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Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian: Representing Indians

Question

1. How did the poster for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (source 1) depict Native Americans?

As complex people living in diverse tribal groupings

As belligerent savages intent on harming white settlers

As people who combined modern and traditional ways of life

As allies who guided white Americans’ adjustment to the West

Correct. The answer is b. The poster presents a simplistic, racist, and stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans as violent savages whose primary goal was to harm white Americans.

Incorrect. The answer is b. The poster presents a simplistic, racist, and stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans as violent savages whose primary goal was to harm white Americans.

Question

2. According to Lewis Henry Morgan (source 2), what factor determined a group’s ranking in the status of civilization?

Its historical context

Geographic location

Technology

Racial characteristics

Correct. The answer is c. Morgan classified groups along the continuum from “savagery” to “civilization” according to their level of technological development, emphasizing food acquisition, tools, and symbolic representation.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Morgan classified groups along the continuum from “savagery” to “civilization” according to their level of technological development, emphasizing food acquisition, tools, and symbolic representation.

Question

3. For which of the following reasons did Lewis Henry Morgan suggest that Native Americans were unique?

Native Americans occupying different ranks on the continuum of civilization coexisted on the same continent.

They lived in a modern era but continued to live in the ages of savagery and barbarism.

They had been introduced to writing, smelting, and iron tools, but rejected them.

Native Americans adopted some elements of civilization but rejected others.

Correct. The answer is a. Morgan believed that Native Americans “exemplified the condition of mankind in three successive ethnical periods” at the time of European contact. Some, he suggested, were in the upper state of savagery, whereas others were in the lower and middle states of barbarism.

Incorrect. The answer is a. Morgan believed that Native Americans “exemplified the condition of mankind in three successive ethnical periods” at the time of European contact. Some, he suggested, were in the upper state of savagery, whereas others were in the lower and middle states of barbarism.

Question

4. A historian would find this collection of documents useful because it conveys information about which of the following?

The lives and experiences of Native Americans in the West in the nineteenth century

The historical and social experiences [1][2]of Native Americans between 1500 and 1900

White Americans’ perceptions about Native Americans in the nineteenth century

Native Americans’ perceptions of and interactions with white Americans

Correct. The answer is c. A historian would use these documents to consider questions about the ways white Americans in the nineteenth century perceived and understood Native Americans during that time. They are useful for reflecting particular individuals’ perceptions, and also for shedding light on the factors that shaped popular notions about Native Americans.

Incorrect. The answer is c. A historian would use these documents to consider questions about the ways white Americans in the nineteenth century perceived and understood Native Americans during that time. They are useful for reflecting particular individuals’ perceptions, and also for shedding light on the factors that shaped popular notions about Native Americans.

Question

5. By what means did source 3 seek to lure white tourists into the West?

The journal described the irresistible beauty of the region’s landscape.

It implied that the American Indians were increasingly civilized and less dangerous.

The text conveyed the notion that the American Indians and the Wild West would soon disappear.

It suggested that the experience would give whites a glimpse into their own historic past.

Correct. The answer is b. The journal emphasized the economic development of the West—including the American Indians—implying that its “wildness” and savagery were well on the way to becoming a thing of the past.

Incorrect. The answer is b. The journal emphasized the economic development of the West—including the American Indians—implying that its “wildness” and savagery were well on the way to becoming a thing of the past.