Chief Joseph Petitions For Freedom example essay topic

Freedom is defined as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. In An Indian's View of Indian Affairs, Chief Joseph petitions for freedom. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is a call for freedom. The texts written by Chief Joseph and King share many similar philosophies because the situations faced by two cultures, which are embodied in the texts, are similar. Chief Joseph represents a group of Native Americans who are restricted to land that they do not covet.

Euro-Americans use lies and armed forces to press the Native Americans off desired territories and onto wastelands. King represents African-Americans who were neglected the rights and opportunity white people owned. King's speech addresses the fact that African-Americans were held down with violence and segregation. Chief Joseph's narrative focuses on the issue of broken promises by dominant Euro-Americans. In the end of these two proclamations, both the authors ask for the key to freedom, equality.

Chief Joseph's Narrative and Martin Luther King's Speech share numerous ideals that all relate to the two culture's struggles for freedom, while the two contrast because these movements are not completely the same. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence represent a: promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... [but] instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check (King 917). King is saying that African-Americans have been let down by the foundations of our nation. Throughout Chief Joseph's narrative are various accounts of broken promises by Euro-Americans.

Chief Joseph concentrates mainly on General Miles' promise because the freedom to live where one wants is imperative to him. The two readings talk of the ideal that both of the cultures are constrained to their certain lands. This notion of being locked up was literal for Native Americans who were restrained to reservations and not allowed off without permission. Being locked up was a metaphor for African-Americans who were confined to certain areas due to discrimination and segregation. Frustration with the Euro-American's attempt to satisfy the Native-Americans and African-Americans with simple answers is also apparent in the readings. Chief Joseph says, "The Commissioner Chief (Mr. Hat) invited me to go with him and hunt for a better home than we have now...

I was not satisfied [with the land we found], but I could not help myself" (Chief Joseph 14). King expresses the frustration of Africa-Americans by saying, "And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual" (King 918). These analogous ideals from the readings find residence in the similar circumstances of the two symbolized ethnicities. The differences in ideals between King and Chief Joseph's readings are because even though both cultures were discriminated against, the circumstances were not the same. Throughout the text, the authors have dissimilar ideologies. King is more assertive and demands his right to freedom, while Chief Joseph seems more naive of his people's situation and seems to ask for his freedom.

The Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum when King's speech was made. Chief Joseph's narrative came as Native Americans were losing all their power, which helps explain the difference in the tone of the two essays. The two authors approached the lies that each culture face through discrimination differently. On one hand, King understands that African-Americans are lied to, and he is not ignorant towards the lies. Furthermore, King demands equality because he is not satisfied with the lies that are used by white men to please African-American's needs. On the other hand, Chief Joseph's approach to dealing with the white men, at first, seems to be ignorant towards the answers he is given.

"General Miles had promised that we might return to our own country with what stock we had left", but instead Chief Joseph's tribe was forced to the locations that Euro-Americans saw fit for them (Chief Joseph 13). Enormous amounts of mistreatment are necessary for Chief Joseph to realize that the words of Euro-Americans are hollow. Finally, when the Chief has lost all his power to change his situation, he states, "it makes my heart sick when I remember all of the good words and broken promises" (Chief Joseph 14). Chief Joseph speaks of continued fighting for his land.

He would not have surrendered if General Miles did not lie to him. Contrastingly, King speaks of the use of peaceful processes to achieve equality. These approaches are very different and our history has revealed that the use of violence is not a catalyst to equality. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Equality is the answer both of the authors ask for in order to be free. They are not asking to be more powerful and above the group that is suppressing them, but merely to have the same rights.

The Native-Americans are enclosed on reservations and are only asking for the right to live in their original homes, homes that contain their heritage and monuments. King states that African-Americans are not asking for help, but the chance to succeed on their own without the barriers of segregation and discrimination. The potency of the cries for equality in the readings shows the importance of being free to choose one's life. Discrimination brings the ideals of the readings together because discrimination led to comparable challenges faced by either of the author's cultures. The epidemic of broken promises by the white men is apparent in both readings. King does not falter by believing these promises, and he uses his increasing power to force the issues at hand.

Chief Joseph did not comprehend the discrimination he faced at first, and he did not learn to demand his freedom until he had lost all of his power. The bellow for equality by King's "Let freedom ring" segment is paralleled in Chief Joseph's final paragraphs. Chief Joseph writes the answer both cultures are looking for when he states, "Whenever the white man treats the Indian [or African-American] as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars" (Chief Joseph 14).

Bibliography

King, Martin. "I Have a Dream". New Worlds of Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. New York: Norton, 1994.
917-20. Joseph, Chief. "An Indian's View of Indian Affairs". Bel-Jean Packet. Athens: Bel-Jean, 2005.