Discussion Questions
July 19, 2006
- What was the purpose of the Dawes Act? Why was it enacted and
what does the Act tell us about the dominant "American values" of the day?
- What do the paintings of the west have in common? How do you
think that those paintings reflect and/or reinforce prevalent themes of the
day concerning the west? What were those themes?
- To what degree does the experience of the native Americans parallel
that of the immigrants that we have discussed previously? How do the
natives fit with the perspectives of the west held by white Americans?
- How is the experience of Oklahoma a microcosm of the wider Gilded Age
experiences and values that we have discussed so far this term?
- What is Cronon's argument and what does it add to our understanding of
the period?