Scholar James Lewis briefly examines the repeated "war scares"—fears of possible outbreaks of violence between settlers and Native Americans—that troubled Illinois up until the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832.
To view this clip, select "Native Americans and War Scares on the Frontier" under "Native American Relations Video."
Scholar James Lewis contrasts antebellum Midwestern settlers' concepts of orderly land division and ownership with Native American borderless and communal concepts of land use.
To view this clip, select "Settlement of the Northwest Territory" under "Native American Relations Video."
John Mack Faragher of Yale University discusses the range of relationships between Native Americans (particularly the Kickapoo) and settlers in antebellum Illinois. He looks at the development from relatively benign relations, involving the trading of goods and ideas, to the rise of racism and violence following the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War.
To view this clip, select "Settlers and Native Americans Before the Black Hawk War" under "Native American Relations Video."
Produced by Jeffrey Chown of the Northern Illinois University Department of Communication, this documentary chronicles the Black Hawk War of 1832, looking also at the events that led up to it and its repercussions. It focuses on the roles of Sauk war chief Black Hawk and a young Abraham Lincoln. The documentary is divided into 18 short downloadable videos.
To view this documentary, scroll to the set of 18 links separated from the main Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video selections, and choose a section to view.
Gerald Prokopowicz of the Lincoln Museum outlines Lincoln's experiences as a captain in the Black Hawk War and the general ineffectiveness of militia in Lincoln's day.
To view this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln's Militia Service in the Black Hawk War" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."
Smithsonian curators Candace Green and Emil Her Many Horses outline the nature of Lakota winter counts, pictorial documents which identified each year by an important event, and discuss what may be learned from these today.
In this presentation, students explore the fascinating history and contemporary culture of North Carolina's American Indian communities.
Professor John Smolenski describes the French and Indian War (or Seven-Year War), looking at its significance in North American history and its neglect in popular memory and understanding.
Professor William Wagner considers the actual significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to and in U.S. history. He seeks to remove the voyage from obscuring popular myths and into the realm of historical fact, while also looking at how popular understanding of the Expedition has changed over time.
Professor Caroline Cox reviews the life of Pocahontas, focusing on the difficulties in understanding Pocahontas's life from her own perspective and removing her life from the mythologies that have grown up around it.