Movies Essay Research Paper Each war had

Movies Essay, Research Paper

Each war had a serious impact on the individuals surrounding it, whether it be the soldiers, Indians,

slaves, women, children, and even the entire feeling of the countryside. The commonality in each of the

three films, “Last of the Mohicans,” Mary Silliman’s War,” and “Glory,” was war, but each centered on a

different segment of the population and the different wars of the time period. The French and Indian War

was depicted in the “Last of the Mohicans,” showing the trials the settlers of the countryside faced while

the French fought for control of the union against the British in the mid-18th Century. Focusing on the

strengths of women, “Mary Silliman’s War” encompasses the revolutionary war as the Americans try to

break free from Britain. Finally, the inner fight between the Union is depicted in “Glory,” which gives

startling footage on the black man’s struggles in the fight for emancipation.

Through studies, in course work, various books including Boorstin, Brinkley, Gross, and others, and by

watching the films, a better understanding of the trials of freedom that American individuals undertook in

the 17th and on into the19th Century was received. A connection of the feelings, emotions, and trials of the

history of all Americans is felt and interpreted in the following paragraphs.

As the first white settlers came to what is to be America in the early 17th Century, the struggle for

power was inevitable. Looking through time and history, power has always been a key factor in the lives of

the people of the nation, and it still is today. The nine years of the French and Indian War (1754), which

was in part depicted in the “Last of the Mohicans,” showed how two countries were fighting over control of

the people and land of the colonies. We can see that the fighting had to do with power and control of other

people and property. Feelings for those not in the war, innocent people, were overlooked and pushed to the

side. In addition, the first American settlers, the Indians, were treated as pawns in a bigger game only to

take what was theirs to begin with. Both the French and the British tried to win the Indians over, only to

later push them further into the western countryside, until there would latter simply be no room for them.

“Mary Silliman’s War,” focusing on the revolutionary time period in the late 18th Century, included the

powerful struggle of the British to control the Americans. Instead of the struggle for the power of the land,

at this point the British had the land and now focused on controlling the freedoms of the people of the

nation. When the British felt as if they were loosing control, they grasped to incorporate a tighter system of

government into the lives of Americans. The rejection of this control lead to the many horrifying years of

war. The efforts of Americans to create a better nation did not end here.

The northern and southern parts of the nation were not yet unified, even after fighting against the British

in the revolutionary war. In fact, it was difficult to combine the entire nation and not stay divided in tiny

communities as in the past. These factors, along with many other differences of opinion when dealing with

the colored people of the nation, lead to an even greater power struggle than ever before. The southern

Confederacy wanted the power to control its own nation, separate from that of the northern Federacy. The

people and leaders in the south did not want to give up control of “their” slaves. The white man felt power

by controlling what he thought was a lesser person, in this case the blacks. Seen again and again in the

history of Americans, the power to control other people, for example, the Indians, slaves, and women, were

victims in the struggle of the white man to feel superior to others. Whenever a problem would arise where

power was threatene!

d the country would then became engaged in battle.

The movies were unique in their own element, because they focused on a group of individuals and

carried out their story of becoming part of the nation. “The Last of the Mohicans,” was very bold in

showing how the leaders of the British side reacted to the French and to the people of what is to become the

United States of America. It also focused on how the Indians were a part of the French and Indian war. In

essence, how they did not know what side to be on. People were stabbing each other in the back right and