Leland Murtiff

Human Rights
11/19/20
Professor Cafferty 

Second Challenge Questions

The first part of this paper revolves around the Native Amerian’s subduement due to the

initial establishment of colonies of the Old World to the subsequent establishment of

independent countries in the New World. Certainly one of the first instances of the subduement

of a group of natives at least in Anglo-American history is the destruction of the Powhatan

indignious group. The Powhatan group was one of the first groups to make contact with English

settlers in the foundation of Jamestown. The Powhatan group who not only assisted the newly

established colony in terms of provisions for winter, but agricultural techniques that were

applicable to the new environment. “.The years that followed were filled with similar hardships

for the settlers, who were still trying to adapt to their new environment. They were also

characterized by overtures from the Powhatans, who periodically shared their agricultural

methods and assisted them through trade of food supplies.” (What Was the Relationship between

the Powhatan and the English) While not everything was cozy between the two groups, and a

series of wars have occurred off and on from the First Anglo-Powhatan war occurring as early as

a year after the establishment of the new colony, the Third Anglo-Powhatan war from 1644 until

1646 saw the end to Powhatan independence. “ Powhatans continued to live in the Virginia

coastal plain as they had done for centuries, but after the war, their chiefs ruled under the

authority of the English royal governor.” (Davidson)

 The pushing of natives westward continued as the colonies of the Empires of England,

France, and Spain vie for control of North America. With directives from London not fully

enforced eventually would lead to new tension during the Mid-18th Century. After the Seven

Years war peace was established between the nations of France and England, with the question

of who owns the Ohio river valley answered, the proclamation of 1763 was decreed effectively

making the  settlement beyond the Appalachian mountains illegal and beyond the boundaries of

the English Colonies. Colonial governments not facing repercussions from the Homecountry

ignored and continued to expand westward to areas inhabited by natives. “Colonists rebelled

against this law just like they did with the mercantile laws. They took scores of wagons

westward toward the Ohio Valley. They believed that if they acted together, it would be nearly

impossible for the British to enforce their new law.” (The Royal Proclamation of 1763: Lesson

Plan) 

After American independence, with westward expansion wars were conducted due to the

tensions that arose from the encroachment of settlers. In the early 19th century wars were

conducted against the Cherokee, Seminole, and the Tecumseh's Confederacy. The first two of

which resulted in the force march of native populations westward into predestined reservations,

differing from their original environment, as the last saw the dissolvement of an alliance of

several groups, to make cession treaties with the United States. During and after the Civil War,

Manifest Destiny was in full effect, and from this the continuation of settlers encroaching of

native lands continued. Due to the diversity of the groups present, and United States Officials

unaware or intentionally creating treaties with groups at the hindrance of others lead to

inadvertent incidents such as the Ponca indian trail of tears where by era, land promised to the

Ponca was also place under Sioux territory, causing disputes the eventually lead to the force
march of the Ponca southward. “Treaties in 1858 and 1865 greatly reduced the size of the

original Ponca Reservation, yet the tribe remained peaceful. An 1868 error in the Treaty of Fort

Laramie ceded Ponca lands to their enemy the Dakota Sioux, resulting in eight years of repeated

raids against the Ponca and ending with the forced removal of the tribe to the new reservation.”

(Marker Monday: Ponca Trail of Tears - White Buffalo Girl.) In summary, those who negotiated

with the federal government suffered from unequal treaties, or experienced conditions where the

terms of the treaty were not fulfilled. For those who resisted, saw a military campaign against

them, where by yielding the same results if not outright execution. Brutality and

misidentification were at times hard in case with the Sand Creek Massacre “Black Kettle moved

his band to Fort Lyon, Colorado, where the commanding officer encouraged him to hunt near

Sand Creek. In what can only be considered an act of treachery, Chivington moved his troops to

the plains, and on November 29, they attacked the unsuspecting Native Americans, scattering

men, women, and children and hunting them down.” (Sand Creek Massacre)

In the modern day, or at least the mid 20th century, Native Americans would experience

a high percentage of alcohol abuse and depression. In a report in 2019, the sucide rate for Native

Americans increased by 139% “The U.S. suicide rate is up 33 percent since 1999, but for

American Indian and Alaska Native women and men, the increase is even greater: 139 percent

and 71 percent, respectively, according to an analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.” (Nicoa, and Niko Pina says. “American

Indian Suicide Rate Increases.) Despite this, initiatives to preserve native culture are alive and

well not only in the western plain indians, but even in Vermont to some extent with the Abanaki

Natives. Recently the State of Oklahoma has been expanded to cover nearly ⅓ of the State. 
 In the second portion of this paper, the addressance of poverty is emphasized alongside

hunger.  Poverty objectively to me is anything under what the government mandated to be in

poverty, however, it goes beyond that. There are some considerations that poverty is anything

below a livable wage. What constitutes a livable wage is my question, while sounds great in

practice, different areas have different costs of living, and it is also dependent on the individual’s

lifestyle. If a clear indication of what constitutes a livable or acceptable wave is present, then  I

believe this would be the best solution, however, what is certainly the case is that a balance

between the cost for the employer and the employee both should be taken into consideration.

Basic needs and the cost thereof would possibly be a good case for the determination of wages. If

an idea of what is a livable wage that does not place too much detriment on businesses can be

decided, then ideally poverty or at least the lower ends of a poverty stricken scale would be able

to elevate to a more comfortable position. In terms of solving hunger, initiatives to make food

cheaper would be great.

As of right now, the agricultural industry is subsidized by the federal government “The

federal government spends more than $20 billion a year on subsidies for farm businesses. About

39 percent of the nation's 2.1 million farms receive subsidies, with the lion's share of the

handouts going to the largest producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice” (Edwards) If

this is already the case, perhaps instead of subsidies of the these farms, other incentives or breaks

would be placed instead of direct government aid. Instead of giving money so farms can keep in

operation by having their costs reduced in the first place, or create efficiencies in their yields so

their initial and subsequent expenses are reduced. For instance the adoption of automated

machinery, or fuel derived from products present on the farm like Ethanol or the adoption of

natural energies like wind or solar. “It was difficult for farmers to get out of debt because they
were often in debt because they could not get a good price for their crops. But if they grew more

crops to pay their debt this didn’t work because there would be so much crops that the price

would go down because others were also growing crops and they also had to buy tractors and

seeds and other things. This put them in debt.” (Why Was It Difficult for American Farmers to

Get out of Debt during the Late 19th Century) If this continues to be the case, perhaps focusing

on other avenues where food is needed, what is already mentioned was alternative fuel, perhaps

encouragement of exports to other nations would be beneficial. Really it's hard to say in this

predicament, we in the United States have an excess of food that is in part wasted, yet the

transfer of these food to other nations is not viable as the systems where our farms operate are

not viable or self sufficient, thus ending in subsidies. While the U.S in its current state is in a

predicament with self sufficiency, other countries have the problem of the lack of ability to fulfil

the demand for food, or if food is present, that cost of it is not affordable. With this in mind, it

could be the case that countries that are developing could solve at the very least food demand on

their own if the initial ability was established.

That being said, State investments into infrastructure and economy, instead of direct

monetary assistance could be utilized to both assist the developing country and the benefactor.

Whether the U.S is able to implement this is questionable, however, massive developments in

terms of economy, agriculture, and infrastructure have been ongoing in the countries near the

Belt and Road initiative. As capital investments are placed into the country, along with the

assistance in construction the ability for a developing nation to not only elevate citizen’s quality

of life, but the ability to produce would increase. To have a product is well and good, but not

having anyone to buy it or unable to buy it is something else. If the quality of life, and income

increase naturally through the ability of higher paying employment opportunities, alongside state
or business actors to have the resources or technology to create the product for instance food, this

would greatly reduce the reliance of other countries, and provide staples for people to purchase at

an affordable rate. In summary, to solve hunger and poverty problems overseas at the very least,

the development of economy and infrastructure direct would yield results that would be

beneficial to the recipient country through means of infrastructure, business, and quality of life,

but for the foreign actor in cementing relations between the two countries and further

cooperation between the two in the future, such as the case in Chinese State Capitalism, to invest

now it to generate yield later. Later being the cooperation and interconnectedness in the massive

global intativate, namely the Belts and Road Initiative. 

There is not one cause for homelessness, various plethora of factors can result in the

unfortunate situation of a lack of a home. Some ones that could arise are loss of employment,

substance abuse, housing cost, and poverty.  In larger urban areas, the more homeless individuals

there are per capita. The states with the most homeless per 10,000 people are Oregon, California,

Washington on the West Coast, with New York and Massachusetts on the East Coast. In New

York 92,091which constitutes 47% per 10,000 people are homeless, California with 151,278

people which constitutes 38% per 10,000, Oregon with 15,786 which constitutes 38% per

10,000, Washington with 21,577 which constitutes 29% per 10,000, and Massachusetts with

18,471 which constitutes 27% per 10,000. (State of Homelessness: 2020 Edition) Homelessness

is something that ideally would be addressed, with the ending results becoming beneficial.

However, in reality as to how to go about this is tricky it would seem as how does one assist a

population for the long term who have essentially nothing from the get go. To me whether this

would work or not is debate in terms of occurrence and even want, but if a federal program under

the department of labor was created, it might reduce the homeless population and provide stable
employment for a duration of time until the participant was able to find a better line of work. As

to what particular factors and inputs this program would have, it would be reminiscent of the

1930s where droves of unemployed workers would work for the state in various fields from

infrastructure to forestry whereby they would contribute, have a place to stay, and have square

meals. Certainly the same jobs present are not available today, however, in certain industries

gaps in the labor market that need to be filled are certainly present. Training programs would be

present to qualify these participants and with established ties to companies or organizations in

these industries that need workers would be made, where the participants of these programs

would be viable candidates to fill these positions. 

“Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics only supports these findings. According to the

BLS, as the unemployment rate has been decreasing, the number of job openings has been

increasing, creating huge talent shortages for companies in many different fields.” (Martis) 

sectors such as transportation, construction, and trade skills are in need for people, and are

relatively easier to train for and do not or often do not need a degree of four to six years to

accomplish. In terms of individuals with needed assistance in substance abuse, there are many

organizations that are present that can be contracted or invited on this front. While to me makes

sense this theory, the cost regarding the initial set up and subsequent subsidy is something of a

concern. Higher taxes in reality would not be welcomed, so it stands to reduce funding from

other areas of the national budget.

Bibliography 

Davidson, Thomas E. “What Happened to the Powhatan Culture by the End of the 17th

Century?” History Is Fun, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, 13 Nov. 2020,

www.historyisfun.org/learn/learning-center/what-happened-to-the-powhatan-culture-by-the-

end-of-the-17th-century/.

Edwards, Chris. “Agricultural Subsidies.” Downsizing the Federal Government, Downsizing the

Federal Government, 16 Apr. 2018, www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/subsidies.

“Marker Monday: Ponca Trail of Tears - White Buffalo Girl.” History Nebraska,

history.nebraska.gov/blog/marker-monday-ponca-trail-tears-white-buffalo-girl.

Martis, Lily. “10 Industries That Need More Workers.” Monster Career Advice,

www.monster.com/career-advice/article/shrm-industries-need-more-workers-1216.

Nicoa, and Niko Pina says. “American Indian Suicide Rate Increases.” NICOA National Indian

Council on Aging, 9 Sept. 2019, www.nicoa.org/national-american-indian-and-alaska-native-

hope-for-life-day/.

“Sand Creek Massacre.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Nov. 2009,

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sand-creek-massacre.
  

“State of Homelessness: 2020 Edition.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, 20 May 2020,

endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-

2020/.

“The Royal Proclamation of 1763: Lesson Plan.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association,

www.ushistory.org/declaration/lessonplan/royalproc.html.

“What Was the Relationship between the Powhatan and the English?” History Is Fun, 21 Oct.

2020, www.historyisfun.org/learn/learning-center/what-was-the-relationship-between-the-

powhatan-and-the-english/.

Why Was It Difficult for American Farmers to Get out of Debt during the Late 19th Century? ,

California State University, Northridge, www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/Devine Handout --

sample midterm exercise.pdf.