American Encounters :: essays research papers

Who Speaks The Voice Of HistoryThe facts of history in the eyes of Americans brook been viewed in many lights. The Smithsonian divulge entitled, &8220American Encounters is no exception. This multimedia point focuses on American Indians, Hispanics and Anglo-Americans in New Mexico. Although the exhibit contains many notable facts some the culture and lifestyle of the Indians, in my opinion, many other aspects of native American history were left in the shadows. The Smithsonian did not clearly mop up the struggle and oppression which the Indians endured during the European settlement. This obscured information raises the issue of which historical facts atomic number 18 selected as notable. E.H. Carr, an historian, explains this argument with a very prominent quote from the low gear chapter of his book What is History. The quote states, &8220The facts speak only when the historian c every last(predicate)s on them it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor and in wha t order or context (Carr 9).As say above, Carr believes that &8220facts only speak when the historian calls on them. . . (Carr 9). In the &8220American Encounters exhibit, the facts concerning Indian tribulation and European domination could not be heard. By all means I believe that their home was more than just an encounter. From the dictation on the plaque, one could interpret that the Europeans were given the land, or that the Europeans established forts, craft posts, and colonies to live as one with the Indeginous peoples however, that was not the case.Consequently, Carr&8217s statement holds true. The authors of the exhibit choose how to present this portion of history. They decide in what context to pageantry the facts. Obviously the authors feel that a blurb on the wall is exuberant to express years of struggle and strife. If visitors to the Smithsonian had no previous knowledge about the conflict between Native Americans and the Spaniards, does this excerpt explain the real situation? From this plaque I am taught nothing of the hardships that the Natives endured. I do not learn that thousands of Indigenous lives were taken at the hands of the Spaniards simply to charter land that wasn&8217t theirs. I do not learn that families and tribes were distressed up in order to teach the Europeans how to survive. To my dismay no artifacts, pictures or any other type of visual display told this side of the story. It is the duty of the authors of this exhibit to accurately convey the facts and clearly elaborate on them.