Drums Along the Mohawk vs. Last of the Mohicans, Essay Example

The drums along the Mohawk was produced in 1939. The setting is before the American revolutionary war, where a farmer (Martin) brings his bride (Magdalena) to settle in the Mohawk valley. The family gets burned out by the Indians and a neighbour takes the family in whilst Martin joins the militia. The Mohawk Indians are allied to the British Soldiers and later attack the colonists.  During this time Magdalena loses her baby. The family become destitute but a wealthy widow looks after them. Despite all of these hardships the revolutionary war then catches up with them. Fighting Indians, British and French soldiers became a way of life for the early colonists. The people developed a strong bond of friendship and family.  (Anon, 2010)

The last of the Mohicans is based upon the novel of James Fenimore Cooper.  The scene is set against the French Indian wars in the wilderness of the English colony of New York.  The native Indian tribes fought on both sides of the English French conflict.  The Huron tribe fought with the French and the Mohicans with the British and American colonists. The story follows the escort of a British colonel’s daughter to Fort William Henry. They are escorted by a small number of militia and Magua, a Mohawk Indian guide.

On the trip. They meet up with Maj. Duncan Haywood, friend, who has been assigned to serve with Col. Munro. Haywood is in love with Cora.  [One of the daughters] and wants to marry her. Join the trip and are attacked by Huron Indians.  It turns out that this was a trap set up by Magua , who was not a Mohawk is a Huron spy.  Most of the accompanying party or killed by the Indians, but the women and Haywood get rescued by Hawkeye. Hawkeye was a frontiersman with two Mohican companions. His real name was Nathaniel Poe, who was adopted by Chingachgook a Mohican chief.  Hawkeye  was raised with his son Uncas.  The three lead, the women and Haywood to the fault only to find it under siege by the French.  The remaining film follows the saga frontier wall and a culture / race conflict, with Hawkeye falling in love with Cora. (Anon, The Last of the Mohicans, 1992)

Both films describe the conflict of the American Revolutionary wars and the acts of the British and French armies who manipulated the native Indian tribes to serve the needs of the colonial wars. the Indians also saw this as an opportunity to seek revenge on other Indian tribes who they wanted to rid from their land. The American colonists caught in the middle of a conflict between two major European powers and a struggle for independence.

The American War of Independence  1775-1783, developed into actual war at Lexington, Massachusetts in 1775. The war with the British army had been brewing since the Treaty of Paris in 1763.“ After a protracted struggle, British forces surrendered in October 1781, and the treaty Of Paris, 1783, formally recognized the United States of America“(Sprague, 2009).

It was estimated that 15-20% remained loyal to the British Crown, whilst the loyalists were outnumbered by the patriots by 2:1. The battles that followed were particularly brutal. Before the battle at Lexington “British Ministers had persuaded themselves that their troubles in America were inspired by a conspiracy of the few, that most colonists loved parliament and the King “(Middlekauff, 1985)

Throughout the war the British used naval superiority in order to occupy the coastal ports of the Eastern seaboard. This enabled freedom of movement of soldiers and munitions. The patriot army, whilst not having the discipline and training of the British soldiers, were more numerous and this enabled them to win decisive land battles.

The Indians earned themselves a reputation for brutal and uncivilized war tactics. This imagery largely put about by the American and British colonists. The reality is that many of these practices were introduced from Europe. Oddly enough it is the Europeans who became the best advocates for the Indians in acts of Scalping. This was evident in a number of important witnesses testaments.  Consider that of Alvin M Joseph junior at the Nebraska Trials  “scalping was not originated by Indians. Poachers in England had their ears cut off. Europeans had the habit of taking parts of the body in war.  The Dutch gave rewards for Indian heads even before there was open warfare in their area of colonization.” and Peter Forbs testimony ” “Indian heads were put on pikes there very

early, but people got tired of lugging in the heads so soon they just brought in the scalp to show that they had killed an Indian.” (Axtell and Sturtevant, The Unkindest Cut, or Who Invented Scalping).

The practice of scalping continued throughout the American revolutionary wars and the British and French used Indian Tribes to perpetuate this practice. One British Colonel Henry Hamilton earned himself the scornful  title of ” Hair Buyer” as he used Indians to take scalps of the enemies which he paid a bounty on. The practice of scalping continued on into the war of 1812 and did not cease until the end of the plains wars in the late nineteenth century. ” Only the Teton Dakota regarded killing and scalping as the coup of highest worth. The Chiricahua Apache saw the taking of an enemy’s scalp as disgusting, and declined the practice.” (Owens).

The Indians ere regarded by the British and French as savages. Hence when Cora fell in love with Hawkeye this was disdained by the British officers who saw this as both an act of betrayel and a rejection of her class stutus within British society.

The war of 1812 was a conflict between America and Britain. It came about as a period of great stress and tension between both countries. Britain had been pre-occupied with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars in Europe.  This spilled over into Naval warfare between the French and British with the British having Naval supremacy.  The cause was brought about by American shippers taking advantage of the situation in Europe and interfering with trade in the West Indies.  It was a question over the rule of seizure.. ” By breaking the passage with a stop in a U.S. port, they evaded seizure under the British rule of 1756, which forbade to neutrals in wartime any trade that was not allowed in peacetime. ” (Encyclopedia.com, 2008).

Most of the action of this war took place at sea and was between the American and British ships. The action lasted from 1812 to the spring of 1815 and mainly consisted of skirmishes along the Canadian border, the Chesapeake bay region and along the gulf of Mexico. The peace treaty ending this war was signed in Europe in December 1814.  During this period France became dominant in most part of Europe through the Emperor Napoleon. Britain remained dominant at Sea and as such the two powers waged a commercial battle. Britain provided blockades in Europe and the French tried to prevent the sale of  British goods abroad. This in turn created several crisis with the Americans until it reached a tipping point in 1803.

The American (US) were angry because they felt violated by both the French and British. They were being denied their neutrality on the seas. The anger and resentment being stronger against the British who dominated the seas. Equally the British boarded American ships and press ganged any British sailors into service. They were equally taking Americans into forced service and the Americans viewed this almost an act of piracy. American felt the British hold on the war at sea. The British naval forces started to enforce  a blockade around America’s coasts; this ruined American trade, impacted financing and exposed  the  entire coastline to British attack.  In 1814 the situation deteriorated after the British beat the French and started to transfer battle hardened troops to the US. The British planned a further attack on the US and a re-engagement of hostilities.

The American revolution culminated with the Battle at Yorktown. The Battle of Yorktown was part of the American Civil War.  It was carried out between 28th September to 19th October 1781 at Virginia USA. The combatants were the Americans and French against the British. It was a resounding defeat for the British Army under the command of Lord Cornwallis. The subsequent surrender to the American General George Washington  effectively ended the American revolutionary war. . ” Losing his grip on the Carolinas, Cornwallis marched his army into Virginia and seized Yorktown and Gloucester, towns on each side of the York River. With the arrival of the French fleet of Admiral De Grasse, General Washington was able to march south from New York with the joint American and French army to attack Cornwallis.” (Britishbattles.com, 2010).

The battle is significant to the United States as it was the ultimate battle that ended the American Revolutionary war. With the capture of over 8,000 British soldiers it forced negotiations between the British and the Americans and this resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Both films provided a fairly accurate depiction of life on the frontiers of the American Revolution at that time.

Works Cited

Anon. (2010). Drums along the Mohawk. Retrieved 3 18, 2010, from SXSW: http://www.imdb.com

Anon. (1992, 5 26). The Last of the Mohicans. Retrieved 3 18, 2010, from The Last of the Mohicans: http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/moviereviews.phtml?fid=6336

Britishbattles.com. (2010). The Battle of Yorktown 1781. Retrieved 3 5, 2010, from Britishbattles.com: http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-yorktown.htm

Encyclopedia.com. (2008). War of 1812. Retrieved 3 5, 2010, from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/War_of_1812.aspx

Middlekauff, R. (1985). The Glorious cause the American Revolution, 1763-1789. In R. Middlekauff, The Glorious cause the American Revolution, 1763-1789. New York : Oxford Unicersity Press.

Sprague, D. N. (2009). American Revolution. Retrieved October 10, 2009, from The Canadian Encyclopedia: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000175