The American West

Answer

In the American West, the quest to tame the frontier as well as extract its resources show how power dynamic has been applied in achieving the goal of national expansion. Some of the activities in the film show how the American government was willing to establish ways through which it could acquire land and resources. The eruption of riots makes the government want more land to ensure residents are happy. Due to that, the government uses tactics of possessing lands. This move leads to many unwanted occurrences, considering that Native Americans are willing to fight for their land too. The main objective of the government at this point is to come up with solutions that will help in doing away with difficulties associated with the region. Such include ensuring there is availability of reliable energy in the region. Although James comes from incarceration, it does not prevent him from being rebellious. Seeing that the government is more concerned with the railroads, he plans something against it, to offset the government from unnecessary attacks against Native Americans. Together with his brother, they plot to rob trains and the railroad companies. Although some individuals are happy with their move, especially the Native Americans, the government, under President Grant starts searching for the two. This just shows how the government is powerful enough to try and gain control and express authority.[1]

President Grant also tries to control immigration through ways that would turn out ineffective. He orders Native Americans to avail themselves to reservations, failure to which they would be deemed belligerent. This ends up even affecting the African Americans that had already occupied the land even earlier. This is the reason why some of these Native Americans supported their colleagues when they indulged in practices that would negatively affect the government. At some time, African-Americans wanted to be offered full citizenship, although that did not happen. The reason is because of the power that the government was expressing in order to achieve national expansion. It actually thought that the Native Americans were willing to take over all the resources as well as to conquer the frontiers. This resulted in the Native Americans trying to find safer places to reside. They were able to escape the brutality in the south, although the land there was fertile, and moved to the north, where environmental pollution was a serious issue. At some point in the film, we see Wyatt, together with his brothers, trying to go and mine silver in Arizona after hearing about it. On arrival, they find that the rich places regarding the silver had already been occupied by allies of the government. This shows how the government was not willing in any way to give up the fertile lands. It wanted such lands to be under its control, something that even created more fury among the Native Americans.[2]

The fact that the government of America did such things to gain control of the West, it created some form of fear among the initial occupants of the area. A lot of lives and property were lost, something brought up by the government quest of gaining control.[3] It is through struggle that slavery was incorporated in the country, though measures to prevent widespread were catapulted by the African Americans.

[1]_{Hine, Robert V., and John Mack Faragher. The American West: A new interpretive history. Yale University Press, 2000.}

[2]_{Broussard, Albert S. African-American Odyssey: The Stewarts, 1853-1963. University Press of Kansas, 1998.}

[3]_{White, Richard. It's your misfortune and none of my own: A new history of the American West. University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.}

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