was, in internet slang, an “epic fail” and the Indians lost the battle. If the textbook included this little detail, I certainly would have stopped and thought actively about the text.

Another detail is Tecumseh’s vision. Tecumseh told the Creek that he had foreseen visions of great power. That very day, there was a comet and several earthquakes. It’s very coincidental and interesting.

The book could’ve also mentioned the origin of Tecumseh. When the average kid reads what’s in the textbook, they think “Oh, some Indian dude who was fighting against the US. Boring.” If the textbook included facts about Tecumseh’s childhood, it would’ve been much more interesting. For example, the article mentions that Tecumseh was given the name “Shooting Star” because when he was born, a meteor flew across the sky. This is interesting to most people because it’s also a coincidence.

I also would’ve included more visual pictures like the following:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/pevi/html/tecumseh.html

This picture shows what Tecumseh looks like. I think it would be a huge benefit to the textbook because it shows how fierce, brave, and determined Tecumseh was.

In the textbook, there is no picture of the Northwest Territory, which was the land which the US was trying to get from the Indians. This picture shows just how big the territory is.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yAbHLt6zUIE/TNbeIgagS9I/AAAAAAAADBM/nEoLlWohYXU/s1600/Northwest-territory-usa-1787.png

To sum it up, our textbook really needs some work. It doesn’t have many meaningful pictures, only boring facts. The textbook doesn’t include all the juicy info about Tecumseh. What do you guys think about textbooks?